BUCKFIELD – Buckfield Jr./Sr. High School was host to a 14-member team from the New England Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges recently. Peter Brown, Jay High School principal, was the chairman for this accreditation visit.

Their purpose was to analyze and evaluate the school in the seven areas of mission and expectations, instruction, assessment, community resources for learning, leadership and organization, school resources for learning and curriculum.

Prior to this visit the school staff spent more than a year preparing. Central to this preparation was the self-study, a comprehensive report to evaluate and document everything that the high school does that directly relates to its academic mission and the seven educational standards that the association would be evaluating.

The study represents hundreds and hundreds of hours of work but the results benefit the success of the school. Two specific outcomes are to be received when the visiting team’s report is reviewed by accreditation association in the fall.

One outcome is the determination of the school’s accreditation status. The awarding of accreditation signifies that the school has met NEASC standards at an acceptable level and is willing both to maintain those standards and to improve its educational program by implementing the recommendation of the evaluation team. Additionally, the association’s report will commend them for what they do well and will provide recommendations for things that will improve the educational success of the school.

Although the results of the report will not be released until next fall, the staff and administration felt that the visiting NEASC team had an excellent visit. Before the group left, they complimented the professionalism of the staff and the friendliness, behavior and positive attitudes of students.