DESCRIBE THE ACCREDITATION PROCESS THAT ST. MARY SCHOOL FOLLOWS.

Our school--and all the Catholic schools in our Diocese--is accredited by WCEA (Western Catholic Education Association) and WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges). So, we are dually accredited. Acutally, public high schools and colleges are accredited by WASC, too.

The process involves an extensive self-study that takes almost two years. The areas addressed and assessed include Catholic identity, finance and development, student services, school mission and philosophy, schoolwide learning expectations, and of course, curriculum. There is an established format to follow.

Once the study is completed and the book completed, a visiting team of educational peers read the book and make a 3-day visit ot the school to verify the self-study. They write a report and then make a recommendation for a term of accreditation--up to six year term. Then the self-study as well as the visiting team report and recommendation for an accreditation term, are all sent to WCEA and WASC. There they are read by reading teams, and then a term of accreditation is given to the school. Within the self-study, specific school improvement action plans are developed. These, then, are worked on until the next time accreditation will take place.

KINDERGARTEN ADMISSIONS DATE:

•The policy of the Diocese of San Jose Department of Education has been to align our Kindergarten admissions age requirement to thjat of the CA public schools. This means there is no change for the upcoming school year, 2011-12.

•The Kindergarten Readiness Act was signed nto law last fall. It reads: ". . .This bill would change the required birthday for admission to kindergarten and first grade to November 1 for the 2012-13 school year, October 1 for the 2013-14 school year, and September 1 for the 2014-15 school year and each school year thereafter." We will match those changes in order to keep to our own policy.