The MacDuffie school is in the middle of an accreditation process now, after the members of NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) came to evaluate various aspects of our school at the end of October. Most private schools go through this process, as even the most prestigious schools are accredited.

NEASC is an accrediting agency in the New England region that, according to the NEASC website, evaluates based on “standards which are developed and regularly reviewed by the members and which define the characteristics of good schools and colleges.” This accreditation process includes a 10-year cycle of “Self-study” in which a school or college reflects upon itself, “Peer-review” in which committees from other schools or colleges come and make observations, and “Follow-up” in which a professional staff ensures that “prescribed institutional change is accomplished.”

NEASC judges institutions on 15 different standards that range from “experience of students” to “enrollments.” When a school is accredited it means that the school is legitimate, adding weight to the diploma the school hands out and also encouraging parents to send their children there.

According to Head of School Steve Griffin, MacDuffie’s accreditation process began two years ago. Our school has completed yearly surveys in which our community came up with our own ratings. At the end of October 2017, an NEASC committee visited our campus as part of the “Peer-review” stage. After the committee left our campus, it started an extensive written report which consists of 75 recommendations. When the report is put together and delivered to the commission, the commission will vote on whether we pass or not.

This process is especially important for MacDuffie because it became a for-profit school seven years ago, and NEASC has never done a full 10-year reaccreditation cycle for a for-profit high school. As Griffin reflected, “we are sort of being a leader in this, so they probably sent a larger team to visit us in October.”

Griffin believes that we did very well in this process. He said, “our faculty is really committed to improving as a school … I think we do a wonderful job. I know we are a very strong school. We are just waiting for that reinforcement.”