This month, Zhongshi International School was privileged to host a visiting team from ACSI and WASC. The team were with us from September 13-17th providing us with valuable insights about the education we are providing. They were a great encouragement and praised the school and the staff for their hard work and commitment to transforming our young people into servant leaders.
The team was comprised of four members:
Dale Phillips is the Associate Regional Director of ACSI in the California-Hawaii region. With over 40 years of experience in education he is well equipped to provide advice and support. Dale first visited our school in May, 2015.
Dr Lee Duncan is the Executive Vice President of the Master’s College. He is also based in the California region. He oversees a campus of over 1,000 students and his passion for young people is evident in all he does. He has served as an inspector in over 120 different schools.
Dr Seungho Pi is the Director of Bugil Academy in Cheonan City, South Korea. He has led several schools during the course of his distinguished career and offers critical insights from both a Western and Korean perspective.
Matt Strange is a Professional learning Coach at Morrison Christian Academy in Taiwan. He has served for many years as both a teacher and administrator.
Zhongshi International School began the accreditation process in March, 2013. Since then we have been working hard as a school and community to meet the accreditation requirements. The school is expected to operate at a high standard in all operational areas including vision, curriculum, school, parent and community relations, human resources, and health and safety. We followed an extensive rubric called ‘Reach’ and in order to receive accreditation we needed to demonstrate compliance in all 92 indicators. In July, 2015 we completed our self-study report, a document that provides a comprehensive overview of our school.
The main task of the team was to determine the validity of this report to ensure that we had completed an accurate assessment of our school. During their stay they observed classes, reviewed documents, and spoke with many students, teachers, staff members, board members, and parents. They completed a report summarizing their findings which includes a list of commendations and recommendations for the school. We were delighted to see the team praise our strong community, the positive learning environment throughout the school, and our kind, loving, and respectful students.
At the end of January the executive boards of ACSI and WASC will meet to officially grant Zhongshi International School accreditation status. This will be for the maximum term of 6 years. After this point it can be renewed assuming the school continues to be in compliance with all indicators. As soon as accreditation is granted we can use the ACSI and WASC logos on all our official documentation.
Accreditation is very advantageous for us as a school. It tells universities, employers, future staff, parents, and prospective students that we are a professional institution, verified by external agencies. Our school can be trusted to provide a quality education. This will help us to attract high quality teachers and more international students. It will also help our students with their applications to universities and colleges. We are held accountable by the ACSI and WASC organizations and they will expect us to show that we are continuing to grow and develop as a school. Our teachers are able to attend a much greater variety of conferences and professional training seminars which will in turn enhance their teaching abilities. We may also join groups like ACAMIS, the main sporting network across international schools in China.
A huge amount of work has gone into preparing Zhongshi International School for accreditation. Our school has developed and improved in so many ways over the last few years. We are delighted that our hard work has been recognized and we can now say with confidence that we are a quality international school, with an excellent program, great teachers, kind and loving students, supportive parents, and a bright and exciting future.