PVMHS is taken off accreditation warning list

By Janelle Randazza

PEABODY—After eight years of steady improvement, Peabody Veterans Memorial High School has shed the accreditation “warning” status, which has loomed over the school since 1998.
A January 12 letter sent to Principal Patrick Larkin from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC) acknowledged the school’s “significant progress” in addressing cited deficiencies.
Some of the areas of improvement cited in the letter were the completion of all HVAC work; the hiring of a seventh guidance councilor; the installation of new windows and doors; and the receiving of numerous development grants, including the Smaller Learning Communities grant.
According to Ann L. Ashworth, Associate Director of NEASC, at any given time 125 out of the 650 districts the organization monitors can have at least one school in their district being watched for accreditation status. Facilities management and upkeep is one of the most prevalent reasons for a school to be in jeopardy, yet it can also be one of the most difficult things to improve upon.
“It can be difficult for districts to find the funds to improve facilities and it can be a challenge to coordinate the improvements, but it is important… Facilities certainly aren’t the only reason for a school to be on watch, but many times it is the main cause,” said Ashworth. According to Ashworth, when a school’s facilities aren’t up to the organization’s standards, it can hamper the faculty’s ability to implement curriculum.
The accomplishment was lauded at last week’s school committee meeting as a collaboration that could not have occurred without the teamwork of administrators, city workers, custodial staff and the teachers’ union.
“We had a strong team at the city level and a strong collaboration between city and school department. This was a situation where all of the players came together for the good of the high school and now we can feel confident that we have laid excellent groundwork for the students of Peabody,” said Mayor Michael Bonfanti.
“Our volunteer building committee met, unpaid, every Wednesday until the project was completed. They oversaw the entire HVAC installation project and made sure that systems were in place to ensure the project was completed on time and on budget,” said Bonfanti.
Bonfanti and Larkin praised both the custodians and the teachers for working tirelessly and for remaining positive during the $16 million renovation project. The ambitious project was also a fiscal triumph, coming in under the planned $17 million budget and saving the city, what district business manager Michael Musto estimates as being “five times that” to build a new high school.
“There was a lot of shuffling of classrooms and offices and the custodians worked over time to move and clean. This kind of work can’t be accomplished without the staff working like they did. They never complained about working in a less than optimal environment; they made the best of the situation at hand,” said Larkin praising his staff for their “consummate professionalism.”
“If the staff is not positive it runs over to the students. I never heard one word of complaint—and people should know that that had an incredible impact on the students’ learning” said Larkin.
NEASC is the nation’s oldest regional accrediting association. According to the NEASC website, accreditation relies on a voluntary, peer review process. Each relies on a 12- to 18-month self-study process, which takes place in “regular review cycles.” The areas if review are school effectiveness, improvement and public assurance. This process does not involve ranking institutions; instead it establishes a level of “acceptable quality” for all accredited institutions. The organization’s accreditation process was developed by and is facilitated by educators, a method that Larkin agrees with.
“It’s educators that are evaluating and giving your feedback on your school. Who would not want to hear that?” said Larkin, who said that the method is “a good look in the mirror.”
“I actually think it’s a great opportunity to improve. You don’t improve because you have to; you do it because you want to make your school a better one. We have a lot of great things here but things can always be better and this gives us an opportunity to make an honest assessment of where we are at so that we can better move forward,” said Larkin.
Larkin says that while being taken off the warning list is an accomplishment and a relief for the ciy, it does not mean that the school should rest on its laurels. The school will be revisited in 2008 for NEASC’s routine reevaluation and for progress assessment. Larkin says that he looks at the reevaluation as an opportunity and a motivator to continue with an improvement plan that will keep Peabody ahead of the curve.
“We are going to be so far ahead of the game in 08, because we are constantly working to improve so many of the standards they are looking at,” Larkin.
Some of the improvements that he is most excited about have to do with the school’s Smaller Learning Communities grant, a grant which he feels will truly reshape teaching at the high school and one he credits teachers and departments heads for acquiring.
“We got the grant because we had so many people in the building that worked over-time with only the students in mind. It was a monumental effort to get the grant,” said Larkin, who pointed out that PVMHS was the only school in New England last year to be a recipient of the prestigious grant.
“The teachers were willing to do the hard work, which they do every day. As a principal, it’s exciting to be involved in a school district like this,” said Larkin. “It was a lot of work to go through but if you improve for the right reasons, you will have a school that is better for the students overall.”