In 2009, five representatives of the AdvancED governing board came and observed our school for accreditation.  For two days they reviewed our educational standards and procedures and recommended that we be awarded a full five-year accreditation certificate.  The team rated FCA as Operational or Highly Functional in all seven Standards of Review.  In 2015 the school was reviewed again for renewal and passed with flying colors!

 

You may be wondering what this means for our school. “Accreditation” is the “granting of approval to an institution of learning by an official review board after the school has met specific requirements.”  AdvancED and the SACS are both organizations that oversee accreditation in schools internationally, making sure those schools are meeting the necessary standards.

 

How does FCA benefit from being accredited?  The most immediate result is that graduating seniors are able to submit their GPA for consideration by scholarship organizations. For students graduating from an unaccredited school, only SAT and ACT scores are considered. This means that accreditation helps those students who have high GPAs but lower test scores. A second major benefit is the transferability of academic credits.  This mostly pertains to going from high school to college.  Another benefit is the credibility earned.  Accredited schools are recognized internationally and dissolve questions people may have about attending.

 

All the teachers and staff at FCA have worked extremely hard to make this accreditation a possibility for us. So thanks to our teachers and students for making our accrediting experience a successful one!

 

You can visit both the SACS and AdvancED websites below for more info.

 

SACS Official Homepage:

http://www.sacs.org/

 

AdvancED Official Homepage:

http://www.advanc-ed.org/