AdvancED Reaccredits Bartow School System

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The Bartow County School System has been reaccredited by AdvancED, the parent organization of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

AdvancED made its ruling on Wednesday following an on-site visit to the school system, Bartow schools said in a press release.

During the visit, AdvancED officials visited 62 classrooms in seven schools and interviewed more than 300 individuals associated with the system, including staff, faculty, students and administrative leaders.

Dave Stipe, the lead evaluator and head of the seven-person team, opened his exit presentation with accolades for the school system.

“Your schools are doing a phenomenal job,” he said. “We watched some outstanding activities taking place in the elementary and in the middle and high schools that we visited. You have every right to be very proud of what’s taking place at those schools. The technology is alive and well. The teaching, the devotion and commitment to education in the minds and hearts of all the teachers we saw, we couldn’t be more pleased.”

Bartow Schools received positive feedback in the areas of digital learning, student engagement and maintaining a safe, clean and healthy environment to foster learning, the system said.

Stipe said Bartow Schools earned the highest score in digital learning he has seen in all the 55 previous district reviews he has completed across the U.S and throughout Latin America.

However, there is room for improvement, AdvancED noted in its report.

The team stated action “needed to be taken to enhance the communication between the district office and the schools,” the school system said.

It also called for a common grading system that allows for student assessment to be implemented as well as a professional development plan linked to the district’s strategic plan.

Bartow County Schools Superintendent Dr. John Harper, who initiated and carried out the push for increasing students’ access to technology by implementing the 1:1 conversion — giving every student access to a computer or laptop — was pleased with renewal of the district’s accreditation.

“It is always beneficial for school systems to be reviewed by an outside evaluating body,” he said. “We appreciate the thoroughness of the SACS evaluators to make a comprehensive assessment of our curriculum and systematic procedures. The process is quite extensive and requires many hours of the evaluators’ time. We value their effort and the feedback we received today. We look forward to assessing their recommendations and to finding ways to implement them. We believe we have a strong school system and this will only work to make us stronger and more successful in our aim of educating our children.”

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