SACS team wrapping up DCSS evaluation

ALBANY, Ga. — An SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) accreditation team will wrap up a three-day evaluation of the Dougherty County School System with a briefing on its findings before the School Board at Radium Springs Elementary School this afternoon.

The SACS external review teams, now known as AdvancED, began their evaluations Monday afternoon with interviews at the school administration building of the principals of the 19 DCSS schools it did not visit during the assessment.

Much of the team’s work came Tuesday with morning visits to Radium Springs Middle, Lake Park Elementary, Lamar Reese Magnet Elementary and Albany Early College.

That afternoon the team visited Dougherty High, Westover High, Merry Acres Middle and Turner Elementary.

The AdvancED team visited classrooms, interviewed the schools’ principals, school leadership or improvement teams, teachers, parents and students during these visits.

The team is scheduled to spend most of today in the school administration building interviewing Superintendent Joshua Murfree, members of his cabinet and office staff.

At 3 p.m. at Radium Elementary, the lead evaluator of the external review team will present the School Board with a briefing of the findings in its exit report.

The team’s visit will determine whether the DCSS is reaccredited by the association.

According to the AdvancED web site, “Accreditation is a voluntary method of quality assurance developed more than 100 years ago by American universities and secondary schools, and designed primarily to distinguish schools adhering to a set of educational standards.

“The accreditation process is also known in terms of its ability to effectively drive student performance and continuous improvement in education.”