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St. Croix High Schools Improve Accreditation Status

Nov. 19, 2008 — Both public high schools on St. Croix have regained their accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools, Government House announced Wednesday.
St. Croix Educational Complex was awarded full accreditation, while Central High School's accreditation status was upgraded from limited to provisional.
"Improving the quality of education throughout the Virgin Islands is a top priority for my administration," Gov. John deJongh Jr. said in a Government House news release. "The notification of accreditation for both these high schools speaks volumes on the collaborations between my administration and the teachers of both schools. We have kick started many important initiatives at our public schools, and some are beginning to yield positive results for our young people."
DeJongh says his administration will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to reform the public-education system in the territory.
Full accreditation takes effect Dec. 1 at Educational Complex. It is for a term of four years, though it could be extended for an additional five years after a site visit by the Middle States organization halfway through the term. The full accreditation is a bump up from the limited accreditation status Complex held before.
Central High has provisional accreditation for one year, also beginning Dec. 1. Middle States laid out specific objectives Central must meet to stay accredited. Central's administration has to give regular reports on the school's progress toward those objectives, due in mid January, May 1 and Sept. 1.
St. Croix School Superintendent Gary Molloy congratulated the faculty, staff, administration, students and parents of the Educational Complex and St. Croix Central.
"This accreditation process truly engaged the entire school community in a process of self-evaluation, reflection and improvement," Molloy said. "I am proud to know our schools went through the external scrutiny and welcomed the constructive feedback of our peers. The process demands rigor that is based in data, and the schools had to provide documentation of results to meet the standards for accreditation."
Also at Central, deJongh announced that contractors were selected to revamp the electrical-distribution system, add a stand-by power generator, make renovations to Central's vocational-education building and replace bleachers in the gymnasium.
Pre-construction demolition inside the vocational-education building is finished now and the new work is scheduled to begin shortly. One critical decision is the selection of replacement bleachers, as they must satisfy requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
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