St. Croix’s Central High School has been recommended for full reaccreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, according to the V.I. Department of Education. 
A validation team from Middle States has been visiting Central’s campus this week and evaluating everything from the school’s facilities to its curriculum. The site visit wrapped up Thursday with an oral report from the team, which recommended that Central be reaccredited for another seven years, until 2020, according Education Public Information Officer Ananta Pancham.
"To listen to the validation team chair give his oral report today was really a pleasure," St. Croix District Superintendent Gary Molloy said Thursday afternoon in the department’s statement. "It was eloquently delivered and it really highlighted what Central High is all about.”
The report also compared the mission, vision and goals of the school to that of the Middle States organization. He said, “The team further thanked the staff and students for their hard work and for making the team feel like family.
In preparation for this week’s site visit, Central has spent the past year in self-study, including a thorough internal review of all policies, procedures, facilities, student needs and academic content. During the review process, Middle States looks at how each school meets its 12 "standards of quality" and the self-study is conduced to highlight both the school’s strengths as well as areas in need of improvement.
An action plan that lays out new goals and objectives is then generated and presented to Middle States representatives for review (see http://www.middlestates.org/accreditation.php).
The subsequent site visit from Middle States is meant to "validate" what each school puts in its self-study and, in order to do so, visiting team members interview everyone from the students and staff to parents and community members involved in activities on the school’s campus.
The team’s positive recommendation will now be forwarded to the Middle States Accreditation Council, which is expected to make a formal decision on Central’s status in the fall. The school is currently accredited until December 1, 2013.
"It is indeed a pleasure for me to congratulate the administration, staff and students of Central High School on this wonderful news. It is truly well deserved," Education Commissioner LaVerne Terry said after the team’s recommendation was announced. "Going through the accreditation process is never easy, as it often times means having to take a hard look at whether the policies, programs, and even the way things are operating internally at a particular school are really working.”
Terry continued, “In this case, however, it is evident that the Central High community not only rose to the occasion, but demonstrated to Middle States their continued commitment to excellence. We are extremely proud of them."
St. Croix Central High School has been fully accredited since 2005. Middle States pulled its accreditation from 2001 to 2005 because the association was unsatisfied with the slow pace of improvements to the school’s structures at that time; it was reaccredited it in 2005.
