Woodstock Union High School was a hub of activity as teachers and students looked forward to the arrival of the New England Association of School and Colleges Committee (NEASC) last April.   Now, many months later, the administration breathes a sigh of contentment; the NEASC committee voted to award WUHS the highest level of continued accreditation.
WUHS faculty members began preparations two years before the actual visit.  The first step was a self-study. There are seven different standards NEASC looks for in an institution and each faculty member was assigned to a group for one of the standards. Ms. Sousa and Ms. Dean oversaw the work of the committees as they wrote their final reports. “There was a lot of preparation and I have to thank Sherry Sousa and Virginia Dean especially,” says Mr. Schillinger.
Then came the visit itself. Fifteen people, a group of teachers and superintendents  from different schools, came to sit in on classes and talk with students and teachers to get a good look at how the school functions. Their report was then brought to the Commission on Public Secondary Schools, where Woodstock was voted to be accredited.
NEASC is a regional accrediting foundation that creates an independent standard for schools from elementary to college level. Schools participate on a voluntary basis.  According to Mr. Schillinger, the committee  commended WUHS on our core values, the variety of learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom, adjustment of practices to cater to the individual’s needs, the availability of technology and small classroom sizes. “The basic idea that helped Woodstock in this process is all the different ways we try to find to meet a student’s individual needs,” Principal Schillinger said.
Despite the accolades, the accreditation process is not quite over, in  2013 WUHS faculty will submit a two-year report addressing their progress as a school. This report will include how the school is tackling the recommendations made by NEASC.  The committee advocated implementation of a formal adult guidance program in which there is an available teacher for each student to talk to, adequate classroom space for each teacher, a school-wide analytic rubric and so on.  “There are things we are not doing as well on as we should be. Our curriculum is the biggest area that needs work,” says Mr. Schillinger. The faculty will be working on creating a formal document that states the curriculum for each subject so all classes, despite having different teachers, will be following the same outline of a course.
WUHS faculty members and staff plan on addressing the NEASC’s concerns right away so they can maintain a well-rounded educational environment for each individual student.
On the subject of the mid-year report Mr. Schillinger says, “I think it will go well. The faculty did a really good job in the self-study and we started a lot of the work we need to do before NEASC left.” Mr. Schillinger plans on continuing to visit other schools to learn from various teaching and organization methods. Woodstock Union High School has now renewed their accreditation for the next ten years and will work to improve for the benefit of its students and community.