CCHS recommended to maintain accreditation

An early November site visit by a team of five educators resulted in Campbell County High School receiving a recommendation to maintain accreditation by AdvancEd.

“Colleges look for high schools that are accredited. We have to go through accreditation every five years,” said Jamie Wheeler, CCHS principal.

There are five main standards examined to determine a school’s eligibility to be accredited, according to the AdvanceEd website. Those include purpose and direction, governance and leadership, teaching and assessing for learning, resources and support systems, and using results for continuous improvement.

“They really like the environment of the school, the culture of the school,” Wheeler said.

The analysis found that CCHS has a “positive environment” with clean, safe and well maintained the facilities. Additionally, the team praised the vocational program and found that the school’s flex lunch provided a positive academic and social structure.

“They really thought that was unique because they had never seen that,” Wheeler said.

This is the second year for the hour-long flex lunch which gives students time to eat, but also time to attend tutoring, do homework, or receive other assistance.

“We have a lot of tutoring going on, students working on credit recovery, club meetings,” Wheeler said.

Recommendations for improvements included the implementation of professional learning communities. PLCs will provide a chance for teachers to discuss and collaborate on effective classroom strategies. It is a move many schools across Campbell County are preparing to make.

“[It’s] teachers getting together and figuring out how to teach students better,” Wheeler said.

The renewed accreditation should be final within 90 days. CCHS has been accredited since 1975. Jellico High School is also accredited by AdvancEd.