Accreditation visit set for this spring
OCEAN PARK BOULEVARD — For the first time in its 40-plus years as a continuation high school, Olympic High School will try for its first shot at accreditation this spring.
School officials have invited the accreditation committee from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges [WASC] to visit the school to determine whether Olympic — one of three high schools within the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District — is a legitimate institution from which four-year universities could cull students.
WASC is a non-government agency that partners with the California Department of Education and provides accreditation for about 4,000 schools and 400 American international schools in California, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.
“It means that you’re a trustworthy school that provides a safe and nurturing environment,” said David Brown, executive director for WASC.
School officials hope achieving accreditation status for the continuation school might shed its reputation as being a haven for the “bad kids” at Santa Monica and Malibu high schools, with outsiders seeing it as a legitimate institution.
Since coming to Olympic in the 2004-05 school year as principal, Janie Gates has been working to prepare the high school for accreditation status. Having served on the accrediting committee for WASC in the past, she believes the school stands a good shot of attaining interim accreditation status.
“To apply to a four-year college, your [school] needs to be WASC accredited,” Gates said last week.
About 130 students attend Olympic High School at any one time, and anywhere between 60-75 graduate annually. Many of the students who are credit-deficient and in danger of not graduating from Santa Monica High School end up at Olympic in their junior or senior years to catch up.
Five to 10 students will return to Santa Monica or Malibu high schools each year in order to graduate, but the majority of Olympic’s students stay put.
“They get a good high school diploma, but they are limited,” Gates said.
The students who end up leaving Olympic are encouraged to attend Santa Monica College, where they have the highest transfer rate to the University of California and California State University schools. Approximately 20 percent of students at Olympic are concurrently enrolled at SMC to make the transition to college easier.
“We can help support them in their college course work,” Gates said. “It’s a great way for kids to get started over there and get comfortable while getting full support from us.”
LOOKING TO SHAKE A BAD REP The Class of 2007 could be the last at Olympic to graduate without an accredited degree. Though many say they are saddened that they do not have the opportunity to head straight to a four-year school, they are hopeful that their younger peers will take full advantage if the school receives accreditation.
“It bothers me that people give the school such a bad rep and that it hasn’t gotten the credit it deserves,” said Steven Bravo, the school’s representative to the Board of Education. “I see kids who three years ago fell asleep in class, and here, they’re working their asses off.
“It sucks they’re not getting into a good school.”
Bravo came to Olympic this past summer as a student who was short on credits. He was reluctant at first to attend Olympic High because of its negative image, but now calls the move from Samohi the best decision he’s ever made.
Bravo plans to attend SMC and is hopeful he’ll receive a music internship soon.
The lack of accreditation has detoured plans to attend Cal State Northridge for senior Josette Hernandez, who transferred last year from Samohi. Instead, she plans to attend SMC for a few years and transfer to Northridge.
“There isn’t the opportunity to go to a four-year college,” said Hernandez. “I have friends [at Samohi] who say they’re going to UCLA or USC, but I’m stuck at SMC.”
But while the school does not open doors for its students to directly attend four-year colleges, Hernandez said Olympic offers vocational courses and real life lessons that she couldn’t learn in Santa Monica High School. For example, one of Hernandez’s favorite courses is a jewelry-making class.
Not all students are affected by the accreditation.
Christopher Rodriguez, a senior at Santa Monica High School, is planning to graduate from Olympic in March by taking his GED.
The accreditation wouldn’t affect him since he isn’t planning on attending a four-year college immediately. Rodriguez is planning to attend SMC and will consider four-year schools down the road.
“It doesn’t affect me at all,” Rodriguez said. “I’m still getting my stuff done.”
THE VISIT LOOMS LARGE When the WASC accreditation committee visits the school, it will decide whether to grant the school interim accreditation status, consider it for accreditation or deny it altogether.
The committee spends an entire day on campus, evaluating the curriculum, professional development, research opportunities provided by the district, funding, and qualification of staff and leadership.
Less than 10 percent of applying schools are denied candidacy or interim status, according to Brown.
If a school receives a candidacy status — considered a next-best-case scenario — officials have up to three years to complete a self study looking at all elements of the institution, including facility, financing, mission and planning, curriculum, goals and instructional delivery.
The WASC visits aren’t free of charge. The initial visit costs $750. Once inducted, the school must pay an annual membership fee of $650.
Gates is hopeful the school will reach accreditation, having worked for several years in preparation for the visit.
“It’s basically telling the community that this is a trustworthy institution of learning,” Gates said. “It’s a standard by which all schools strive to say ‘yes, we are meeting a high standard.’”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 7, 2007. Read the original PDF.