In the spring of 2013, Menlo-Atherton High School received the maximum six year accreditation from The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). On March 17-20 of 2013, M-A completed its six-year accreditation review. WASC sent a six-person team to review our self-study report, visit all classrooms, and meet with constituency groups.
The school began preparing for the WASC in 2011. We produced a 327-page report (posted below) that includes summaries of the school surveys, results from focus groups, student interviews, and an analysis of key trend data.
The visiting team commended the accurate representation of our self study and our honest portrayal of both our successes and challenges. The visiting team noted the following (listed numerically):
Areas of Strength:
Areas of Follow-up:
WASC 2015-16 Midterm Review
On March 30, 2016, Menlo-Atherton was visited by a representative of the WASC committee for a mid-term evaluation to assess how Menlo-Atherton has been progressing on these areas of strength and areas of follow-up from the report in 2013.
Before the WASC review, Menlo-Atherton staff members met three separate times in preparation.
On May 20, 2015, staff members met in Focus Groups to discuss collective strengths and weaknesses as defined by the WASC team in 2013. Individual teachers also completed a survey on progress toward instruction-specific action items.
On September 15, 2015, staff members reviewed action plan items in departments and made notes on progress. Staff also looked at the WASC team recommended school-wide areas of follow-up and made notes on departmental progress.
On November 10, 2015, staff met again in focus groups to review school data. Staff also looked at the compiled responses from the May and September meetings and pulled specific school-wide updates to areas of strength and follow-up to be included in the final WASC document.
The WASC Visit
The visit comprised of a tour of classrooms and meetings with individuals about the WASC process, the school’s key data, and the school’s critical academic needs. The visit also included a debrief with key leadership team members regarding the school’s progress in our Action Plan.