Middle States Accreditation
A school's accreditation by an independent accrediting body is an essential aspect of a successful and respected school operation. Accreditation, for both secondary and higher education institutions, publicly acknowledges that the school in question meets or surpasses the Standards of Practice set for educational entities. A review of a school's accreditation occurs every ten years. This review process is a major event in the life of any school; Darrow is no exception. In May 2004, the visiting team from The Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges notified Darrow that their unanimous recommendation for continued accreditation has been made to the Board of Directors of The Middle States Association. This was the culmination of over twenty months worth of rigorous work.
The re-accreditation process produced a self-study document that included three action plans which are already well on their way to being completed. In addition, the self-study document was a guiding force in the 18 months following the Middle States reaccreditation as the School developed a new strategic plan for the future.
Darrow's Action Plans
Ensuring our excellence as a college-preparatory school.This is a five-year plan to ensure that Darrow's academic program is designed in such a way as to provide our graduates with the skills necessary to be academically successful college freshman. This process begins with surveying basic skill expectations of colleges to which Darrow students go, curricular design that sets skill expectations class by class, and a process for studying the success rates of Darrow alumni as college freshman.
Becoming an independent school leader in the integration of applied or hands-on learning in a college preparatory context. This five-year plan includes curricular design that integrates more fully applied or hands-on learning experiences in all academic departments. Faculty will also develop innovative evaluation methods that are best suited to active learning. An element of this Action Plan is a strategy to have Darrow become a recognized leader in this specific area of secondary education.
Developing a compensation plan for faculty that takes Darrow to the top 25% of peer institutions. Darrow will seek ways to better compensate the faculty. This involves increasing salaries in relation to our peer schools, evaluating benefits packaging, and also undertaking a longer-term plan for increasing the quality of faculty housing. An additional important element of this action plan is an enhancement of a comprehensive professional development program that ultimately involves the partial provision of graduate school education for faculty.
