Westminster Receives High Marks on Decennial Evaluation

As an independent boarding school in New England, Westminster belongs to and receives its accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), an organization to which most independent schools and colleges and universities belong. Every ten years, member schools undergo re-accreditation and the central purpose of this two-year exercise is school improvement through both self-evaluation and peer review.
 
There are three stages to the process, including a self-study, where every member of the Westminster faculty participated in a close look at every facet of the School operations in the context of the NEASC standards and of Westminster’s Mission and Core Values. Parents, students, alumni, and trustees were also surveyed as part of this process.
 
Next, a visiting committee of teachers and administrators from other New England independent schools spent four days on the Hill while observing every aspect of campus life. The committee, led by two headmasters, wrote a report to NEASC. The third and final element is the follow-up, which takes place in the years following the visitation and the submission of the visiting committee’s report.

School commended in report
In their report, the committee especially commended Westminster for an extraordinarily healthy and supportive school culture, steeped in tradition and embraced by all members of the Westminster community, noting the remarkable alignment of the school’s mission, values and culture.  The committee also saluted the outstanding teachers and rigorous liberal arts curriculum and long history of fiscal discipline conservative budgeting, financial oversight, and careful planning and prioritizing in capital expenditures.
 
Recommendations from the committee included continued community-wide discussion of the meaning of diversity and its importance to the school’s mission; a vision to integrating technology into all facets of teaching and learning; and a commitment to the faculty’s professional growth, especially in planned professional development. The committee also strongly supported the major initiatives of the strategic planning process: to seek significant capital funds to construct a new academic facility, to provide additional dollars for financial aid, to continue efforts to do more by way of marketing the school and of telling Westminster’s story, and to continue enhancement of faculty compensation, in salary, housing, benefits, and professional enrichment opportunities.
 
Headmaster Graham Cole stated, “Obviously, it is wonderfully affirming and uplifting to know that a group of fellow independent school people has such a positive view of us. Yet as Headmaster, I hasten to add that the committee’s report also contains many useful suggestions for school improvement and I remain confident that we will work to that end in advancing this great school.”
 
One of the co-chairs of the visiting committee addressed the school and noted: “What we have seen is extraordinary: compassionate and strong leadership in your headmaster, an astoundingly committed and caring faculty, respectful and talented students who carry themselves with ‘grit and grace’, a campus that is beautiful and enhances community, and a culture rooted in timeless values and traditions. You have a remarkable school, and all of you—new Third Former, Head Prefect; first-year teacher to Senior Master--have a hand in its success and its bright future.”