Educators from schools across the country who visited St. Ignace February early this month are evaluating whether the school district will be recommended for accreditation to the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.

The quality assurance team, sent as part of the organization's accreditation process, spoke with teachers, school board trustees, staff, students, and community members while here February 1 through 3 and plans to submit a formal report within a month or two, which should outline what areas the district excels at and what it needs to improve.

Superintendent Michael Springsteen said their informal report to board members Wednesday, February 3, was positive, although the group did suggest a few changes to policy and practices.

Some of the district's strengths, according to evaluators, included that they are willing to go through the accreditation process despite tight budgets. Teachers said all they need to teach effectively is children in the classrooms.

"That attitude is so refreshing," Mr. Springsteen said. "The NCA team was very impressed that the teachers were on board with the constant, continual improvement process."

The team also reported that community involvement is at a very good level in St. Ignace, and that the community members they talked to showed great support for the school district.

Mr. Springsteen said some of the areas needing improvement include

better development process for an annually-revised mission statement and vision statement for the district, as well as a more formally defined staff evaluation process.

"It was a really positive report, even though there are some things we need to improve on," Mr. Springsteen told the school board Monday, February 8. "It was a very good process."

The teachers and staff learned a lot by going through the process, he said, and it speaks to their dedication to the district that teachers and administrators were willing to put in the extra work required for the accreditation visit.

"It can help them to continue to improve," Mr. Springsteen said. "It can also show the community that you have a school system in place that is in step with the kinds of education programs we expect to see across the United States."