For the past year, the University of Nebraska High School welcomed the opportunity to have our school evaluated by Cognia (a national accreditation organization) to receive our certification as an accredited online high school for the next 5 years. Schools earn accreditation by meeting rigorous standards of educational excellence. UNHS was granted accreditation in June.
The accreditation process assesses performance in areas such as student achievement, curriculum, instruction, leadership, and school culture. UHNS worked in partnership with Cognia to establish continuous improvement measures in all areas within our school. The accreditation process is designed to promote excellence and improve student learning outcomes.
The following is a brief summation of the Cognia team’s accreditation engagement review findings when they visited our school in April, and UNHS was granted accreditation in June.
Overall Themes:
UNHS: is committed to its mission to provide quality education and services to a diverse population of students with varying needs and interests in a very effective manner.
UNHS: implements curriculum and instruction that are aligned for relevancy, inclusion, and effectiveness in support of learners’ personal interests and circumstances.
UNHS: provides learners with a variety of offerings through a manageable and user-friendly learning management system (with recognition that it takes a strong team – or team of teams – to make this happen).
Areas of Improvement:
• Professional learning plan to support professional practice of staff
• Differentiated instructional options to meet the needs of a diverse population of students
Stakeholders were also asked to describe UNHS to someone who knows nothing about the school using just one word. Their responses were as follows:
Staff responses: Unique, Flexible, Exceptional, Awesome
Parent responses: Nurturing, Progressive, Flexible, Pioneering