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Hopwood accredited for three more years
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Posted on Aug 20 2008
The Western Association of School and Colleges has extended Hopwood Jr. High School’s accreditation through 2011.
Hopwood will be eligible for six-year accreditation in 2011.
“We’ve had positive results,” acting principal Christina Masga said. “We’re really happy to see the new school goals and how it has shaped and further improved our data.”
Masga said the WASC committee members were especially impressed by the parental support.
”A lot of parents came in and spent time with the teachers and they had a short dinner,” she said. “They really enjoyed the parents’ company.”
The main hurdle the school continues to face is a lack of funding, Masga said.
“A lot of worries were about money and how we could do what we needed to do,” she said.
The parents have been very supportive, she added, giving the school tax credits to use.
Even with the financial struggles, the school strives to improve the curriculum every year and keep expectations high, she said.
Masga said school officials have followed three criteria to make sure the school does not fall back into a period of probation, as it did in the 1990s: accountability; keeping records of student data; and retaining teachers.
“Back then there was a lot of turnover,” she said. “Teachers were not happy. Students and parents were not happy.”
Although parents have been supportive, Masga said she always invites more parent involvement.
“Imagine, we had 1,200 kids and if we could get parents involved, then we wouldn’t need any other support. We have everything else, we just need the parents,” she added.
