SAC/SAIS Visit Report by Presbyterian Day School

SAIS-SACS ACCREDITATION REPORT, SUMMER 2010

Presbyterian Day School 4025 Poplar Avenue • Memphis, Tennessee 38111-6022

CONTENTS HISTORY OF SAIS-SACS ACCREDITATION. ROSTER OF TEAM MEMBERS .

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Chair . . . . . . . Team Members .

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THE REVIEW .

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THE SELF-STUDY Profile . Vision . Plan . . Results

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SUMMARY .

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CONCLUSION

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HISTORY OF SAIS-SACS ACCREDITATION

Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)member schools are part of a remarkable history of quality assurance in education. SAIS began its organizational life in 1903 as the “Mid-South Association of Independent Schools,” providing training for teachers in private schools and some early public schools in the southeastern states. In 1953, another organization began as the Southern Association of Independent Schools, providing a forum for independent school administrators to work with public schools through SACS and to contribute to the larger interest in accreditation in the southeast. MAIS and SAIS merged in 1986 to form the present SAIS, with an emphasis on accreditation through SACS for independent schools and professional development for administrators, trustees, and teachers. Today, SAIS works to help both established and emerging schools approach these issues with creativity and innovation. Working at the state, regional, and national levels, SAIS serves and strengthens member schools through the promotion of the highest quality educational standards and ethical conduct. Established in 1895, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (commonly referred to as SACS) is a nongovernmental, voluntary organization that accredits more than 13,000 public and non-public institutions from early childhood through university. Since its inception, SACS has served the educational community by dedicating its mission to helping schools improve student

learning. Today, SACS is the largest accrediting agency in the world and is one of only six agencies that accredit both public and nonpublic educational institutions. The current partnership offers schools a process for achieving SAIS-SACS accreditation. In today’s world of accountability in schooling, accreditation serves as a critical component of a school’s demonstrated effectiveness and ability to provide successful schooling for children. A school that is able to achieve accreditation demonstrates a commitment to a process that requires the school to meet a set of rigorous, research-based standards; to engage in a program of continuous school improvement; and to demonstrate quality assurance to its stakeholders through self-evaluation and peer review. SAIS-SACS accreditation provides schools access to an integrated network of services and technical assistance that supports every school’s ability to identify and meet its goals for improving student performance and the teaching and learning process. A SAIS-SACS accredited school is part of an international network of accredited schools which have demonstrated success in educating children. As such, SAIS-SACS accreditation is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of quality in education for students and teachers. To earn accreditation, schools must meet quality standards, be evaluated by an outside group of peer professionals, and implement a school plan focused on strategic improvement and student performance. Accreditation is voluntary and must be renewed each year.

ROSTER OF TEAM MEMBERS CHAIR KENNETH C. CHEESEMAN Head of School, St. Paul Christian Academy 5035 Hillsboro Road, Nashville, TN 615-269-4751 kcheeseman@stpaulchristian.org

TEAM MEMBERS BURNS JONES Head of School, Canterbury School

LOREN FAUCHIER Global Studies Coordinator, Providence Day School

5400 Old Lake Jeanette Road, Greensboro, NC 27455 336-288-2007 jonesb@canterburygso.org

5800 Sardis Road, Charlotte, NC 28270 704-887-7041 loren.fauchier@providenceday.org

MARYELLEN BERRY Upper Learning, Trinity School

PETER THURMOND Junior School Head, Montgomery Bell Academy

4301 Northside Parkway, Atlanta, Georgia 404-231-8100 mberry@trinityatl.org

4001 Harding Road, Nashville, TN 615-298-5514 thurmop@montgomerybell.com

THE REVIEW A team representing SAIS and SACS conducted an on-site visit to review this schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-study and standards compliance. The team was comprised of team members whose diverse independent school backgrounds provided an array of expertise. The visiting team sought the answers to these four critical questions within the framework of the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-study. The following pages contain the findings.

In conducting the on-site reviews, the visiting team was responsible for: 1. Assessing the adequacy of the self-study process; 2. Identifying strengths of the school deserving commendation; 3. Developing recommendations that may help to strengthen the programs of the school; 4. Assessing compliance with the standards of SAIS-SACS; 5. Developing a written report of the findings.

To fulfill the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s responsibilities, team members: 1. Reviewed documentation provided by the school; 2. Conducted interviews with board members, parents, school personnel, students, and community members; 3. Applied the standards for accreditation; 4. Developed a draft of commendations and recommendations; 5. Contributed to the content and focus of the written report; 6. Provided input as to the determination of accreditation.

The primary focus of the self-study process is to demonstrate the capacity of a school to meet the requirements for accreditation. A typical self-study consists of: • Analysis and response to accreditation standards; • Identification and demonstration of a continuous process of improvement; • Implementation of methods that provide for quality assurance.

The study addresses four critical questions: PROFILE Where is the school today? The PROFILE should include clear, comprehensive information reflecting current student performance data, stakeholder perspectives, community characteristics, and analysis of strengths and limitations in the areas of student learning and school performance. VISION Where does the school want to go? The VISION is a clear, compelling purpose communicated through the school’s vision and mission statements, beliefs, and core values. PLAN What is the plan to get there? The PLAN should be based on an analysis of pertinent data, research of best practices, and alignment with generally-accepted expectations for student learning at schools with similar missions. RESULTS How will the school know when it has accomplished its plan? The RESULTS are documented evidence demonstrating successful implementation if strategies that resulted in accomplishment of the school’s mission and student achievement gains related to the school’s mission.

THE SELF-STUDY These words, taken from the self-study, capture well the blessed history of Presbyterian Day School: “In 1949, Second Presbyterian Church, one of the oldest churches in Memphis, founded Presbyterian Day School at the church’s new location at Poplar Avenue and Goodlett. In an introductory statement sent to church members stated, ‘We believe that this field (Christian education) offers a real challenge to us and through the medium of this weekday kindergarten, we are preparing to try to use this opportunity for the greatest good to these children, their homes, and to the highest glory of God.’ Pastor A.W. Dick and Mr. Robert Hussey played key leadership roles in the opening of PDS.

Throughout its history, PDS and Second Presbyterian Church have remained close and supportive partners, though they are separate entities, as PDS is an independent school. Over 3,300 boys (and a few girls from the early years) have graduated from PDS, and they have held a number of leadership positions in Memphis and beyond.” PDS is led by a Headmaster and is governed by a self-perpetrating Board of Trustees. The school is organized in two divisions: Early Childhood (Pre-K – SK) and Elementary School (1-6). Each division is led by a principal or director who reports directly to the Head of School. Over 60% of the faculty earned advanced degrees. In addition, there is a Chief Advancement Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Operations & Athletics, and Director of Administrative Support.

Thirty-five children - boys and girls - enrolled in kindergarten in 1949. In 1951, the Pentacost-Garrison School for boys closed, and many of those families To conduct the self-study, PDS faculty began its work enrolled their boys at PDS, which thus became a large boys in 2008-09 at an all-faculty retreat. The study was only school serving boys in grades kindergarten through based on the Continuous Improvement Model using the 9th grade. In 1955, PDS helped Memphis University the seven standards for dual accreditation as a basis to School (MUS) reopen by giving MUS our 7th, 8th and create its committee structures who then considered 9th grades, as well as our headmaster, Colonel Ross Lynn. the four critical questions within their committees: PDS thus became a school for boys in kindergarten through the 6th grade, and PDS and MUS have maintained a close and supportive relationship since then. • Profile–Where is the school today? Since 1955, PDS has added junior kindergarten (1992) and pre-kindergarten (2005). The student body has grown to over 630, making PDS one of the largest boys’ elementary schools in the country. Major facility expansions have taken place in 1971, 1992, and 2009. The curriculum and teaching methodology have changed to assure that PDS continues to prepare boys to be scholars and leaders in a changing world. Despite these changes, PDS has remained true to its founding and mission and maintained its great traditions, which include the Christmas Pageant, the Speech Contest, Yipes Stripes, the Student-Faculty Basketball Game, and Happy-Grams.

• Visions, Mission, and Beliefs–Where does the school want to go? • Action Plan–What is the pan to get there? • Results–How will the school know when it has accomplished the plan? Representatives of the Board of Trustees, school administration, faculty, parents, and students served on the committees or were consulted. Each committee prepared a final report that was reviewed by the Steering Committee and submitted to appropriate stakeholders.

PROFILE

WHERE IS THE SCHOOL TODAY? Presbyterian Day School remains committed to its mission of glorifying God by developing boys in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. While the school is predominantly composed of students whose parents claim a Protestant background, it does not limit itself to students of this religious heritage. Quoting directly from their profile, the school believes that “the Bible teaches that the diversity of people and their backgrounds helps to reveal the splendor and power of God, that His love overcomes all differences, and that He calls us into common fellowship and community. We therefore intentionally seek out and serve boys and families of all racial, ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds and strive to build an inclusive school community in which every boy feels like he fits.” The school is now and has always been a ministry of Second Presbyterian Church to boys and families in the Memphis area. In attracting students, the school draws boys from 35 zip codes around Memphis, with 67% of PDS families living in East Memphis. In placing its graduates, the school’s close relationship with Memphis University School (MUS) is apparent. MUS is a seventh through twelfth grade, all-boys, college preparatory school, also with roots at the Second Presbyterian Church, to whom approximately 90% of PDS graduates matriculate.

COMMENDATIONS: The visiting team commends the school for: • Creating a culture of open communication and transparency, which has translated into significant ownership of the school by its constituents. • Fostering significant financial and volunteer support for the school.

• Developing a strong appreciation of the school’s identity throughout all of its constituents and the profound impact that this identity has seared into the hearts of the boys and alumni. • Creating and sustaining a dynamic a school that fully embraces change and new ideas.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The visiting team recommends that the school consider: • Clearly defining a systematic vetting process that prioritizes the many worthy goals and ideas generated by Board, administration, and faculty.

VISION

WHERE DOES THE SCHOOL WANT TO GO? Where does Presbyterian Day School want to go? Presbyterian Day School created a group of faculty and staff to create a vision for the school. This group had representation from each division, academic departments and levels. Faculty and staff met in a retreat to discuss and create ideas for the vision goals. Beginning this past fall the Vision group involved faculty at several points through meetings and documents for comment. In addition, the school surveyed faculty, parents, alumni and the sixth grade to gather data about school performance. This process lead to identifying the vision in the self-study. The visiting team is confident that all faculty had an opportunity to contribute to the data and conversation about where Presbyterian Day School wants to go. Furthermore, the visiting team feels that the main goal—“over the next five years, PDS will deliver a world-class education to boys”—is in line with the school’s mission and identity, which reads “Presbyterian Day School strives to glorify God by developing boys in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men,” and will enhance the quality of education for students.

COMMENDATIONS: The visiting team commends the school for: • The head of school’s visionary leadership and the Board’s support for that leadership.

• Fostering collaboration among faculty and encouraging creative thinking about how best to teach its programs.

• Establishing a vision that is informed by the school’s mission and core values.

• Seeking to diversify its student body and to help the local community by educating students of color who do not have the financial ability to attend Presbyterian Day School, and supporting the goal of increasing the number of students of color.

• Extraordinarily supporting faculty professional development in teaching critical and creative thinking skills to boys. • Beginning to establish global education and global citizenship as part of its curriculum.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The visiting team recommends that the school consider: • Educating more intentionally all stakeholders of PDS about the mission of the school and connecting all programming to the mission.

• Delineating clearly how key visionary goalsglobal citizenship, rigorous academic standards, and practice serving others-connect.

• Defining global citizenship and identifying the goals and means to achieve it if global education shall become an important component of the curriculum.

• Creating and articulating in writing a plan that integrates and harmonizes the school’s global vision.

PLAN

WHAT IS THE PLAN TO GET THERE? Presbyterian Day School’s “plan” encompasses seven key areas, more specifically, Critical and Creative Thinking Skills, Personalized Instruction, Boy Specialization, Global Perspective, Technology, Art and Music, and Curriculum. These are designed to accomplish the School’s vision to develop a world-class education to boys and to be a dynamic and innovative educational leader. The School is to be commended for its actions to address the recommendations from the 2005 self-study. The development of a new plan by way of faculty retreats, demonstrates evidence of forward thinking and understanding of the changing world. Additionally, the plan continues to keep boys’ education at the forefront. Developing a dynamic curriculum that intentionally focuses on a global perspective will enable graduates to gain the skills, attitudes, and beliefs critical to success. The intentional focus of critical and creative thinking coupled with professional development at Project Zero enables the school to effectively apply professional learning into the day-to-day education of the students. As PDS continues to pursue a “world class education” for boys, the school should consider developing a comprehensive and dynamic plan that clearly articulates the various components and stays tied to the mission of the school. This would include a focused study of what is required in a curriculum that seeks to have its graduates obtain a global perspective. The new Early Childhood building and grounds are attractive and accomplish the needs of young learners. As the School seeks to build new spaces within the school, it is recommended that they be closely tied to programmatic needs and enhancements.

COMMENDATIONS: The visiting team commends the school for: • Creating an intentional focus for curriculum that supports 21st Century learning with a global perspective and includes the infusion of critical and creative thinking skills. • Instituting a systematic professional development plan at Harvard’s Project Zero to support the curricular vision and innovations, specifically centered around critical and creative thinking.

• Creating a culture of lifelong learners in faculty and students. • Developing faculty partnerships with the technology coaches resulting in greater integration of technology throughout the school.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The visiting team recommends that the school consider: • Developing a flexible yet comprehensive plan that enfolds the various initiatives of a “A World Class Education” with the mission of the school and the principles outlined in the “PDS of the 21st Century” document. • Providing additional opportunities to foster students’ growth in leadership and to see themselves as leaders in the school. • Seeking a relationship with a school abroad that will help facilitate foreign language proficiency, cultural knowledge, and global issues relevant to the partner school.

• Defining global citizenship and establishing a comprehensive curriculum plan using backward design to • achieve global citizenship goals, and • connect and apply 21st century skills to the stated content areas of key cultures (China, India, etc.) and global issues in a developmentally appropriate way.

RESULTS

HOW WILL THE SCHOOL KNOW WHEN IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED ITS PLAN? It is obvious that PDS is an institution that refuses to remain satisfied with its accomplishments and constantly evaluates how it can improve the quality of the education that it provides its students. PDS seems to occupy a constant state of continuous planning that is the hallmark of a strong educational institution. The results outlined in the “Outcomes” section of the school’s Self-Study certainly demonstrate the school’s commitment to continuing to advance as an institution. The school may benefit, however, from outlining in more specificity and more measurably the results that it feels will indicate achievement of the school’s vision. For instance, one of the results listed under the “Character and Values” heading is that the school will weave “its character education programBuilding Boys, Making Men- into numerous parts of the school.” It may prove helpful to offer a more specific explanation of the specific parts of the school in which this program will be implemented. In addition, there is a real opportunity for PDS to strengthen the thematic link that should exist between the school’s vision and the results that will indicate completion of that vision. This link could help the school craft a more defined path of institutional progress. The school’s results should represent objective and measurable makers that, when achieved, will demonstrate the successful achievement of its vision. To this end, the results should contain both a thematic and rhetorical relationship to the vision. Finally, PDS should ensure that there is a particular staff member or group responsible for ensuring that these result delineated in the self-study are achieved within an appropriate length of time. While this may be something that the school has already accounted for, it was not readily apparent to the visitation team.

COMMENDATIONS: The visiting committee commends the school for: • Maintaining a posture of continuous planning that enables the school’s personnel to think creatively and strategically about the school’s future and to adapt quickly to new opportunities for growth in a constantly changing educational environment.

• Crafting a series of results that are related to student achievement and support the school’s child-centered approach to education.

• Creating the plan for “A World Class Education” for the students at PDS that is supported by results that are both demonstrable and scheduled for completion within appropriate time periods.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The visiting team recommends that the school consider:

• Fashioning more measurable, data-driven benchmarks for indicating the desired results outlined in the self-study. • Ensuring that the school’s results relate directly to the school’s vision in order to guarantee that the vision will be fully achieved.

• Designating specific staff members or committees with the responsibility for ensuring that the results outlined in the self-study are ultimately accomplished.

SUMMARY The visiting ng committee mittee foun fo nd the found he Presbyterian Presbyte Presbyt P Pr Preesbyte esbytee D Day SSc Scho School community to be energetic and energized. There is a healthy Everywhere we turned, there was evidence althy restlessness sn ness nes ess th es ess that hat pper pervades rv d the community. commu comm of constituents question, can we make this better?” The school ntss askingg some m version me versio sio i off the t qu question que qques uestio estio “How “ showered the visiting wonderful and complete transparency during the iting tingg committee com om mmittee mittee with h wo w wonderfu onddderf der hospitality h ho duration of our visit. sit. Special Special thanks goes goes to Kim K Bullard, Accreditation Coordinator & Committee Chair for her excellent and ndd tireless work in making sure the visiting committee had all it needed.

GENERAL COMMENDATIONS: • Creating, supporting, and funding a thorough academic support process for boys who struggle to meet the academic standards at PDS, which builds on the long-held desire at PDS to know, nurture, and love each individual boy.

• Developing an attractive and efficient space for the school’s youngest students to learn and play in the Wilson Early Childhood Center • Beginning to design ways to engage and impact the Memphis community

• Creating a vision and plan for a new media center that will better position PDS to address current programmatic demands as well as the future demands generated through the implementation of the school’s “A World Class Education” program.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS: • Clarify the organizational structure to more clearly focus on the needs of the faculty and staff, especially with regard to employee benefits

• Clarify for parents and faculty the roles of administration

CONCLUSION THE VISITING ISIIT I NG NG TEAM EA AM FI AM F FIN FINDS FINDS: IN S: 1. That the school is in compliance with all standards of the SAIS-SACS accreditation process. 2. That the self-study conducted by the school meets the standard of quality and thoroughness required by the SAIS-SACS accreditation process and answers the four critical questions as outlined in the Guidebook.

3. That the school is unanimously recommended for SAIS-SACS accreditation.

OUR MISSION

P R E S B Y T E R I A N D AY S C H O O L STRIVES TO GLORIFY GOD BY DEVELOPING BOYS I N W I S D O M A N D S TAT U R E A N D I N FA V O R W I T H G O D A N D M E N 1 C O R I N T H I A N S 1 0 : 3 1 & LU K E 2 : 5 2

Presbyterian Day School ˜ SINCE 1949 ˜ 4025 Poplar Avenue • Memphis, Tennessee 38111-6622 901 842-4600 • www.pdsmemphis.org