The accreditation process is governed by the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools. The Board has created a Standards Committee which oversees the applications and reports that make up the accreditation process. The Standards Committee makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees, which then acts on those recommendations on behalf of the Association.
If a school wishes to be accredited, the process begins with a conversation with the Executive Director or the Director of Accreditation to discuss the requirements of accreditation and whether a school is likely to be successful in engaging the process. Non-member schools must first join SAES as members, after which, with the permission of the Director of Accreditation, they may submit an application for accreditation. Once the Application has been submitted, the Director of Accreditation will schedule a visit to the school by a member of the Standards Committee and an SAES staff member. Afterwards, the School will submit the Initial Documents in Adherence to Standards. The Standards Committee will then vote to recommend, defer, or deny preliminary accreditation to the SAES Board, and the SAES Board will act on that recommendation and the school will be notified. Once the preliminary level of accreditation has been officially conferred, the school has thirty (30) months to complete a Self-Study and host an On-Site Visit, at which time the Standards Committee may vote to recommend Full Accreditation.
While each school's experience varies, the entire process from initial inquiry to Full Accreditation takes approximately three school years. The SAES staff works with applicant schools throughout the entire process. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.