Oct. 1, 2004 – Ivanna Eudora Kean High School and Charlotte Amalie High School, both on St. Thomas, are well on their way to regaining accreditation from the Commission on Secondary Schools of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, according to principals at both schools.
"We've been given the green light," Eudora Kean High School principal Sharon McCollum-Rogers said Friday.
She said a team visited the schools Wednesday.
McCollum-Rogers said that the schools have one more step to go before regaining accreditation.
"A validation team is coming in November," she said, referring to Eudora Kean.
She said this visit was to determine if the school is ready for accreditation. (See "Appeal Fails, High Schools Are Unaccredited").
Charlotte Amalie High School expects a similar visit on Oct. 19, principal Jeanette Smith said.
McCollum-Rogers said this week's team asked for some very minor changes in the self-study done by the school. They included a request for more details and supporting documents.
Smith said Charlotte Amalie has to make a few repairs to the school, including adding an airconditioning unit, making plumbing and computer repairs and getting some new furniture
McCollum-Rogers was delighted at the results of the Middle States team's visit, "considering from where we have come," she said.
Middle States announced in November of 2001 that it was pulling the accreditation of Eudora Kean, Central High School and Charlotte Amalie High School after years of warnings.
Central and Charlotte Amalie High Schools as well as St. Croix Educational Complex, which had never been accredited, became candidates for accreditation in June 2003.
Eudora Kean did not gain that status until December 2003, McCollum-Rogers said.
Middle States accelerated the application process for Kean so that the school was at the same point in the accreditation process as the other schools.
McCollum-Rogers said the school's accreditation task force finished the self-study document in May. The changes were made by late August.
Mary Ann Keeley, Middle States' associate director for Caribbean Schools, was out of her office and could not be reached for comment.
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