By Kevin Yaley
Head of School
“If we could, we would all love to send our kids to Parker.”
Last week, a team of educators from some of the best schools in California– Brentwood, Chadwick, Crossroads, French American International, Harvard-Westlake, Head-Royce, La Scuola International, Marlborough, Oakwood School, and Polytechnic–spent four days conducting what one might refer to as an “educational audit” of our program.
This team of educators–which included two heads of school, director of diversity, CFO, associate head of school, upper school science teacher, academic dean, director of advancement, and two division heads–was charged with reviewing critical aspects of our educational programs and operations in an effort to assess how well we are living up to our mission and how effectively we are meeting the standards of excellence in education set forth by our accrediting body, the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS).
Guiding their review and visit is our self-study completed over the span of 18 months, from June 2018 to December 2019, in which we attempted to capture an honest and comprehensive audit of the effectiveness of our overall educational program and student experience.
At the conclusion of the visit, the committee submitted a full report to the CAIS Board of Directors, which reviews the recommendation and makes the ultimate determination about our accreditation status. For the past six accreditation cycles, Parker has received the maximum status. And while we will not learn of our status until June 2020, based on the reading of the report–which took place on the final day of the visit and was given in front of all Parker faculty and staff–I can say with an equal dose of humility and pride that Parker received the highest of accolades along with the appropriate recommendations that will ultimately catapult our school to even greater heights.
And it was during that final reading when Parker received the highest compliment of all. In concluding the report, the visiting Chair shared the following, “All of us on the visiting committee agree: If we could, we would all love to send our kids to Parker.” I do not know if we could have been paid a higher compliment, and at that moment I was filled with gratitude for each and every person who works at Parker. For they–individually and collectively–are the reason why Parker truly is a remarkable school.
All the best,
Kevin
