Academic

ISACS TEAM CONCLUDES IMPORTANT
RE-ACCREDITATION VISIT
NAIS, ISACS, AIMS, ERB. It’s a regular alphabet
soup of accreditation, authorization and academic
certification. It’s confusing to be sure for some in
the school community, but nonetheless vital to The
Grosse Pointe Academy’s continuing growth as a
beacon of excellence in early and primary education.
Among the many accreditations achieved by
GPA, perhaps one of the most vital is its ISACS
accreditation. The Independent Schools Association
of the Central States is a membership organization
of more than 230 independent schools from 13
states in the Midwest region of the United States.
GPA has been ISACS-accredited for years and shares
such accreditation with Cranbrook, Country Day and
The Roeper School.
VISITING TEAM COMMENDS
In mid-April, a team of 10 educators from other
ISACS-member schools concluded a four-day visit to
GPA as a part of the school’s re-accreditation process.
Prior to the visit, GPA faculty, staff, administrators
and Board members prepared a 130-page self-study
report describing all aspects of GPA’s program,
operations and school culture.
According to GPA officials, the ISACS team
observed school in session and met with faculty,
staff, students, administrators, alumni, Trustees
and parents. The team used those observations
and meetings to analyze GPA’s self-study report
and to develop a general overview along with
commendations and recommendations for the 31
report areas in the self-study.
“We received a copy of the ISACS full
report at mid-summer,” said Head of School Lars
Kuelling. “And we were happy to receive our full
accreditation at that time.”
Prior to departing the Academy in April,
the ISACS visiting team leader, Mike Vachow,
who is from the Forsyth School in St. Louis,
Missouri, shared his team’s overall observations
with GPA’s faculty and staff, and presented major
commendations and recommendations, some of
which are highlighted below:
• Dedicated, compassionate, flexible, loyal
faculty, staff and administration
• The family feel that characterizes school
community
• Leadership of the school at the governance
level is intensely focused on the long-term financial
sustainability of GPA
• Courage to explore emerging, distinguishing
programs like STEAM, 1-to-1 computing, R.E.A.L.,
the Garden Classroom
“We are all grateful to the visiting team
members who took time from their own schools
to so thoughtfully examine our program and
provide what we know will be helpful reflections
and suggestions,” Kuelling said. “I would like to
personally thank all of our faculty and staff — the
steering committee, and Janice Sturm, steering
committee chair — for their work and dedication to
our school and students over the past two years. A
job well done!”
SIXTEEN ACADEMY ALUMS FROM THE CLASS OF 2011 GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR. THEY WERE ACCEPTED
TO THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. (See page 28 for more on the class.)
New York University
University of Dayton
Emerson College
Manhattan College
Unites States Military Academy, West Point
University of Michigan
Butler University
Davidson College
University of Detroit Mercy
Loyola University Chicago
Rhodes College
Johns Hopkins University
Case Western Reserve University
Central Michigan University
St. Louis University
Michigan State University
Purdue University
Ohio State University
Miami University (Ohio)
Indiana University
Marquette University
University of South Carolina
Bard College
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Wake Forest University
Hope College
Xavier University
Howard University
Miami University Oxford
College of Wooster
University of Alabama
Rochester University
Rice University
Manhattan School of Music
Wayne State University
Oakland University
Illinois Wesleyan University
University of South Carolina
Carnegie Mellon University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Sewanee: The University of the South
Oberlin College
Furman University
Connecticut College
Albion College
Kalamazoo College
John Carroll University
University of Southern California
Bowling Green State University