By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Chilton County Schools is moving forward with the AdvancEd District Accreditation process for the first time.

“The accreditation process is a rigorous process that is recognized nationally and sends a strong statement about the district’s commitment to student achievement,” Chilton County Schools Superintendent Tommy Glasscock said.

He said this higher-level accreditation is something potential industries see as favorable when comparing counties in which to locate.

The AdvancED accreditation would also help students who wanted to go into law enforcement.

“Many branches of law enforcement will not recognize applicants who come from a non-accredited school,” Glasscock said.

Three Chilton County high schools (Maplesville, Jemison and Chilton County) received this accreditation in the past. However, now the goal is to have this accreditation for the entire district. District accreditation has also become a greater focus for AdvancED in recent years.

“District Accreditation requires that we first conduct a self-examination of current teaching and learning practices and policies, and then allow an outside team to examine our district wide practices and policies to measure the school system’s effectiveness,” Chilton County Schools Assistant Superintendent Adriane Dennis said. “Areas of strengths and needs will be identified.”

As a part of the accreditation process, the school system is conducting an AdvancEd District Review and is asking for the community’s help by completing surveys about the school system.

“Please assist us by providing your honest input,” Dennis said. “Your information will be used to let us know where we rank currently and what we can do to make the Chilton County School System even better.”

Dennis said the survey was developed by a planning team including community leaders, parents, retired educators, students, school board President Lori Patterson and school and district administrators.

Responses in the surveys will be reviewed as a part of developing a strategic plan for the school system. While the school system develops a plan for maintenance and building projects on an annual basis, this is the first time the school system will have a strategic plan on this scale.

The plan will include a mission statement and vision statement for the school system in addition to goals for the system and serve as a guide in future decisions made by the district and individual schools.

“A plan also helps to improve student outcomes, helps to keep great teachers, and enhances the reputation of the district,” Dennis said.

The community survey can be accessed at https://goo.gl/forms/DU0Zm6DTi6Yv0wns2.

The deadline for responses is April 23.