Print Issue: October 10, 2002

Holy Redeemer School Receives SACS Accreditation

Teacher Julie Hall helps a first-grade student in her class at Holy Redeemer School. The archdiocesan school, which opened in 1999, received its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools recently. The accreditation is a culmination of two years of work by the faculty, staff and parents of Holy Redeemer. Teacher Emily Callahan looks over some of her kindergartners' artwork at Holy Redeemer School, Alpharetta.

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ALPHARETTA - Holy Redeemer School has become the second of three archdiocesan elementary schools to open in 1999 to receive its initial accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Our Lady of Victory School, Tyrone, received its initial accreditation in May.

The accreditation is a culmination of two years of work by the faculty, staff and parents of Holy Redeemer. Archbishop John F. Donoghue kicked off the strategic planning process with a liturgy on Oct. 5, 2000. During this process, 81 parents joined teachers in the strategic plan committees of religious identity, finance, curriculum, development and technology.

The second phase of the plan was to take the recommendations made by the committees and form them into five goals for each topic. A group of parents and teachers did this and published this strategic planning in spring 2001. This strategic plan formed the basis of the SACS improvement plan that was written.

There are 13 standards and 140 objectives that have to be met in order for a school to receive the initial accreditation.

The final step is a school visit by a SACS team of educators, which took place Sept. 18-20.

In a letter written to inform Mary Reiling, Holy Redeemer principal, of its accreditation recommendation, Don Teel, visiting team chair, and the associate executive director of the Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools for SACS, praised the school.

"You, and members of the school community, have done a great job in developing a school that provides superior learning opportunities for students in an environment that focuses on the worth and dignity of each and every child," he wrote.

Judith Mucheck, superintendent of Catholic schools, called the accomplishment "huge."

"There is no state agency for a new school to apply to, to have their programs validated, so because of this a secondary agency (SACS) is responsible for validating all programs of the school," she said. "They make sure the facilities meet a certain standard, that the library/media center and academic curriculum are age appropriate and correct, that the faculty and staff have the appropriate credentials and that the financial operation is appropriate. The whole process is a very detailed critical analysis of themselves that they submit to SACS and that the visiting committee validates."

Mucheck also said that in order to receive its initial accreditation, a school must have "no deficiencies," whereas older schools are allowed to carry a certain number of deficiencies with the promise to correct them within a certain time frame.

"The accreditation process is a huge amount of work," Mucheck said, adding that schools must go through the process every five years.

Reiling is proud of her school's accomplishment, but believes that it is an achievement shared among many.

"It was a joy to step back and see how far we have come at the end of three short years," she said. "Together, faculty, families and students have come to form a Catholic school and be part of the tradition of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta."

Reiling also is grateful for outside support, from Father Joe Corbett, pastor, and Father Bob Frederick, parochial vicar, at St. Brigid's Church, which is located on the property, and other priests from feeder parishes, as well as the other Catholic schools.

"We have appreciated the support the other Catholic schools have given us," she said. "We are grateful to the many priests in the parishes where our children come from who come faithfully over to Holy Redeemer to celebrate liturgy and reconciliation services with us. Father Joe and Father Bob are our great next door neighbors at St. Brigid's and give us special care. We are blessed in every way possible."

Holy Redeemer has 517 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. All are Catholic.