WHO WE ARE

The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC), a world-renowned accrediting association and one of the six regional accrediting agencies in the United States, works closely with the Office of Overseas Schools under the U.S. Department of State. ACS WASC provides assistance to schools worldwide, especially in California, Hawaii, Guam, Asia, the Pacific Region, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe.

WHAT WE DO

ACS WASC advances and validates quality ongoing school improvement by supporting its private and public elementary, secondary, and postsecondary member institutions to engage in a rigorous and relevant self-evaluation and peer review process that focuses on student learning. This mission is built upon these beliefs: 1) a school's goal is successful student learning; 2) each school has a clear purpose and schoolwide learner outcomes; and (3) for ongoing school improvement, each school engages in collaborative self-reflection and analysis to assess progress in achieving its mission, vision, and schoolwide learner outcomes. Accreditation is integral to a school's perpetual cycle of assessment, designing and planning, implementation, monitoring, and reassessment based upon student achievement. It fosters excellence in elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education by encouraging school improvement through a process of continuing evaluation and recognizing, by accreditation, schools that meet an acceptable level of quality in accordance with established research-based criteria. In addition to its official title, WASC also uses the acronym to reflect its mission - "We Are Student-Centered."