Head of School Accreditation Update – February 19, 2023

Aloha Saint Mark Parents!

I hope and pray that you all are doing well and are enjoying a nice holiday weekend. I am writing to give you an update on Saint Mark school’s re-accreditation process.

As you may know, Saint Mark Lutheran School embarked on an important and meaningful journey in November of 2021 when we began our self-study as part of the school re-accreditation process. We are fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) & National Lutheran Schools Accreditation (NLSA) and are currently working to renew all three accreditations.  A full accreditation term is for seven years so our last accreditation visit was in spring of 2016.

Self-Study Process
The self-study is a crucial exercise whereby the school, with valuable input from its various constituencies (faculty/staff, students, parents, and board of education members), thoroughly evaluates itself and tries to assess its overall health and efficacy.

The result of this long process is a comprehensive self-study report that is given to the accreditation visitation team (composed of four experienced educators) prior to their multiple day visit. Our self-study report was completed and shared with our visiting team members in December in preparation for this past week’s visit.

Visit Completed / Wonderful Feedback Given
The WASC / HAIS / NLSA accreditation visiting team just concluded their three day visit at Saint Mark this past Friday (you may have seen their cars parked in front of the ELC), and I am happy to report that their time with us was wonderful!

The team meticulously read and scrutinized our self-study report before their visit. Then once on campus, they thoroughly investigated our programs, visited our classrooms, met with our different constituencies, and then shared their findings. The entire process was extremely positive and reaffirming. They validated what we are doing well but also provided us with ideas on how to enhance our programs and offerings in the future. The full results and report of their visit will be given to us after the accreditation commission meets later this spring.  We are excited to move forward with some recommended goals that help to pave a meaningful path for on-going school improvement in the years to come.

Mahalo for your Support
Our profound thanks goes to all the faculty/staff, students, parents, board members, and Pastor Dan who worked in support of this valuable process!  We especially thank the four outstanding members of our accreditation visiting team (pictured below L to R) – Dr. Dan White, Head of School at Island Pacific Academy (Ret.); Ms. Lia Woo, Head of School at Hanahau`oli; Mr. Joshua Rempfer, Principal at Emmanuel Lutheran Maui; and Mr. Michael David, High School Principal at Hanalani.

We greatly appreciate the time and talent they graciously donated to our school!

Thank you for your support and please do not hesitate to contact the school office should you have any questions.

Mahalo and Blessings,

David Gaudi
Head of School