Progression is important.

In an effort to keep the institution moving forward, Noll is currently going through an accreditation process and will receive accreditation visits next week. Accreditation, which is a set of protocols that evaluate an institution’s effectiveness and operations, is not only a step forward for the school, but also a means to finally adhere to the same set of evaluating standards as other schools in the area.

“We’re looking at the things we do and we’re going to raise the bar for ourselves,” said Mrs. Colleen McCoy-Cejka, principal. “The schools in the Diocese of Gary are finally catching up with their fellow Catholic and public schools by seeking accreditation.”

What’s the difference between state and nationwide accreditation? In a state accreditation, the evaluation consists of paperwork, checklists, and then an exit report that includes a plan on what to do to improve the school evaluated. A state accreditation does not offer quality assurance and does not require test scores. In a nationwide accreditation, schools are evaluated based on a more specific set of criteria.

On April 17-18, nationwide accreditation representatives from AdvancED will be evaluating the school’s academic stance. The representatives will be interviewing students, teachers, parents, and board members from the school to critique the school’s academic standards and their implementation.

“AvancED is an accreditation model used in 72 countries around the world,” McCoy-Cejka said. “We will be measuring our quality against the standards of all other schools around the world. You can expect for the atmosphere to be a little bit tense during those two days because this is the first time that we’ve done this and we’re a little bit nervous. We’re not quite sure what to expect ourselves.”

But gaining accreditation for Noll isn’t just a pretty certificate or plaque to put on the wall. In fact, there are many benefits for a school to gain accreditiation, including the ease of transferring students’ credits from one school to another and better access to loans or scholorships.

“Often, grant organizations will not even give money to schools who only have state accreditation because the state offers no assurance of quality,” McCoy-Cejka said.

Also, state accreditation is almost a thing of the past. Most schools are required to adopt national accreditation.

“Catholic schools in Illinois do not have state accreditation; they HAVE to have a national accreditation like Advanc-Ed, Freeway, or ISACS,” McCoy-Cejka said.

Noll began preparing for accreditation over a year ago.

“[It helps us because] it has forced us to be very reflective about the things that we do and why we do the things that we do,” said McCoy-Cejka.