“Passionate,” “Innovative,” “Phenomenal,” and “Loving.” These are just some of the superlatives that a reaccreditation team used to describe St. Andrew’s School in their report to the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) Membership Committee. St. Andrew’s, which joined the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) in 2003, was up for its interim reaccreditation this past February. As part of that process, a team of four professionals, chaired by Will King, President and Headmaster of Norfolk Collegiate School, was on site for two and a half days. The visiting team reviewed all aspects of our school program from the curriculum, to facilities, to financial procedures. Visiting members visited all of our classes, and met with teachers, staff, parents, and Board members. They also requested and reviewed an array of documentation related to our program. The report that emerged from their visit was overwhelmingly positive. The team noted six major strengths of the school, which included:

• “the phenomenal faculty and administration”
• “the remarkable students”
• “superb professional development opportunities”
• “a well thought-out curriculum”
• “visionary leadership by a dedicated board”
• “support for students and families as they prepare to leave St. Andrew's for middle school”

The team suggested that we work to provide more psychological and counseling services for our students and families. This is a growing need that we also have recognized. As we plan for the near future, we are working to meet this need, at least in part, through a developing partnership with the VCU counseling program.

Congratulations to Mrs. Grigg, the Chair of our reaccreditation effort and to the St. Andrew’s faculty and staff for all their hard work in making this five year VAIS visit such a great success!