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Trinity Catholic Academy, a private Catholic
school with an enrollment of 250 students with classes from
pre-school to grade 8, was granted a ten-year accreditation by
the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC)
on December 5, 2002.
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The accreditation came after two years of
preparation by the school to meet the standards and goals of
NEASC.
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The goals of institutional accreditation by
NEASC are school improvements and quality assurance.
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The tree-step accreditation process began with a
self-study conducted by the school that began in September 2000.
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The self-study was followed by a visit on March
17-20, 2002 made by a committee representing NEASC's Commission
on Independent Schools.
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The third step is the follow-up process carried
out by the school to implement the recommendations of its
self-study and those made by the NEASC's visiting committee.
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In granting Trinity Catholic Academy its
accreditation, NEASC commended the Academy for its strong
commitment to living out its stated mission, for nourishing the
faith life of its students, and for fostering a commitment to
social justice and service to others.
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NEASC made only two recommendations for
improvement. They were: 1) that the Academy develop
a comprehensive, long-range strategic plan addressing all
aspects of the school, including a long-range financial plan; 2)
the Academy develop a comprehensive technology plan with long
range and short-term goals which include, internet use policy,
integration of technology into the classroom, and profession
development for the teaching staff.
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The Academy began responding several weeks ago
to those recommendations by setting up separate committees for
each of the recommendations made-up of members of the Board of
Advisors, administration and faculty at the Academy.
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The full accreditation process won't be repeated
until 2012. During the next ten years, however, the
Academy is expected to file NEASC a two-year interim evaluation
report in 2004, and a five-year report in 2007 at which
time NEASC will review the accreditation.
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Trinity is the only Catholic institution of
learning in southwestern Worcester County. While its
student body is predominantly Catholic, the Academy does accept
students of all faiths.
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Trinity Catholic Academy was previously known as
Saint Mary's Elementary School that began in 1889 when the
Pastor invited the Sisters of Saint Joseph to teach in
Southbridge. It became Trinity Catholic Academy when the
parish Elementary School merged with the diocesan Marianhill
High School in 1989, and was housed in the former Saint Peter's
building, the original Catholic Church in Southbridge, which was
destroyed by fire in 1999. Before the fire, the school has
consolidated its learning space into the former Marianhill
building located on the corner of Hamilton and Pine Streets.
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According to Mrs. Madeleine Brouillard, Academy
Principal, "the faculty, staff and students at Trinity are
very pleased with the news of this accreditation as it validates
the fact that we offer quality education, spirited by the
Gospel, to our students. This gives us even more reason to
be proud of our school."
