High schools earn valued accreditation, recognition for inclusive practices

Three Springfield Public Schools (SPS) schools are setting new standards of excellence as they showcase their commitment to high-quality education and student engagement. Gateways, Springfield, and Thurston high schools all earned the prestigious Cognia Accreditation, a highly regarded accreditation that is recognized throughout the world.

For a school to receive Cognia Accreditation, the institution has made a commitment to providing high-quality education by undergoing a rigorous process of self-assessment and third-party evaluation by experts. A school that seeks to earn Cognia Accreditation must apply for evaluation and must meet several performance standards.

“As accredited institutions, the Cognia stamp of approval basically validates our high schools as meeting expectations and ensures other institutions that we follow guidelines,” said Mindy Leroux, director of high schools at Springfield Public Schools (SPS). “As we look forward, we will continue to improve our professional development practices, develop formative assessment systems for measuring student progress, and look for opportunities to genuinely engage our students in their learning.”

The three high schools began their accreditation process in spring of last year. It takes an average of six months to complete the evaluation and accreditation process. Each school must be willing to undergo observations, conduct student surveys, and share data, including attendance and credit attainment records. Evaluators rate the school based on the information gathered. 

There will be a follow-up check in with each high school in the next three years to assess how each school is making progress in noted areas. 

The process highlighted several areas of excellence:

• Intentional focus on building relationships with students to foster an inclusive environment.
• The district’s Professional Learning Community (PLC) teamwork that focused in the past year across all high schools.

Evaluators also provided praise to Thurston High School (THS) for its noteworthy practices to build positive relationships between students and staff, particularly for its efforts to engage and empower students from previously marginalized identity groups. The school also received a nod for using student leadership groups to address campus issues, which has led to a culture in which students experience a strong sense of belonging.

THS Principal Kimberlee Pelster credits the recognition to simply doing the hard work of creating the right spaces and inviting students to share their full stories. This helps them be themselves at school.

“Student experience is at the core of who we are at Thurston High School. We are a caring community. For us, that means every student feels connected, engaged, and proud to be a Colt,” said Pelster. “Our staff work hard to build relationships with each student who walks in our doors. It feels good to be recognized for excellence in something we value so much.”

The accreditation process included opportunities to improve the high school experience:

• Implement more differentiated instruction in classrooms to increase student engagement and student ownership of their learning.
• Develop valid formative assessment systems to measure student progress.

In the weeks to come, the Academy of Arts and Academics (A3) will also undergo its own evaluation and accreditation process, completing the review of all SPS high schools.

Three separate organizations, North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), gave the schools the Cognia Accreditation. The Cognia Global Commission conferred the accreditation on March 31, 2025.