Waterford accredited

State recognizes kindergarten after school failed in ’07

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — The National Association for the Education of Young Children recently awarded the Waterford Street School with a kindergarten accreditation that recognizes the quality of education at the school. Although the school had applied and failed to gain the accreditation in 2007, Principal Paul Guerin attributed their latest success to the dedication of the school’s staff. “Even through the discouraging news of last year when we were denied our request for candidacy, this staff remained positive and committed to the pursuit of excellence,” he said. The association determines which schools receive the accreditation based on criteria that includes community relations, curriculum and assessment, employees, facilities, families and children, legal policies of the district, improvement plans and organizational procedures. Mr. Guerin said the teachers at the school had to do a lot of extra preparation before the school sent in its accreditation application. “There was a lot of hard work that went into this,” said Mr. Guerin. “We prepared classroom portfolios and program portfolios that were about 3 inches thick for each classroom and about 6 inches thick for the entire program.” Although the school will not receive any money directly from the association itself, Mr. Guerin said the school’s recently acquired accreditation will make it more attractive when applying for additional funds. “The preschool has been accredited for many years now,” said Mr. Guerin. “Now that we have added the kindergarten to that list the entire school is accredited.” In order to receive the accreditation, members of the association had to review the school, whom teachers said were very thorough. “A woman came in during March to sit in the back of our classrooms and observe,” said kindergarten teacher Barbara LeBlanc. “They scoured the entire classroom and they really looked over everything.” The term for the accreditation is five years, and recognizes the outstanding quality inherent in the program, which is directly reflective of the caliber of education in Gardner Public Schools. Gardner Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carol Daring was not available for comment. oboss@thegardnernews.com

Appeared on Page 1 on 6/6/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 134)