In accordance with a six year agreement, Arroyo will be visited for three days in the second semester by the WASC organization to determine whether the curriculum is being taught up to standard.

Laura Vasquez and Jennifer Swanson are WASC co-chairs. They have been writing the report of the past year. All faculty members are in a focus group committee. These focus groups have looked at and analyzed data. They have addressed the needs by the previous WASC committee and examined all progress. Parents and students are also involved in the process.

“Basically we are writing a progress report of Arroyo,” said Swanson. “We take an honest look at our programs. We are telling the visiting committee where we are, where we like to be, and how we will get there.”

“WASC is the Western Association of School Credentialing. They give us the right to award diplomas to our students. Without their approval, we can’t give diplomas; they’re worthless,” explained Assistant Principal of Instruction Mr. Jose Gallegos.

“An accreditation team, called a WASC visiting team, visits the school for three days. They sit in each classroom making sure that what we said was taking place in the classroom is actually taking place. They talk to groups of students, parents, and support staff to make sure that everyone is aware of the vision and mission of the school,” says Ms. Vazquez.

“After the third day, the team will write up a detailed report in which they make a recommendation for the amount of years they feel the school can go without being revisited by another WASC team; the best score for a school is a six-year accreditation term,” says Mr. Gomez.

The visiting team will arrive on campus on April 2 and continue their stay until April 5.