Summary: Effective leadership for learning is marked by clear communication of expectations, positive cultural influence, and ongoing learning and support for others.

Current Student Survey Insights:

• Leadership Support: Students felt supported in their learning process, with 67% noting that teachers helped them believe in themselves ​(2024 COGNIA Current MS/HS Student Survey)​.

• Preparedness for Future: 67% agreed that their lessons prepared them for the future​ (2024 COGNIA Current MS/HS Student Survey)​.

Family Survey Insights:

• Commitment to Improvement: 86% of families felt the school was committed to trying new things to improve​ (2024 COGNIA Family Survey)​.

• High Expectations: 95% agreed that the school had high expectations for learning ​(2024 COGNIA Family Survey)​.

Teacher Survey Insights:

• Engagement and Communication: 100% of teachers communicated expectations clearly and engaged in ongoing learning to improve their practice​ (2024 COGNIA Teacher Survey)​.

• Standard 7: Leaders guide professional staff members in the continuous improvement process focused on learners’ experiences and needs.
  
  Staff comments from the 2024 survey:
  ”Complete creative control for teachers; supportive resource structure and flexible administration response to class needs; teacher lunch meetings 3-4 times per year to assess how all classes and students are moving forward together, small class sizes”

  “I love that the North Fork School's curriculum is closely connected across subjects - for example, topics being covered in History closely relate to the material being read in English, which relates to the theme of the work being done in Art, which spans the time period of the play being performed in Drama, etc.” 

  “I love that we are able to strive for excellence while adapting to the needs of individual students. I really love what we are able to accomplish with small group learning - camaraderie, safety, open discussion, growth mindset, achieving personal best, continual and ongoing communication with parents, support for large-scale and detailed student projects, a team atmosphere, and a genuine love of learning.”

  
  Current Parent comments from the 2024 survey:
  ”Prospective families should know that while the total cost can look high, the value is extremely high due to the small class size and the high quality staff.  There is really no comparison between public school and the NF school. The NF school meets each student where they are at, stretching them and challenging them in new ways. The NF school curriculum goes deep in every subject, bringing in high quality literature that our whole family enjoys reading. The NF school also naturally teaches organization, study skills, and self-directedness; skills that will benefit children for a lifetime.”
  
  Teachers, especially in the integrated Humanities curriculum, meet and discuss evolving needs of students in these classes every quarter — curriculum is always changing to meet the needs of students, as well as to bring them along to the desired outcomes. While each cohort is unique, all students must learn the content of that course, so teachers are constantly in touch with each other and with parents to adjust to learning needs and styles of individual students.
  
  This “continuous improvement” is an ongoing process — although not recorded as a “steps toward desired outcome” product. It is the reason all students who complete 5-7 years of North Fork classes do exceptionally well on standardized tests, and on college acceptance rates, college performance, and ultimately, career success.
  
  Continual improvement is the basis upon which the North Fork School has thrived for twenty-eight years in the small community of McCall. Without satisfying its stakeholders, or achieving successful outcomes, the school would simply not exist.

  There is no guaranteed student body or government-funded budget to support activities at the North Fork School; by achieving outstanding student outcomes, and by continually hearing from our graduates that they were well-prepared for -- and helped their peers with -- college academics, NFS teachers and current students and parents know that North Fork School programs are worth the tuition.
  
  

• Standard 8: The governing authority demonstrates a commitment to learners by collaborating with leaders to uphold the institution’s priorities and to drive continuous improvement.
  
  There is no “governing body” for the North Fork School. Teachers collaborate and confer constantly to adjust and improve learner experiences and outcomes. All efforts and strategies are geared toward successful student outcomes: Student Performance Data is consistently strong over 20 years. That parents continue to choose North Fork classes, when there are free and “top-rated” public options in the community, speaks to the success of North Fork leadership to drive student success and continuous improvement over time.
  
  School Administrative Policies and Parent | Student Handbooks are available on the website for all Stakeholders to peruse at any time. We hold annual October and April evening meetings to review offerings and policy questions, but meetings seem optional (we can’t require parents to attend), and are often only sparsely or briefly attended, as students have evening sports, and parents are busy with work and family obligations, and already know what they want to do for the next school year.
  
  When there is an impending accreditation review, and we ask stakeholders to attend in order to help decide important issues, we do have a strong turn out on the appointed evening, but during years in which we have tried to muster an actual Advisory Board that would meet 2-3 times per year, interest among parents is low. As the parent body evolves with student participation, that interest could change in the next few years.
  
  

• Standard 9: Leaders cultivate effective individual and collective leadership among stakeholders.
  
  Current Parent comments from the 2024 survey: "We appreciate the dedication and passion the staff bring to the subjects they teach.  We also really enjoy the fall conferences. It is helpful to sit down with all the staff at the same time and notice patterns/tendencies across subjects. The staff all provide really thoughtful feedback at the conference and on report cards that help us understand how our child is doing both academically and socially."
  

  Current Staff comments from the 2024 survey: "I love that we are able to strive for excellence while adapting to the needs of individual students. I really love what we are able to accomplish with small group learning - camaraderie, safety, open discussion, growth mindset, achieving personal best, continual and ongoing communication with parents, support for large-scale and detailed student projects, a team atmosphere, and a genuine love of learning."
  

  Stakeholder Survey Results:
  2024 Standard 2: GOVERNANCE/LEADERSHIP = 4.55 (91%)
  2019 Standard 2: GOVERNANCE/LEADERSHIP = 4.5 (90%)
  2014 Standard 2: GOVERNANCE/LEADERSHIP = 4.33 (87%)
  
  In the years since our 2020 Accreditation Review, enrollment has diminished as a plethora of free online options have proliferated in the wake of Covid. Even before 2020, parents and teachers were reticent to take on leadership positions, as they are already fully involved in their children's public school activities and support systems, which are more in need of assistance and participation.
  

  While NFS teachers are continually involved in assessing and improving processes and procedures in their own classes, they also must work other jobs to create full-time incomes in McCall. They do help market, promote, and communicate about NFS programs to expose more community members to the school, but they are not paid to do extra tasks beyond teaching, which they do exceptionally well.
  

  Since North Fork School classes are in addition to other public and private school options, supplanting classes in those schools, parental involvement in community and advisory boards, and interest in leadership roles, is diminished in a school for which they must also pay tuition and maintain jobs which demand their time. They trust North Fork to improve as students need improvement, and they place their trust in the teachers who guide that improvement.
  

  July 2024 Parent/teacher communication regarding creating a cellphone and Smart watch policy at North Fork
  

  September 2024 eBlast to stakeholders requesting assistance in the school’s self-assessment prior to 2025 Cognia Accreditation review: includes links to self-assessment Key Characteristics and rubrics as well as to evidence that all Stakeholders could review and comment on before attending the meeting to evaluate strengths/weaknesses of The North Fork School.
  
  October 2019 eBlast to stakeholders prior to 2020 Accreditation Review: includes link to documents all Stakeholders could review and comment on before attending the meeting to vote on Improvement items and evaluate strengths/weaknesses of The North Fork School.
  
  Website pages: Private Classes/Public Days,  Just the Facts, and Tuition
  
  

• Standard 10: Leaders demonstrate expertise in recruiting, supervising, and evaluating professional staff members to optimize learning.
  
  The North Fork School Mission & Beliefs (last updated in May, 2024) have guided development of its programs since 1996. Typical conflicts between public & private schooling revolve around financial issues; in a community as small as McCall, a more positive direction was to choose a path which would allow the North Fork School to offer small, challenging classes which would not affect funding for the public schools in any way. Additionally, full integration of NFS students in the public school community is better for all of the students, as they can stay involved in classes and extracurricular activities with their friends in the public schools.

   

  Because students come out of the public schools for only a small part of each day, the public schools receive full payment for each NFS student. North Fork School programs reduce public class sizes, and the schools still receive their full allotment of tax dollars.

   

  An intimate knowledge of students' academic strengths and weaknesses allows North Fork teachers to evaluate students with exact, detailed, narrative evaluations each quarter.  There is VERY LITTLE teacher turnover [2 history teachers; 1 English teacher, 1 French teacher in the past 28 years] at The North Fork School.

   

  Math teachers [six over 11 years — 2008-2018; 2023-2024], when added to our programs, are the least likely to remain, as they often take full-time jobs with benefits at the public schools after a year or so of teaching in our small classrooms. Only one math teacher stayed at NFS for seven years; five others taught one year only. Older math teachers have come out of retirement to spend a year or two teaching, and then return to a schedule-free retirement.
  
  As integrated Humanities classes are what we do best, we continue to offer only those classes, and do not search for math teachers (although parents seem most willing to pay for STEM classes). The constant turnover of teachers in math destabilizes our programs and undermines our objectives and mission.
  

  Continual improvement is the basis upon which the North Fork School has thrived for twenty-eight years in the small community of McCall. Without satisfying its stakeholders, or achieving successful outcomes, the school would simply not exist.
  

  There is no guaranteed student body or government-funded budget to support activities at the North Fork School; by achieving outstanding student outcomes, and by continually hearing from our graduates that they were well-prepared for -- and helped their peers with -- college academics, NFS teachers and current students and parents know that North Fork School programs are worth the tuition.

  Eleot observations take place every Semester, as well as informal teacher/class observations and discussions at the end of each Quarter to assess classroom and teacher needs.

  Teacher evaluations using Charlotte Danielson’s Evaluation framework, with follow-up discussions as needed, occur twice each year.