story by Tomi Grote for The Star News in McCall, Idaho
A team from accreditation agency AdvancED scored the North Fork School in McCall well above average in key categories in the school’s recent annual review.
North Fork scored 26 percent above average in the Teaching and Learning Impact category and 28 percent above average in Leadership Capacity. The overall score came in 40 percent above the average.
A summary of the accreditation results along with information on elevated test score performance by North Fork students will be available at the school’s annual open house at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Alpine Playhouse in McCall. Anyone who is interested in the school’s mission, methods and curriculum is urged to attend.
Enrollment at the school during the past academic year was 22 students in sixth through 12th grades.
The objective of the curriculum is to prepare students for maximum success in college. The majority of students split their time between the private school and McCall’s public schools. A few exchange students studying out of the area attend North Fork via Skype.
The students choose to take a portion of their public school requirements at the school because of the more rigorous standards. Course options concentrate on math, writing skills, literature and related humanities and social sciences.
The accreditation team lauded North Fork School on the following:
• Small class sizes of four to five students, considerable one-on-one instruction, and quality student engagement.
• High expectations for all students..
• Maintenance of high quality standards through involvement of parents and students, along with direct contact with the local community.
• Flexibility and follow-through for students to help ensure their success.
• Experienced, qualified teaching staff
“The quality of the education surpasses reasonable expectations and promotes life-long learning in core subjects,” the AdvancED report said.
AdvancED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, on-site external reviews of PreK-12 schools and school systems to ensure that all learners realize their full potential, according to the company’s website.
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