(March 3, 2009) — From March 8–11, six teachers and school administrators from around California will be coming to Clark to determine the school’s eligibility for re-accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC. Accreditation by WASC shows that the diplomas Clark students earn represent real academic achievement and is virtually a requirement for students who wish to apply for competitive colleges. Schools must be reviewed every six years by a group of peer educators in order to keep their status. These reviewers live at least 50 miles from the school, to ensure that none of them has ever met anyone at Clark and aren’t biased towards or against the school. They will talk to teachers, students and parents during their time here. Though this process will only take a few days, it has been years in the making. The last time Clark was accredited, the faculty and administration created an action plan of how they would improve the school during the years until the next accreditation. For the past six years, Clark has been attempting to improve student achievement by concentrating on developing students’ math, English comprehension and writing skills. This resulted in the addition of the ALEKS class that some students take in addition to their regular math class to strengthen their math skills. ALEKS is an online tutoring program that helps students by tapping into their visual learning capabilities to help them remember mathematical rules. During the class, taught by Verjinia Karnik, students can ask for help from peer tutors. Another part of this plan is having reading and writing in all classes—not just in English—which is in part why students are writing essays in classes such as biology and calculus. The Clark staff has been working since the beginning of the school year in 2007 to compile a report about Clark, which documents everything from school vs. community demographics to trends in student performance on standardized tests. It includes separate statistics for students who are Socially and Economically Challenged, who on some tests perform just as well as the entire student body, something the Clark staff is proud of. This report, compiled by librarian Susan Newcomer, was sent to the reviewers in January to give them background information on the school. In the last chapter of the report is Clark’s new action plan, outlining their goals for the next six years, which will again concentrate on building mathematics and English skills.