(September 30, 2003) — You know those green ESLR posters you see all over in the school? Well, start paying attention to them, because on Monday, Oct. 20, a team of six educators will be arriving at Clark to ask you about them. After completing their sixth and final step towards preparing for accreditation last year, Clark’s staff is ready to have the school evaluated by a team of educators from other California high schools. They will be visiting classrooms, observing students and teachers, and meeting with staff members. A school must be accredited so that colleges and universities will recognize and respect the value of students’ diplomas. Without an official accreditation, schools won’t consider or accept the diplomas. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is an organization that accredits schools through an evaluation process. For the past year, the Clark staff has done a WASC self-study including meetings of focus groups (teachers, parents and students) who have observed the different programs at Clark, such as classes offered, what students are doing with their time and how the school could improve in the future. The focus groups consisted of teachers who looked at specific topics and focused on certain aspects of life at Clark. The study included action plans, which consist of steps that could be taken at Clark to make school programs even better. This is important because “we want to be recognized as a strong school where the students benefit in every way,” says science teacher Lousik Kassakhian. At the end of the inspection, the WASC educators will write a report that will state the length of Clark’s accreditation, thus determining how long it will be until Clark is visited again by the WASC team. The maximum amount of time any school can be accredited is six years. This is the first time that Clark will undergo the full WASC process. The school earned an initial three-year accreditation when Clark was first evaluated in 2000. This was a simplified accreditation process which did not require so much work, and the school was visited by only a few educators. This second WASC process started in the fall of 2002, and involves a great amount of contribution from teachers. Self-study coordinator Susan Newcomer said that it is important to find out where a school stands academically so that it can improve continuously. Though he agrees, history teacher Nick Doom said he has some doubts about the WASC process. “I believe the criteria and process is flawed. It doesn’t adequately meet today’s modern multi-cultured school because it has too narrow a focus on a specific objective. They are more concerned with that objective than the student body,” Doom says. The evaluation given by the WASC members is based on test scores, student work and overall student achievement. The team also considers the self-study that the faculty administered.