EVALUATION: The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) visits Poly’s campus.
By Tim Chen, Staff Writer
The WASC committee’s three-day visit was a self study of Poly. “It evaluates where we are as a school site,” Lauren Nelson, Poly’s WASC coordinator, said. This process consists of five areas targeted for evaluation: vision, organization, curriculum, instruction and culture. Information for these areas was gathered from parents, students and staff members. The school also composed a document regarding Poly’s strengths and weaknesses. WASC then verified the validity of the document based on the information gained previously. Results came in the form of a meeting where WASC members reported their findings to the faculty.
A series of meetings was held with parents, teachers and students in attendance. Students were selected from numerous groups on campus, including Link Crew, ASB and AVID. Numerous points were brought up during the meetings, such as the matter of communications, careers and college preparedness. “They asked us how teachers input grades and about Haiku, pride and the principal,” said Destiny Montoya (10), an ASB member who attended the meeting. Underclassmen were asked how they liked Poly, and upperclassmen were asked whether there was any improvement over their freshman and sophomore years. Outside the meetings, WASC members randomly selected students during lunch for further questioning.
The parent meeting was initially a failure. “We were a bit disappointed with the number of parents,” said Vanessa Douty, Poly’s ASB director. A second parent meeting took place after school the following day and was met with huge success. “There were over a hundred parents. It was a packed house,” Nelson said. WASC members were impressed with the speed at which Poly was able to mobilize its parents.
Before leaving the campus, WASC revealed its findings to Poly. WASC concluded that although Poly students disliked what they were learning, they were happy to be in attendance and wouldn’t choose any other campus over Poly’s. Hopefully, this means that future students will enjoy the comfortable atmosphere and see Poly as a welcoming campus.