Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The local Education Department has received word that the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has granted three public high schools six-year accreditations each.

“We received word from WASC that Fagaitua, Tafuna and Manu'a all received 6-year accreditation,” Education director Dr. Ruth Matagi-Tofiga said last Friday in response to Samoa News inquiries. “Congratulations to the principals, teachers, students and parents for supporting our schools.”

As previously reported by Samoa News, the WASC accreditation team was in the territory in May visiting the three high schools as well as meeting with PTA officials and others. Matagi-Tofiga told Samoa News at the time that if the schools passed, they would receive full accreditation for 6 years with a follow-up after 3 years.

According to WASC, the accreditation is an ongoing six-year cycle of quality whereby schools demonstrate the capacity, commitment and competence to support high-quality student learning and ongoing school improvement.

Additionally, WASC Focus on Learning protocol guides schools into an ongoing improvement process that includes implementation, assessment, and refinement of the school-wide action plan on an annual basis. “Appropriate reports and reviews throughout the six-year cycle of accreditation support this process,” it says.