GCS earns Cognia system honor
Gordon County Schools announced during the district’s April Board of Education meeting on Monday that Gordon County Schools has earned system accreditation by Cognia, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts, and education service providers.
Cognia, formerly AdvancED, nationally recognizes districts that meet rigorous standards that focus on productive learning environments, equitable resource allocation that meets the needs of learners, and effective leadership. Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that the system and all of its schools are accredited, and that Gordon County Schools is recognized across the nation as a school system that meets Cognia Standards of Quality and maintains a commitment to continuous improvement.
“Systems accreditation as conferred by the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission provides Gordon County Schools a nationally recognized mark of quality for our school system and each school within our system,” shared Dr. Kimberly Fraker, superintendent of Gordon County Schools. “It demonstrates to our community our commitment to excellence, our openness to external review and feedback, and our desire to be the best we can be on behalf of the students we serve.”
To earn accreditation from Cognia, a school district also must implement a continuous process of improvement, and submit to internal and external review. School systems in good standing can maintain their accreditation for a fiveyear term. According to Beth Herod, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning for Gordon County Schools, in her address to the Board of Education on Monday, Gordon County Schools scored
much higher than the average score for the region, according to the results from the external review team.
“Our system’s Index of Education Equality score was 338.55, and the average from the region fell between 278.34-283.33 over the last 5 years,” said Herod. “The team was able to derive this score based upon the hard work of our entire school system, and the interviews from all of our stakeholders were a testament to our accomplishments.” Dr. Fraker applauded the work of everyone involved in, not only the review preparation, but
the daily work of the system that made the accreditation review a success and thanked Mrs. Herod for her work in pulling together all of the documentation necessary to illustrate the system’s successes to the review team.
As part of the accreditation announcement, Dr. Mark A. Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia, stated, “Cognia System Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school system and its community on the primary goal of preparing lifelong learners in engaging environments where all students can flourish. Gordon County
Schools is to be commended for demonstrating that it has met high standards and is making progress on key indicators that impact student learning.”
Cognia is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, Northwest Accreditation Commission and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. Parents and interested community members can learn more about the Cognia Accreditation at cognia.org.