St. Croix Central High School Gains Full Accreditation

Governor Hails Significant Milestone in Education

Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. said Saturday he was pleased to be notified that Central High School on St. Croix has received full accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools. “This is great news for the students, faculty and staff of CHS and I am pleased that through determination and hard work, critical areas were addressed to the satisfaction of Middle States and the once-issued probationary accreditation was lifted and full accreditation granted. The accreditation takes effect on Tuesday, December 1 and will be in place for three years, until December 1, 2012. 

de Jongh commended the departments of Education and Public Works, who for months have worked diligently to address issues having to do with the school’s electrical system, the renovation of the vocation buildings and the installation of lockers. “These were long-standing issues and through a joint cooperative approach by the two departments, they have been addressed. The three areas require additional monitoring to see that the projects are brought to completion, but enough work was completed to satisfy the requirements of MSA.” de Jongh has maintained a hands-on approach in ensuring that the work was being done to secure accreditation for the St. Croix high school. Earlier this year, he met with officials of Middle States both in Philadelphia and on St. Croix to discuss the ongoing efforts to ensure full accreditation for CHS.

de Jongh congratulated the students, faculty and staff of Central High on achieving full accreditation. “I am pleased that the students who graduate in June will head off to college knowing that we charted the course necessary to allow them to proudly say that they have graduated from a fully-accredited high school.” 

The Official Notification of Accreditation document from the Middle States Commission, President Henry Cram, noted that Central High meets all standards for accreditation; it adheres to all MSA policies and meets the requirements of the self-study protocol used. “The institution agrees to adhere to the requirements for maintenance of accreditation, and there are no outstanding issues related to the standards or requirements of the protocol that would require monitoring or on-site visits beyond the normal expected events required by the protocol utilized.” 

Education Commissioner Dr. LaVerne Terry in receiving the news said accreditation was achieved because of the perseverance, hard work and dedication of many, who over the years, made it their mission to ensure that Central High School would be fully accredited. “The Central High School administrators, faculty, students, staff and school community should be commended for this great accomplishment. I want to also commend the Commissioner Darryl Smalls and his staff at the Department of Public Works for working with the Department Education and the Central High School to ensure that this dream could be realized."

Central High School Principal Chermaine Hobson-Johnson said Saturday she was pleased that the school is now fully accredited. “On behalf of the school’s administration, faculty, staff and student body, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked tirelessly towards this goal for Central High School. We are also mindful that accreditation is an ongoing process. We must prepare ourselves to work as diligently to maintain this accreditation as we did to secure Central’s full accreditation. I am very pleased with the decision that has been rendered by Middle States to grant CHS full accreditation.” 

STX District Superintendent Gary Molloy said he feels a wide range of emotions as the journey to today has been a difficult one. “However, a popular Chinese Proverb captures it better when it said, 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. This is truly a testament to team effort and I congratulate the Administrators, Accreditation Team, Faculty/staff, parents, students, community partners, Dr. Terry, the Departments of Public Works and Property and Procurement, and the Contractor for their efforts and commitment to the accreditation process. Governor de Jongh truly deserves our thanks as well for his leadership, unwavering commitment and support toward this accomplishment."

de Jongh said the next MSA team visit to Central High will be in the Spring of 2012. 

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Related Download:

• Accreditation Notification from the Middle States Commission

Related Audio:

• Governor de Jongh reacts to decision to grant full accreditation to Central High .mp3 (2 MB)

• Governor speaks to coordination between Public Works and Education departments in CHS bid for accreditation .mp3 (1 MB)