ROCK SPRINGS — Sweetwater County School District No. 1 received a strong accreditation report from the State of Wyoming during an evaluation at the end of March.
The Wyoming District Peer Review shows that SCSD No. 1 scored strong or exemplary in five separate categories including governance and leadership, professional capacity, accountability and improvement, instructional program, and culture and climate.
“I think what makes this accreditation so special this time is that all the things we’re going to share with you tonight happened during the pandemic,” Superintendent Kelly McGovern told the Board of Trustees at its meeting Monday night.
Each of the five categories had a number of subcategories below it in which the district scored strong or exemplary marks in as well.
McGovern also noted that “during a time when stress levels could not have been any higher, the district excelled in many different areas.”
She expressed her gratitude to the collective effort of staff members, teachers and administrators in the district but also noted that the goal is continued improvement moving forward.
The district scored particularly well in the area of student-teacher relationships and overall learning environment. The accreditation report noted the district’s strong performance in extension and enrichment programs such as STEM, STEAM, Dual Enrollment, AP courses, and acceleration opportunities after school.
While the district received “adequate” marks for grading and reporting, it also received high marks for improvement plans and curriculum.
“Everyone in the district should be really proud,” Trustee Matt Jackman told McGovern. “This was not an easy year to have to go through accreditation on top of everything else. So I think you and your team should be exceptionally proud of what you’ve been able to produce.”
Wyoming’s Peer Review Model serves as a mechanism to help a school district with prioritizing, making informed decisions, and reflect on their own unique quality standards that have been identified in their strategic plan.
The entire accreditation report can be viewed here.
