Oliver Ames High School will host a two-day accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in October after a year-long self-study, Principal Kavanaugh told the Easton School Committee on Sept. 18.

The visit will include classroom observations, meetings with students, parents and teachers, and a review of a self-study the school produced over the past academic year, Kavanaugh said. The NEASC team will return a written report about six to eight weeks after the visit.

NEASC is a regional accreditor that evaluates schools on five standards with student learning at the center, Kavanaugh said. "What we love about the NEASC process is the emphasis is about growth," she said. The school used a steering committee of staff, students and parents and said the process is intended to identify priority areas and support plans for improvement.

In their self-assessment, school leaders listed the school’s facilities and breadth of programs — including auditorium, wood and metal shops and culinary spaces — as strengths. They said those facilities support curriculum delivery across subject areas.

But the report identified two foundational elements that are not yet fully met: completion of a district-wide "vision of the graduate" (a statement of desired knowledge, skills and dispositions for students at graduation) and completion and consistent implementation of the written curriculum across courses and teachers. Kavanaugh said the school has taken the district’s foundational transfer goals and is working to align those to a formal vision of the graduate and to finish curriculum units.

Other areas of growth the school cited included more professional development time and clarity and training for co-teaching models, stronger library supports after a transition year, and assignment of a chemical hygiene officer for science labs.

Councils’ co-chair Chris Coutros and co-chair Marissa Souza joined Kavanaugh in the presentation and detailed the self-study process, noting that NEASC focuses on growth rather than punitive evaluation. Assistant Superintendent Pruitt and other district leaders said the district will publish stage-one unit outlines on the district website and hold a public announcement to share curricular stage-one documents once they are ready.

Kavanaugh and Coutros said the NEASC visit will include a final conversation with the visit chair at the end of the site visit and an opportunity for faculty debrief. "They give us feedback on our self reflection and the priority areas and goals we've set for ourselves to accomplish over the next two years," Kavanaugh said.

The committee was invited to participate in parts of the visit and to serve on a parent committee; Kavanaugh asked members to let her know if they wanted to join. The presentation closed with district leaders thanking the steering committee, co-chairs and faculty for their work preparing the self-study and the visit.

The school committee did not take formal action on the NEASC presentation itself; the presentation was informational and previewed the October visit and follow-up reporting timeline.