FACCS Accreditation 101

Accreditation is a valuable achievement among schools in our nation and around the world. To the general public, potential students and their parents, current administration and faculty members, current students, and all associated stakeholders, the achievement of “FACCS Accredited” status says:

• We have voluntarily chosen to seek external validation of our performance as a school
• We have gone through a rigorous, impartial evaluation by FACCS, which included peer school administrators, and have met or exceeded the standards.
• We have created and are committed to a dynamic School Improvement Plan, therefore we are always looking for ways to improve who we are and what we do.

FACCS offers schools a quality accreditation program based on nationally recognized standards. It is a three step process. 

1. First, a school applies for Candidacy for Accreditation. There will be a school visit by FACCS staff to evaluate the school's potential for candidacy. Upon approval, the school will be granted or denied Candidacy status.
2. During candidacy, the school goes through a lengthy time period (time varies by school) in which they are self-evaluating all areas of the school, creating various manuals, meeting with stakeholders, and completing a School Improvement Plan.
3. The third and culminating step is the Accreditation Site Visit at which a FACCS Accreditation Chair and Team Members will spend a couple of days on the school campus evaluating the school based on the standards and the submitted documentation. At that time accreditation status will either be granted or denied.

Accreditation by FACCS is based on the evaluation of the school by a visiting committee. The committee is guided by the overall picture that the school presents through the multiple self-study documents, and peer insight gained by the evaluation team through an on-site visit. The school should provide a quality and safe environment in which children have the opportunity for maximum growth and total development. In the evaluation of a school, the efficiency of learning, the quality of instruction, the acquired habits of thought, reason, and study, the educational outputs evidenced through assessments and surveys, in relation to the spiritual, academic, and moral level of the school is considered.

When a school becomes accredited, the following areas are closely examined in relation to the standards:

• quality and continuity of the school’s leadership and governance
• condition of school facilities
• finances and fiscal stability
• track record of student performance
• academic standards of excellence and Christian emphasis
• courses as they relate to transferability
• effectiveness of student services
• conditions of health and safety
• qualifications of administration, faculty, and staff
• commitment to long-range planning

Once a qualifying school has attained a full accreditation status, they may apply for expanded national and international co-accreditations under the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) protocol, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (Cognia).

• FACCS is one of the 15 fully recognized accrediting associations of the NCPSA, which provides FACCS with a unique relationship with all other reputable regional, national, and international accrediting agencies.
• MSA provides FACCS with a regionally accredited relationship

Agencies affiliated with FACCS Accreditation:
National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) 
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA)
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (Cognia)
Florida Association of Academic Nonpublic Schools (FAANS)
The International Alliance of School Education (The Alliance)
Office of Non-Public Education (ONPE)
National Purchasing Partnership (NPP)