Every week, “The Patriot” checks all its campus-wide sources to bring you the best of what’s happening at JC.
Single sex schools’ tradition affects JC
According to Principal Paul Barker, for 43 of the 46 years, JC has had more girls than boys in enrolled.
According to figures from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 318 students within a six to 10 mile radius of campus will choose to attend single sex men’s schools instead of JC, most notably Calvert Hall College. Principal Paul Barker cites this as a key obstacle the school must overcome to gain success in enrollment.
The reason for such disparity, according to Barker, is the “tradition” behind the single sex men’s schools.
“Our families that don’t have their roots in Harford County moved from the city [Baltimore]. Their fathers and grandfathers went to Calvert Hall when it was on Calvert Street and they bleed cardinal red. The data we get from the Archdiocese suggests we’ll take on the Notre Dame Prep situation, but Calvert Hall in particular is a great challenge to us,” Barker said.
He added, “I get it. I’m the product of single-sex schooling. The atmosphere is different. [The question is] how do we make the case for a co-ed product?”
Even with the tradition held in certain single sex schools, Barker doesn’t see the logic of the choice to attend them. “If it takes 50 minutes on a good day to go there and you live two miles away from John Carroll, it doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Facilities additions show progress
Director of Facilities Stewart Walker has begun to planning to both enhance the visual appeal of campus and respond to needs that develop in the community.
As a result of a private donation, the JC sign on Route 22 will be upgraded by pressure washing the brick, installing a clear type of Plexiglas, getting new letters for the board, fixing the landscaping around its base, and putting the school logo on the top of the sign.
In addition, the school purchased dry erase boards with the school logo on them, first used for the College Fair on March 24.
For the benefit of the 46 year old internal infrastructure, a new primary air compressor was delivered because the old required single and small replacement parts.
Finally, to help teachers in the future, Walker wants to get a list of what they need or desire for their classrooms.
Accreditation process changes to benefit community
Following changes in the evaluation process of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, JC will need to choose which organization to accredit the school in 2013.
Although only one organization does the evaluation for accreditation, JC is accredited by both Middle States and the Association of Maryland Independent Schools, both of whom accept the other’s evaluations.
To determine accreditation, a team of evaluators comes on campus and follows protocols established by the organization after the school completes a self-study of perceived goals and weaknesses.
However, Middle States, which is historically the group that evaluates JC, is “keeping up with the educational times” by becoming “more strategic and future oriented” in its focus, according to Barker.
They now require information like that of the strategic plan for accreditation, or, as Barker said, “We need to have goals and timelines that are measurable. It is very business-like.”
In addition, Middle States is “shortening the length between the visits.” JC was previously on a 10 year protocol, with Middle States making a check-up visit at the midpoint of the span.
Because of such changes, the school will need to choose if they want to be evaluated by Middle States or AIMS in 2013, when the school is next up for accreditation.
A major difference between the two is that “Middle States has a lot of different ways schools can choose how they’d like to be accessed, [whereas] AIMS has one program,” Barker said
Before the change, JC chose to follow the continuous school improvement protocol.
Also, AIMS maintains a “traditional” evaluation technique.“They still use the snapshot of the school technique. They don’t access where you’ll be in five years, but look at where you are today,” said Barker.
Middle States “still looks at standards, but the goals you have for your school need to be measurable.
To show the measurement of progress, Barker cites the team working to implement the advisory system in place of homerooms next year as an example of applying the concept.
“Using the goals we have for advisory, we’re asking the faculty, after this training, how ready would you rate yourself in terms of this goal. We’re already moving the needle and [the staff] is more comfortable. We established a baseline before doing any training, and each time we’ve measured, the level [of comfort] has gone up,” said Barker.
Accreditation is “sort of seal of approval,” Barker said. “It says to those who pay attention to such things that this is a school recognized by a credible entity as being sound. You’ve got the right to say you’ve been accredited. [We put it at the] bottom of our stationary.”
Kate Froehlich can be reached for comment at [email protected]