Madison City Schools principals received accreditation certificates at a recent board meeting. These leaders are Dr. Daphne Jah, front from left, Dorinda White, Carmen Buchanan, Melissa Mims, assistant principal Sharon Nichole Phillips and coordinator of secondary instruction Dr. Heather Donaldson. Jamie Hill, back from left, Sylvia Lambert, Eric Terrell, Rodney Richardson, Dr. Brian Clayton and superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler. Nelson Brown and Dr. Georgina Nelson are not pictured. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Principals in Madison City Schools were called to the ‘front of the class’ but for good reason at the Aug. 11 meeting of Madison Board of Education.

Board members asked the 11 principals to come forward and represent their schools’ staffs for leading the district to a successful accreditation review. Each principal received an accreditation certificate.

“Madison City Schools not only achieved accreditation. It did so with flying colors,” public relations manager John Peck said.

“After nearly a year of prep to ensure that the district was meeting the rigorous standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Madison City Schools welcomed an external review team earlier this year that delved deeply into district practices, policies and operations,” Peck said.

AdvancedED supervised the accreditation review, which led to a five-year approval period through June 30, 2020. AdvancedED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts on-site external reviews of schools with pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade.

The delegation included six educators — three from Alabama, three out-of-state professionals — who examined documentation, visited schools and interviewed 224 teachers, staff members, students, administrators, community stakeholders, Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler and board members.

“Madison City exceeded global averages in all categories studied, mostly by comfortable margins,” Peck said. Accreditation means a school district satsfies ‘best practices’ in policies, governance, use of resources and teaching. Most colleges require accreditation as one criterion for admissions.

Madison’s principals are Nelson Brown, Liberty; Carmen Buchanan, Mill Creek; Dr. Brian Clayton, James Clemens; Jamie Hill, Columbia; Dr. Daphne Jah, West Madison; Sylvia Lambert, Bob Jones; Melissa Mims, Madison elementary; Dr. Georgina Nelson, Heritage; Rodney Richardson, Horizon; Eric Terrell, Discovery; and Dorinda White, Rainbow.

To access the accreditation report, visit madisoncity.k12.al.us and click “Accreditation” in the list at the left.