Madison Board of Education members are president Ray White, seated from left, Superintendent Dr. Dee Fowler and Ranae Bartlett, standing from left, Connie Spears, vice president Dr. Terri Johnson and David Hergenroeder. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – The AdvancED organization has granted accreditation to Madison City Schools after several months of preparation to satisfy demands of this review.

AdvancED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, on-site external reviews of schools offering pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. In 2006, North Central Association and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools approved a merger to create AdvancED (advanc-ed.org).

The Madison district passed the comprehensive evaluation without any snares. Madison Board of Education received an exit report by an external review team that grants a five-year accreditation through June 30, 2020.

“Accreditation means the school district meets ‘best practices’ in policies, governance, utilization of resources, teaching and other aspects of schools operations,” public relations manager John Peck said. “Madison City exceeded global averages in all rated categories, often by comfortable margins.”

“I am very proud of our district — not just for this result but every day,” superintendent Dr. Dee Dr. Fowler said. “We need to celebrate this great accomplishment today but continue to make our district stronger and better.”

“We all know that the number one barrier to great is good. We have to keep running for the prize,” Fowler said.

AdvancED’s external review team, including three Alabama and three out-of-state educators, arrived in Madison on March 8. The team reviewed statistics, visited schools and interviewed 224 people, including teachers, staff members, students, administrators, school board and residents.

On March 11, the team presented its findings to the board at a special meeting.

AdvancED has headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. and Tempe, Ariz. AdvancED is considered a global leader in school accreditations at more than 32,000 sites across the United States and 70 countries.

When AdvancED issues it, the official accreditation report will be available at madisoncity.k12.al.us.