The accreditation action was approved by the CogniaTM Global Commission at its meeting on June 7, 2022. We want to thank our academic director, Mrs. Rosa Figueroa, who had the vision of having a nationally and globally accredited school back in 2018 when she joined us, and our Head of School, Mr. Lopezcepero, for the hundreds of hours of hard work. Thank you to all the faculty members, parents, and students who chipped in through interviews or extra hours helping organize the visits.
A certificate that indicates the term of your institution’s accreditation is enclosed. Throughout this term of accreditation, Washburn School Inc. must continue to engage in the responsibilities required of all institutions to maintain accreditation status as outlined in the Cognia Accreditation and Certification Policies and Procedures.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Mr. Lopezcepero
Washburn School Earns Cognia Reaccreditation
Ponce, Puerto Rico – August 20, 2022 – Washburn School announced today that it has earned accreditation by Cognia™, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts, and education service providers.
Cognia, formerly AdvancED, nationally recognizes districts that meet rigorous standards focused on productive learning environments, equitable resource allocation that meets the needs of learners, and effective leadership. Earning accreditation from the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission means that the school is accredited and that Washburn School is recognized across the nation as a school that meets Cognia Standards of Quality, and maintains a commitment to continuous improvement.
“School accreditation as conferred by the Cognia Global Accreditation Commission provides Washburn School a nationally recognized mark of quality for our school,” shared Mr. Ronnie Lopezcepero. “It demonstrates to our community our commitment to excellence, our openness to external review and feedback, and our desire to be the best we can be on behalf of the students we serve.”
To earn Cognia accreditation, a school district also must implement a continuous process of improvement, and submit to internal and external review. Schools in good standing can maintain their accreditation for a five-year term.
Dr. Mark A. Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia, stated, “Cognia Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school and its community on the primary goal of preparing lifelong learners in engaging environments where all students can flourish. Washburn School is to be commended for demonstrating that it has met high standards, is making progress on key indicators that impact student learning.”
Cognia is the parent organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). Parents and interested community members can learn more about the Cognia Accreditation at cognia.org
About Cognia
Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, professional learning, and improvement services to institutions and other education providers. The result of the merger of AdvancED and Measured Progress, Cognia was formed to bridge the gap between school evaluation and student assessment. As a global nonprofit working in over 80 countries, our 36,000 institutions serve and support nearly 25 million students and five million educators every day. Cognia serves as trusted partner in advancing learning for all. Find out more at cognia.org.
About Washburn School
Washburn School is a private, college preparatory, non-profit, value-based, multi-cultural, total English immersion school that focuses on Spanish as a dual language for Pre-K to 12th grade located in Ponce, Puerto Rico. We provide a rigorous academic program that prepares students for public and private universities and colleges worldwide, as shown by the hundreds of acceptances from our students with scholarships to universities around the nation.
All the courses are taught in English except for an extensive, rigorous academic focus on Spanish as a dual primary language, foreign language electives such as French, certain athletic programs, and the culturally based Puerto Rican history class taught in Spanish in middle school. Washburn School earned accreditation from the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), accreditation divisions of AdvancED (currently named Cognia) in 2019 and received reaccreditation after a 2022 visit from Cognia review members.
At Washburn, we embrace multilingualism in its active and passive form, as it becomes a social necessity while we move towards globalization and cultural openness. The school fosters our Puerto Rican heritage and conserves a bridge between numerous international cultures through our international student body and globally-focused educational activities. We are committed to complete English language instruction while keeping a relentless focus on teaching Spanish as a dual language. By the early and middle elementary grades, students who have studied at Washburn School from Pre-Kinder onward can read, write, and speak Spanish and English with high proficiency levels.
Washburn students participate in dozens of co-curricular activities. Our athletes compete as individuals and as teams at mini (grades 4-5), youth (intermediate), junior, and senior levels through the Catholic and Private School Athletic League ("Liga Atlética de Escuelas Católicas") and other local leagues and tournaments in southern Puerto Rico. Our students play volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, futsal, and participate in the league cross country, track and field, and olympic style competitions. Our students also compete in the Science fair, robotics, English Week, Math Week, Spanish Week, Poetry Out Loud, and many more region-wide academic competitions. Campus life includes dozens of opportunities to participate in many clubs and organizations related to entrepreneurship, neuroscience, reading, modern dance, music appreciation, media, podcasting, gaming, poetry, and even classical movie lovers. Most of our student-organization serve our broader community through both service and donations of thousands of dollars annually to various causes and fights against diseases.
What truly sets Washburn School apart is its tight-knit family feel. Our educators and staff sincerely care for our students, as evidenced by their relationships with each child in a small group setting. Our students are friendly and rally to support each other with one of the best student to teacher ratios in the region. Our lower school has a 15 to 1 in lower school and 13 to 1 in Middle and High School as of 2021-2022.
