DoDEA EU-West ranks among top during periodic accreditation

Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army file photo of AFNorth Middle / High School, one of 17 schools in the Department of Defense Education Activity - Europe West District. DoDEA EU-West received the designation of "system of distinction" by its accrediting institution recently. (Courtesy photo)  

ZAVENTEM, VBR, BELGIUM

01.14.2022

Story by Bryan Gatchell 

U.S. Army Garrison Benelux

ZAVENTEM, Belgium – During their most recent five-year accreditation cycle, the schools of U.S. Army Garrison Benelux in Belgium and the Netherlands and several others in the district earned a high distinction from their accrediting institute.

Cognia, an accreditation and certification organization headquartered out of Alpharetta, Georgia, recognized the Department of Defense Education Activity – Europe, West District (DoDEA EU-West), headquartered at Zaventem, Belgium, as a system of distinction.

Cognia accredits more than 30,000 public and private schools across the U.S. as well as all DoDEA schools both domestically and internationally. During Cognia’s accreditation, of 1,233 engagement reviews, they found 80 institutes distinguished themselves. One of those 80 was DoDEA EU-West.

“It was remarkable to be able to recognize the work of our principals, our teachers, our teacher leaders and those who really put the work in,” said Melissa Hayes, superintendent for Brussels, AFNorth, SHAPE and Spangdahlem community. “It’s not just the paperwork and check the box, it’s the day-to-day, making sure that students have access to equitable and rigorous education, making sure they have access to teachers that differentiate their instruction, making sure that the culture is one that goes beyond the warm and welcome kind of feeling you get at an elementary school or even a high school.”

DoDEA and other U.S. schools must achieve accreditation in order for their students to graduate and either attain work or move on to a university, college or other institute of higher education. All DoDEA schools must continuously improve through monitoring and evaluating their efforts yearly. They must perform a self-assessment using Cognia’s diagnostic method. They must perform an annual evaluation of student performance. And they must host a one-day accreditation visit at all schools in the district.

Within Cognia’s accreditation rubric, the district as a whole exceeded expectations.

In addition to those schools within USAG Benelux’s footprint (SHAPE Community Schools and Brussels Elementary / High School in Belgium and AFNorth Community Schools in the Netherlands), DoDEA EU-West also oversees Kleine Brogel Elementary School in Belgium, Spangdahlem Community Schools in Germany, and Alconbury and Lakenheath Community Schools in the United Kingdom.

The schools themselves have also been high-performing. In 2019, the U.S. Department of Education recognized AFNorth Middle / High School in Brunssum, the Netherlands as a National Blue Ribbon School. In 2021, the Brussels Elementary / High School received the same honor. The blue ribbon designation means the schools have either performed excellently in academics or have closed significant achievement gaps among certain student subgroups. In the case of the Brussels Elementary / High School, a large portion of the studentry face the challenge of knowing English as a second language while working through an English curriculum.

The students among DoDEA schools, and especially overseas DoDEA schools, face other considerable challenges, according to Hayes. Families often move from one assignment to another in a wholly different part of the globe within a certain number of years. Often it may be difficult for Families to find roots within a country or community whose languages they do not speak. Service members with Families may also have to deploy for extended periods of time. But military children have other big advantages.

“All of our students have at least one parent who is employed,” said Hayes. “All of our students have access to health care, dental care. All of our students have access to resources – medically and in the emotional and mental health realms, if needed. So we consistently realize that we have that advantage over some of our public schools in the states.”

Of course, during the accreditation period, the children and faculty of DoDEA EU-West were undergoing another crisis.

“Now that we’ve added COVID, not only do we worry about students’ health and mental health, we have to worry about our staff,” said Hayes.

COVID-19 even affected the evaluation, which was initially performed remotely and virtually but was then followed up with direct visits.

Kent Worford, the superintendent of DoDEA EU-West during the accreditation, who recently accepted a position as superintendent of the DoDEA Mid-Atlantic District, said the schools in Europe’s West District help ensure service members their Families’ educations are well in hand.

“Our schools really support the mission and our strong community-command partnership,” said Worford. “We make that a focus to be engaged with the installation, command and the activities, and in return it really brought us to the forefront the past couple of years.”

Hayes, though positive about the district being a “System of Distinction,” looks more toward the future.

“It means we have a lot of work to carry on,” said Hayes. “Once you reach that level, it would be easy to sit back and say, ‘Yay, we’re done.’ But we’re not done. We still have students to teach. And education theories are held tentatively, as they should be. Things are changing, things are improving, so we’re in a constant state of improvement.”

• Date Taken: 01.14.2022
• Date Posted: 01.14.2022 07:49
• Story ID: 412902
• Location: ZAVENTEM, VBR, BE
• Hometown: CHIEVRES, WHT, BE
• Hometown: MONS, WHT, BE
• Hometown: PEER, VLI, BE
• Hometown: ZAVENTEM, VBR, BE
• Hometown: SPANGDAHLEM, RP, DE
• Hometown: SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, RP, DE
• Hometown: ALCONBURY, CAM, GB
• Hometown: LAKENHEATH, SFK, GB
• Hometown: ALPHARETTA, GA, US