ACA’s Strategic Plan has been created using the same principles of the accreditation process and with the standards/expectations for excellence as the cornerstone. We incorporated the major recommendations from the accreditation report of the self-study into the Strategic Plan. The vision of ACA’s Strategic Plan is to be a forward thinking school that is committed to continuous improvement. The Strategic Plan consists of five strands: Staff, Education Program, Leadership & Organization, Facilities & IT, and School Climate and Culture.

The accreditation standards, objectives, and benchmarks have been embedded throughout the Strategic Plan. The school had the opportunity to embark on the self-study along the same time as the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. Multiple surveys and written reflections were conducted on the school’s operation, academics, facilities, staffing (recruitment), climate, IT, and leadership/staff development. The Strategic Plan incorporates most of the recommendations for improvement identified by the Visiting Team as well as those the accreditation self-study Steering Committee believed would be instrumental to move the school forward.

The chairs of the Strategic Plan have been conscientious of the link to the accreditation process and have established committees that serve to achieve the expectations of both. The Accreditation Steering Committee and chairs of the different sections are administrators from different sections of the school. Two members have been with the school since the first accreditation; three members were part of the re-accreditation process; and two members are new to the accreditation process at ACA and they have taken over since the previous chairs have retired from ACA. Each Accreditation Steering Committee member has over ten years of experience in the field of education, and collectively the members bring experience from the United States, Canada, Lebanon, and Kuwait.

We are committed to achieving the goals of our 5-year Strategic Plan. To do so, we refer to our accreditation self-study often as a road map to success.