By Jeremy Beck, Principal
Loyola Sacred Heart High School

Loyola Sacred Heart High School in Missoula has been recommended for accreditation by the Western Catholic Educational Association, an agency that aims to promote quality Catholic education.

A WCEA panel will make a final decision about accreditation in January. Approval would be in addition to Loyola Sacred Heart’s existing accreditation through the secular Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. The WCEA accreditation process emphasizes both faith formation and the evaluation of educational quality.

Representatives of WCEA visited Loyola Sacred Heart in 2004 to prepare for the accreditation work. Teaching and learning were evaluated through Focus on Learning, a process developed in a partnership between WCEA and the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. Examination of Loyola Sacred Heart through the process concluded this fall.

Included were the distribution of surveys two years ago, and committee work to gather comment from people who have a stake in the school. A comprehensive Loyola Sacred Heart self-assessment describes who we are and where we would like to be over the long and short term. The self-assessment also contains an action plan for school improvement.

In the final component of Focus on Learning, Loyola Sacred Heart was visited by a team of eight administrators and teachers from schools in California, Utah, Nevada and Idaho as well as Montana. The team spent four intense days interviewing parents, students, teachers and others.

Venturing in and out of classrooms, experiencing Mass with the students and working long days, this dedicated group affirmed our school’s action plan, and provided valuable feedback about strengths and areas needing improvement.

The outcome of the visit was a recommendation for WCEA accreditation spanning six years.

Loyola Sacred Heart will continue to provide a top-quality education, and work to improve in priority areas identified through Focus on Learning.

“This Focus on Learning accreditation process gave us the opportunity to see what we do well and what we need to do better,” said Vice Principal Kathy Schneider. She said previous accreditations in which she was involved were “more of a hoop-jumping exercise.” The vice principal said she found the Focus on Learning experience a true indicator of how well the school functions in its spiritual and educational dimensions.

Loyola Sacred Heart enjoys a strong reputation for spiritual, academic and co-curricular success. This new accreditation process brings a positive change in accounting for the Catholic identity of schools.

WCEA has identified factors to assess the Catholic character of a school. Along with assessing instructional design, student and school climate, learning environment and multiple other factors in a school’s performance, these Catholic identity standards are a welcome addition.


Loyola Sacred Heart High School is located in Missoula, Mont. To learn more about the school, visit www.missoulacatholicschools.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 25, No. 12, December 18, 2009.