Story by LEAH S . BETHEA
The Washington County School District was one of only 79 school districts in the United States and internationally to be recognized as a District of Distinction in 2021 . The distinction comes from Cognia , a premier non-profit international accrediting body for K-12 and postsecondary institutions . Every five years , educational institutions are required to undergo an accreditation process which reviews the district ’ s quality of instruction , processes and systems using a set of rigorous research-based standards . The process examines the whole institution - programs , cultural context and the community of stakeholders - through interviews and presentation of artifacts , to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of learners
Washington County underwent the accreditation process through Cognia in 2021 , and in November , school officials were notified that the district had been included in the inaugural class of recipients for this high award . The 79 districts chosen were selected from more than 800 districts that went through the accreditation process in 2021 . Cognia ’ s network includes 36,000 schools . Other districts to receive the honor include those from places like Nevada , Texas , Illinois , South Carolina , Oregon , New York and even abroad in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia .
Audra Gilbert , director of Learning and Teaching for Washington County , says the award stems from high scores the district earned in different standard areas including leadership capacity , learning capacity and resource capacity .
“ It says that we are above the average in how we are using our resources , our teaching and learning , and our leadership ,” Gilbert says
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