Dr. Howard Liebman, CEO and Superintendent of Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), has announced that SHCOE has been granted District Accreditation from the AdvancED/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Accreditation Commission as the world’s first online school District.
Pensacola, FL (Vocus/PRWEB) February 09, 2011
Based in Pensacola, Florida, SHCOE has received AdvancED’s/SACS District accreditation seal, which signifies that SHCOE and all of its schools are fully accredited and that SHCOE is recognized across the nation as a quality school system. “We are excited by this ground-breaking achievement, which makes SHCOE the first accredited online school district in the world,” Dr. Liebman said.
SHCOE’s District accreditation is for a five-year term with regular monitoring of progress and reporting occurring throughout the term.
Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE) is a private online high school district that gives students returning to the education process an opportunity to earn an 18-credit high school diploma as well as complete course work for a career certificate in one online program. Online courses are currently offered in the fields of healthcare, childcare and education, transportation services, homeland security, protection services, and office management.
The initial recommendation to grant full accreditation to SHCOE was made following three and one-half days of rigorous evaluation in November of 2010 by a team of distinguished educators from AdvancED/SACS. The AdvancED/SACS District accreditation process involves three ongoing components: meeting high quality standards, implementing a continuous process of improvement, and engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review.
“District Accreditation as conferred by the AdvancED/SACS Accreditation Commission provides a nationally recognized mark of quality for SHCOE and all of our schools,” Liebman said. “It demonstrates 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. We’ve been developing, evaluating, and improving our educational model since the SHCOE project was undertaken a couple of years ago.”
“We stand at the threshold of a new phase in the development for Smart Horizons Career Online Education,” said Dr. Richard Goldman, Chairman of the Board for SHCOE. “We look forward to forming partnerships with school districts, community agencies, government agencies, post-secondary educational institutions, and individuals who share our vision of helping people better their lives. It’s exciting to be the nation’s first private online school district, but even more exciting to envision the journey ahead for SHCOE.”
“District Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school system on the primary goal of creating lifelong learning,” said Dr. Mark Elgart, President and CEO AdvancED/SACS. “SHCOE is to be commended for engaging in this process and demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.”
Smart Horizons Career Online Education
Smart Horizons Career Online Education, a private adult online high school district, is a national leader in delivering affordable, career-based online education to students throughout the world. Founded in 2009 and located in Pensacola, Florida, Smart Horizons Career Online Education offers complete career-based online high school diplomas and career (credentialed) certificates in the fields of healthcare, childcare and education, transportation services, homeland security, protection services, and office management. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.shcoe.org , call our office at 800-261-6248 or email our office at hliebman(at)smarthorizonsonline(dot)org.