Eastside Preparatory School were recently awarded unconditional accreditation by the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS). “We’re very excited about achieving this important milestone so quickly,” said Dr. Terry Macaluso, PhD, head of Eastside Prep. “I give a huge amount of credit to our faculty, staff, and board who have worked so hard and so carefully on creating a school that meets challenging standards and provides an outstanding education in a caring environment.”

According to the PNAIS Web site, accreditation indicates that an institution meets or exceeds the PNAIS Major Standards and Good Practices. The school is periodically assessed through a process that requires full disclosure and a peer group review process seeking to confirm the congruence between the school’s stated mission and its actual program and services.

The process for earning accreditation is an arduous one, requiring hundreds of pages of documentation as well as answers to hundreds of questions. Faculty, staff, parent volunteers, and trustees began working on the “self-study” required for accreditation in January, 2008. The school welcomed a visiting team in October, 2009. The team was composed of faculty and administrators from peer PNAIS schools, who spent three days on campus visiting classes, interviewing students, parents, and faculty.

“We’re very proud of reaching this goal,” said Byron Bishop, president of Eastside Prep’s Board of Trustees. “The faculty and staff, under Dr. Macaluso’s leadership, have worked hard to make Eastside Prep into a great school that guides our students to be able to meet the challenges of the future.”

Eastside Prep is a co-ed middle and upper school located in Kirkland. Eastside Prep offers a college preparatory program for students in grades 5-12.