Reaccreditation

NWAIS (Northwest Association of Independent Schools) is a regional association of 110 independent schools across the Northwest known for its commitment to guiding, inspiring, and advancing schools. The association provides accreditation, professional development, and support services.  

NWAIS has high standards for accreditation/reaccreditation and also embraces each school’s unique mission and independence. NWAIS schools determine their own missions and philosophies, select their faculty and students, and develop their curricula. Each NWAIS school is guided by the high standards, core values, and essential characteristics that the Association expects from its member schools.  

NWAIS accreditation signifies an assurance of quality education and accountability for families and provides value through a rigorous process. Accreditation assesses a school’s effectiveness in delivering on the promise of its mission, advances mission-driven initiatives, and helps to ensure the school’s future capacity. NWAIS accreditation is recognized by other agencies, regionally and nationally. 

Accreditation provides reassurance to HRS families that the school is delivering on its mission and providing an enriching and safe learning environment for students. Families can be confident that HRS is consistently working to provide an exceptional experience for its community - now and in the future. 

Independent schools are not required by law to undergo the rigorous process of NWAIS accreditation. Schools that participate in this process must commit considerable time, resources, and effort toward accreditation or reaccreditation. Hamlin Robinson School believes that accreditation is a valuable undertaking for ongoing reflection and improvement.  

NWAIS has 13 accreditation standards - spanning operations, systems, structures, facilities, and more. Accreditation provides an opportunity for deep reflection regarding every aspect of our program.

Following the initial accreditation of each member school, NWAIS has an eight-year reaccreditation cycle. This process begins with a Self-Study, consisting of a one-to-two-year self-examination of a school’s strengths, weaknesses, priorities, and plans. During the Self-Study, faculty, staff and Board participants engage in conversation and reflection. Ultimately, cohort teams produce a comprehensive report that articulates how the School fulfills its mission, provides students with quality programs, and is both viable and sustainable. A team of peer educators from other independent schools then visit the school to observe how well the Self Study document reflects what is actually happening on campus. The visiting team writes a report that is then presented to the NWAIS Accreditation Committee. The committee makes a recommendation to the NWAIS Board of Governors about the school’s reaccreditation status. 

Hamlin Robinson School last went through its last reaccreditation process in 2015. For the upcoming reaccreditation, HRS launched the Self-Study process in the fall of 2023, will submit the Self-Study report in fall of 2024, and will host the NWAIS Visiting Reaccreditation Team in January of 2025.