By Margaret Jill Tinsay and Marilou Habacon

       From October 5-8, 2008, the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) paid a visit to Faith Christian School to complete the school's two-year accreditation process.  In October 2006, FCS was granted a candidate status for becoming an internationally-accredited school by the ACSI team headed by Dr. David Wilcox, the International Director for Latin America and Asia.  Dr. Wilcox and four other members of the ACSI team visited the school this year to observe the day-to-day operations of the school.  Faculty, students, parents, and staff members were interviewed and classes were observed.

According to the ACSI Accreditation Manual, the process of accrediting a school is based on its philosophy and foundations, organization, community, personnel, library and media resources, student services, support services, and facilities.  These guidelines were used by the ACSI team while they visited the school.

During the ACSI visit, four major activities were conducted: the observation of school operations and interviews with members of the school community, particularly teachers and students; the compilation of the team's findings in a written report; the interview with the school's leadership team to summarize the findings gathered in the report; and the submission of the accreditation recommendation to the Regional Commission.  The ACSI Regional Accreditation Commission in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA will review the team's report about the school and hopefully forward their decision to make FCS an internationally-accredited school sometime in February 2009.

The accreditation program of the ACSI helps schools attain and maintain the highest standards possible.  The pursuit of accreditation indicates the commitment of the school to serve the children of Cainta and the neighboring municipalities in Rizal with excellence.  It is the desire of FCS's administration to prepare its students for the future and open bigger and better opportunities for them to enter the best universities.  Apart from this, the school wishes to see its students become blessings to the community, to the nation, to the Philippines, and even to the entire world.

So far, the ACSI has over 5400 member schools in 106 nations in the world.  There are approximately 850 schools which are already accredited or are undergoing accreditation processes.  So far, Faith Christian School is one of only three schools in the Philippines under the Department of Education to undergo an ACSI accreditation process.

Praise the Lord for this wonderful opportunity He has given to FCS!