What makes a school great is not awards, recognition, or even great teachers; it is the students that make a school great.  However, great teachers, awards, and recognition all play a role in getting parents to send kids to a particular school.

 The effectiveness of the teachers, the academic program, and school atmosphere and administration were all reviewed April 3 and 4 by an External Review Team representing the National Board of Education which will affirm their decision. The Review Team gave Cotter high marks.

They saw well-managed, orderly, and engaged learning and instruction occurring in all of the 36 classrooms they observed.

They commended Cotter for three positive practices – an effective Board, a vibrant community spirit, and a successful international and domestic boarding program.

“We are a strong school that wants to get better,” Dave Forney, a counselor and administrator at Cotter, said.

The ways that Cotter will work to get better were use the MN math league tests that Cotter students take to look at areas where the teaching could improve and to use the information surveys give better improve the school.

Cotter already surveys teachers, students, and parents to take a look at how the school is perceived.

The biggest helpers in making sure that the accreditation went smoothly were Sister Regina McKillip and AnnMarie DeMaris.

If the official review comes back well as expected, the school will be accredited for the next five year. Accreditation means that the school has been reviewed as a school which is worth the money, and accreditation is a very good marketing tool for the school to draw in international and domestic students.

“Thank you for all that went into the process and the actual review days,” Sister Judy Schaefer, President of Cotter Schools, said. “I could not have been prouder!”