from the Peace & Justice Academy
PIctured: St. James United Methodist Church, the new home of the Peace & Justice Academy.
The Peace & Justice Academy is celebrating two major events in the life of the school. First, they have been granted full accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Second, they have moved to a new location in Altadena. Classes are underway in the beautiful St. James United Methodist Church campus.
According to Co-Director Randy Christopher, “We had accreditation in mind when we created the Peace & Justice Academy. As soon as we were eligible to apply, we filed the paperwork and requested an accreditation visit from WASC. Last November they sent a pair of evaluators to look at our campus, our curriculum, and a massive binder of supporting documentation. They interviewed faculty, students, parents, and board members. In January, the WASC Board met to discuss the evaluation team's report. We learned the results on Feb. 9.”
The Peace & Justice Academy was awarded a three-year Initial Accreditation. This is the highest level of accreditation possible for a first-time applicant. It acknowledges a strong staff and a program advanced enough, in WASC's opinion, to operate on its current path until a full accreditation visit in three years.
“For us, it is a validation of the hard work of all the stakeholders of our school. And it is a way for the school's board and administrators to be accountable to our families, our donors, and the community,” concluded Christopher.
This amazing news came on the heels of the Academy’s mid-year move to St. James Methodist Church. “We’ve been searching for a suitable campus since we opened our doors,” recalled Kimberly Medendorp, Co-Director of PAJA. “It’s appropriate that we made our connection to St. James through one of our Peace & Justice Labs. We were studying sacred spaces to see what we could discover about them from the outside. One group of our students went to look at St. James. The pastor, Gary Barbaree, invited us in. And what we discovered on the inside was a perfect place for our school to live and grow.”
The Peace & Justice academy is a Christian middle and high school teaching youth to stand for justice, wage peace and impact the world. Go to www.thepeaceacademy.org for more information. For more information on the community resources available at St. James, go to www.stjamesumcpasadena.com .
