Mehlville Senior High School and Oakville Senior High School in the Mehlville School District recently joined 9,000 high schools in a 19-state region by earning accreditation for the 2002-2003 school year from the North Cen-tral Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.

The organization bestowed the honor on the two school’s at its annual meeting conducted in Chicago last month.

To achieve accreditation, Oakville Senior High and Mehlville Senior High met the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement’s quality standards that required them to engage in continuous school improvement focused on increasing student performance.

The schools also were evaluated by a team of professionals from outside the school.

The North Central Association Commission on Accred-itation and School Improvement accreditation process is voluntary and must be renewed each year, according to a Mehlville School District news release.

“Accreditation demonstrates to our students, parents and community that we are focused on raising student achievement, providing a safe and enriching learning en-vironment, and maintaining an efficient and effective op-eration staffed by highly qualified educators,” Oakville Senior High School Principal Eric Knost stated in the news release.

Mehlville Senior High School Principal Vince Viviano added, “The real value of NCACASI accreditation is the school improvement process, which focuses the school staff on analyzing student performance data, identifying areas of weakness, and developing clear goals and plans for improvement.”

Each high school received an official North Central Asso-ciation Commission on Accreditation and School Im-provement accreditation certificate suitable for framing and displaying for students, staff and parents to enjoy, ac-cording to the news release.