Willow Hall Academy students and parents have been requesting (actually begging) that WHA continue through grade 12. Now the door is open to go through 12^th grade.

Sometime in 1996, when the new building was completed, I said “The dream continues….the dream expands.” Now the door is open to go through 12^thgrade.

Willow Hall Academy, K-8^th, has SACS, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, accreditation, the highest for a private school. I did not want to open grades 9 – 12 without accreditation because of the possible problems presented when students apply for college. The process of getting SACS accreditation is an extremely tedious, difficult and time consuming effort for our staff.

I called SACs and discussed offering education through high school. I was told by SACs after the evaluation by the committee in the spring of 2008 our rating was excellent. The only criteria needed to be met to offer grades 9 – 12 is to have a teacher on staff with a master’s certification in Special Education for 9^th – 12^th. I have a Master’s Degree in Special Education for K-12. Therefore the high school portion of Willow Hall Academy will have the same level of SACs accreditation that our lower school carries, which was one of my prerequisites for opening high school.

Now the door is open to go through 12^th grade.

Beginning immediately, January 2009, Willow Hall is offering open enrollment for 1^st through 12^th grade. My Christmas vacation will be spent putting in place the curriculum for the new grades. I am excited that WHA can offer the high school grades to our students as an accredited academy.