ISAS is the acronym for Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (www.isasw.org). Independent Schools in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas have ISAS as their accrediting agency. Every ten years Manzano Day School, and all the other independent schools in the southwest region, undergoes a complete site visit whereby ISAS examines every aspect of our school, making sure we are following the high standards set forth by the ISAS and that we’ve implemented the Principles of Good Practice set down by NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools.
In addition we must routinely submit interim reports to ISAS in the fourth and seventh year, just to maintain our accreditation. For the tenth year report, a year of self-study is undertaken by our school, which is reviewed by ISAS prior to the on site visit. Following the visit, a full report is presented to the Standards Committee of ISAS, which is thoroughly reviewed. This committee then makes a recommendation to the Association as to whether Manzano Day School should continue to be accredited by ISAS.
We are very proud of our accreditation by ISAS, and in fact Manzano Day School is the only elementary school in Albuquerque with this distinction. We received our re-accreditation at the start of the 2011 – 2012 academic year. Other schools in Albuquerque accredited by ISAS are Albuquerque Academy, Bosque School, Menaul School and Sandia Preparatory School. These schools educate students in grades 6 – 12.