MEADOW HEIGHTS GETS ACTING SUPERINTENDENT

PATTON -- The Meadow Heights School District's preparation for its accreditation review this week could have come to a screeching halt after Superintendent Gerald Deardorff underwent heart bypass surgery Feb. 8.

Instead, board members, faculty and staff managed day-to-day activities and continued preparing for the Missouri School Improvement Program review until interim superintendent Jim Evans could be hired and take the helm.

"We felt very well-prepared going into the MSIP, and I'd credit that to the teachers here," said Evans, who served as Gideon schools superintendent for 19 years. "They're very aware of the MSIP and what we needed to do."

A state review team visited the school this week and performed in-depth research and interviews to determine how well the district meets standards in the areas of resources, process and performance. The team sends the data it collects to the Missouri Department of Education, and a panel will determine what accreditation the school receives for the next five years.

"Overall, we were real pleased with the exit interview," Evans said. "Our biggest strength, the one we're most proud of, is our curriculum. They felt it was thorough and complete, and covered everything it needed to."

The school has a provisional accreditation, but Evans said administrators are hoping to receive full accreditation when the final results of the review are returned in about two months.

He said the team reported only minor concerns during the exit interview that can be easily improved.

"They didn't really have any major concerns," he said. "For the most part, their concerns were what I would call short-term administrative cleanup."