Association of Recovery Schools (ARS) Accreditation

The Association of Recovery Schools instituted an Accreditation Process to help guide recovery schools toward awareness of areas of strength and growth opportunities. Leaders in the field who have been through the process will discuss the history and rationale for the accreditation review and the components of the Accreditation Manual that pertain to their areas of expertise as school administrators, instructional leaders, and clinicians. Programming and practice changes made in schools as a result of participating in the accreditation process will be discussed as well as guidance about how to initiate participation in the accreditation process.

• Participants will gain an understanding of how the ARS Accreditation Standards came to be. They will be able to identify rationales for gaining and maintaining accreditation through ARS.
• Participants will gain an understanding of the accreditation standards and how the document is used to measure the categories of school organization, school community, recovery practices, and educational practices (each of which will be reviewed by an expert who has worked in an accredited school). They will be able to understand how accreditation is obtained through the scoring of indicators.
• Participants will gain an understanding of the steps involved in becoming accredited, including eligibility criteria for initiating the process, preparation involved, implementation of the site visit, follow-up and maintaining accreditation.