SAIS ACCREDITATION

Request for Participation

Please complete this request for participation in SAIS ACCREDITATION. Details about the process can be found in the Guidebook. Please direct questions to:  

Pat Cuneo
Director of Accreditation
pat@sais.org
(678) 203-5005


FAQs
Can we include multiple accreditations in one visit?
Yes. See the choices below. Common co-accrediting partners include regional accreditors (such as Cognia and Middle States), state accreditors (such as VAIS and FCIS), pedagogical accreditors (such as AWSNA and AMS), or religiously affiliated accreditors (such as ACSI and CSI). Schools can also choose modules and endorsements such as early learning and Catholic or Episcopal identity. 

When should we submit this form?
18-24 months prior to your school's requested visit date.

Who is the primary contact for our school and SAIS?
The primary contact for your school's accreditation process is your Accreditation Coordinator. This is the person we will communicate with about all aspects of the process. You will be asked to provide that person's name and email address on this form.


ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL

Grades Served *
Primary Teaching Method (select all that apply)

CONTACT INFORMATION

ACCREDITATION COORDINATOR (AC)

HEAD OF SCHOOL (HOS)


BOARD CHAIR (BC)

VISIT DETAILS

When considering your visit dates, please keep in mind:
  • Visit must be 2.5 days.
  • Fall visits are to occur between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and NOT during the SAIS Annual Conference (Oct 19-21, 2025, or Oct 18-20, 2026; click here to view the full calendar of events).
  • Spring visits are to occur between mid-January and mid-April.
  • Note that dates may have to be adjusted to accommodate chair/team schedules.
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Accreditation Status

Is your school currently accredited? *

Additional Accreditations, Endorsements, or Self-Analysis

SAIS offers many collaborative accrediting partnerships.
-For Cognia, Middle States, and WASC, there is no additional preparation required.
-For other partners, endorsements, or self-analysis, please check with SAIS for any additional requirements or differing protocols. Several of these are items schools have created as additional methods of assessing their adherence to a set of principles outside of accreditation. 
Other accreditations sought (select all that apply) *
Endorsements or Self-Analysis (select all that apply) *

ACCREDITATION WORKSHOP PARTICIPATION

Attendance at an SAIS accreditation workshop is required. Will you attend a regional virtual workshop, a school-specific workshop, or an in-person workshop at the SAIS Annual Conference? Check the dates/locations here. This information will also be included in the confirmation email you receive after submitting this form.

SELF-STUDY & DATA SOURCES

Briefly describe your school's self-study method. There are examples in the Guidebook.
Describe or list the sources of valid and reliable data you are using routinely or as part of your self-study. The SAIS School Community Feedback Survey is one such source.

TEAM MEMBERS & PEER SCHOOLS

SAIS will assign your chair and team members. We try to match these people with your school based on the information provided on this form.
 
You are welcome to provide guidance on the desired characteristics or expertise of your chair and team members. Because of potential conflicts of interest, please do not suggest specific names. Also note that you will not have the same team as a previous visit, but we may ask one or two team members to serve again for the sake of continuity.
Another way to help SAIS get a deeper sense of who you are and who you want to be is for you to share who you consider peer schools. While you won't necessarily have team members from these specific schools, this will give us a sense of established or potential networks. Please list mostly schools that are SAIS members and note that we do not seek team members from schools you consider competitors. 

ACCREDITATION PORTAL ACCESS

Please list the names, titles, and email addresses of all individuals who will need to access the school's information in the Accreditation Portal. 

AGREEMENT & ACCREDITATION FEE

By submitting this form, I certify that my school agrees to the following:
  • We have read and understand the Guidebook.
  • We understand the accreditation fee is $850 for SAIS only or $975 for SAIS + Cognia.
  • We agree to pay the accreditation fee upon receiving the invoice after submitting this form. Please note that the accreditation fee does not include attendance at an accreditation workshop.
  • We will upload our written responses to the standards/indicators to the accreditation portal as instructed.
  • We agree to file an interim report two years after the visit, as instructed by SAIS.
  • We will be in compliance with all standards/indicators as of the date of the team visit.
We agree to the above terms and fees. *
Please invoice us for the accreditation fee as follows: *