St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School earns Cognia’s School of Distinction designation

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Destrehan was recently designated as a 2022 Cognia School of Distinction.

Cognia – a global school improvement organization that aims to grow learners, teachers, and leaders – assesses its accredited schools and districts to determine Schools of Distinction designations. Results are based on an internal accreditation engagement review process.

Cognia conducted approximately 1,500 school engagement reviews for accreditation during the 2021-2022 school year. A total of 96 schools and 38 systems in 34 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and nine countries were recognized – including SCB. The number of institutions reviewed and those that earn this designation vary from year to year. Winners carry the designation for one year.

“Congratulations to the 2022 Schools and Systems of Distinction for demonstrating excellence in education in meeting the Cognia Performance Standards,” Cognia President and CEO Dr. Mark A. Elgart said. “Based on the results of their 2021–2022 accreditation reviews, each of these schools and systems demonstrated evidence of growth in learning, a healthy culture for learning, engaging and high-quality instructional environments, and effective leadership for learning.”

Janette Goertz, SCB’s dean of student affairs, said the school values having an outside source come in to the school to assess and value the educational landscape there.

“You can’t grow if you don’t know,” she said. “It’s good to get feedback and learn the positive and negatives regarding the school.”

Goertz said this is the first time SCB has undergone Cognia’s extra accreditation step.

“They really talked to us about our data and our processes,” she said. “We work hard to use data to guide instruction and improve the experience for all learners. We were noticed for reaching all learners. It can be challenging for schools to reach those who need an extra challenge on both ends – the lower learners and the higher learners.”

Another facet of the accreditation was interviews with various groups of the school’s stakeholders.

“People just love the community and family feel of our school,” Goertz said. “We really and truly just want to reach all students and educate the whole child – body, mind, soul – and keep them on a faith-based course at the same time.”

Goertz said preparing students academically and socially, as well as making them confident and successful for the future, is the aim at SCB.

“They’ll always have a place to come home to,” she said. “You come back and you’re home. You come in and it’s like walking back into your own house.”

Goertz said SCB continues to see increases in enrollment. They currently educate 460 students.

“What we do and how happy our students are … that word gets out,” she said. “What they hear about our school is that it’s the best and that kids are so happy here. It’s just a welcoming and caring environment. We’re always trying to improve and advance.”