NRCA Receives Exemplary Recommendation from ACSI

By Presley Harrison, Shield Editor 

An accreditation team visited NRCA at the end of the third quarter and recommended the school for Exemplary Accreditation to ACSI’s Commission on Accreditation, which meets in July.  

The Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) conducted the accreditation visit from March 17-19, 2025. Accreditation adds an extra layer of credibility and ensures that NRCA fully delivers on its mission statement of providing excellence in all areas of its outreach. In addition to the Exemplary Accreditation recommendation, NRCA also received a renewal accreditation addendum for the school's International Student Program, which is a separate accreditation protocol that Susan Dial, who leads the program, directed with ACSI. 

Dr. Kevin Mathes, Superintendent of NRCA, led preparations for the visit. He said, “NRCA’s mission statement talks about excellence in academics, fine arts, and athletics, and NRCA truly does want to pursue excellence in all that we say and do.” 

NRCA holds dual accreditation from ACSI and Cognia. Mathes explained NRCA’s choice to pursue accreditation through two organizations, “ACSI is our lead accrediting agency because they are the world's largest Christian accrediting body. Cognia is probably more well known, but they're the secular accrediting body. For the credibility of our institution and the accountability of both agencies, we decided to do dual accreditation.” 

ACSI recently developed a higher level of standards for schools aiming to reach exemplary status, and NRCA worked hard to prepare for the visit. Mathes explained that NRCA analyzed every strength and opportunity in every aspect of the school and its community.  

“NRCA took a hard look at ourselves. I use the analogy of looking at yourself in a mirror. We gathered a lot of data through surveys that alumni, students, staff members, and parents took, and through that data, we wrote a self-study report where we reflected what we saw,” Mathes said.  

The ACSI visiting team examined the school’s self-study report and evidences of NRCA’s programs, compiled by the NRCA Leadership Team, as part of the external review. During the visit, the team did a deep dive into the school’s curriculum and communications with stakeholders. They also conducted interviews with students, parents, staff members, leadership team members, and teachers. In between interviews, the team observed classrooms to analyze the teaching side of NRCA. 

At the end of their time on campus, the visitation team members wrote a team report. “In the process of them being here on campus a little less than a week, they looked at NRCA through a window perspective. So, our process is a mirror perspective, and their process is more of a window perspective, which helps to identify maybe some blind spots that NRCA may have overlooked in our self-study—either an area of strength or another area of opportunity,” Mathes explained.   

The combined reports give NRCA the means to identify and improve in every area of its mission. “We are finalizing the next steps for the things that we want to accomplish over the next five years to not only maintain the high level that we're already currently doing, but also identify what things we're going to implement over the next five years that will—this is a term that even the accreditation team used—take us from good to great. We always want to be in a mode of asking how we improve what we're doing,” said Mathes. 

The superintendent’s enthusiasm for the accreditation process reflects the school’s eagerness to uphold and enhance its history of excellence. Feedback from the accreditation process will enable NRCA to continue flourishing. Mathes explained, “As we move forward over the next five years, we want to improve authentically, maintaining a level of excellence and earning Exemplary Accreditation, while also asking how we do the things that we're doing to a better level. We're grateful that we identified some opportunities that weren't even on our radar and looking forward to implementing some processes or strategies for that. There are some really cool things that have been identified, and I am so excited to see what God's going to do at NRCA over the next five years.”  

Ending his reflection on the accreditation process, the team visit, the recommendation for Exemplary Accreditation, and the strategic plan taking shape, Mathes concluded, “Seeing what God is going to do at NRCA is the key element to all of this. We do what we do because this is a calling for our ministry. And everything we want to do, we want to do for a level of excellence, not for NRCA’s glory, but truly to give God the glory. Because it's not about one person. It's not about one aspect of the school. We are just thrilled to allow God to work through us to accomplish His greater purpose.” 

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Both the accreditation protocol and NRCA’s strategic plan are built on a data-driven model based on research conducted by ACSI to determine what areas of excellence lead to flourishing schools. The model developed from this research, which surveyed seven stakeholder groups (students, parents, alumni, teachers, administrators, support staff, and board members), is called the Flourishing School Culture Model. The domains identified as essential to school flourishing are purpose, relationships, learning orientation, expertise and resources, and well-being.