Providence School has earned another six-year accreditation term from the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC).
The commission announced its decision this summer, following a yearlong self-study and a visiting committee review this spring. The new term runs through June 30, 2032, with a mid-cycle progress visit set for the 2028-29 school year.
The self-study began in early 2025 and drew input from faculty, staff, students, parents, and Providence’s governing board. Teachers met in focus groups and grade-level teams to evaluate the school against WASC’s criteria, and families weighed in through surveys and the Parent Association.
The process concluded with a full stakeholder review in February 2026.
Leading the self-study effort were Mary Wilson, Providence’s Lower School assistant principal and academic dean for grades K-8; and Susan Champion, Middle and Upper School director.
A four-member visiting committee, chaired by Marsha Johnson, principal of Rio Hondo Preparatory School, spent time on campus this spring confirming the school’s findings.
“The visiting committee’s report highlighted Providence’s mission-aligned culture and dedicated staff, its effective student support structures, and programs like TRIAD, which gives high schoolers two-week intensives in internships, independent study, and travel,” Providence leaders said.
“Reviewers also pointed to strong teacher commitment and a rigorous, well-rounded curriculum, reflected in Providence’s 100 percent college acceptance rate and SAT scores averaging 200 points above the national average,” they said.
Accreditation comes with a schoolwide action plan, one Providence is already carrying out.
Reviewers named strengthening K-12 curriculum coherence across Providence’s two campuses as a top priority, alongside expanding how the school uses student data and deepening student engagement in the middle and upper grades, school officials said.
Providence’s recent move to establish dedicated academic dean roles for grades K-8 and 9-12 responds directly to that first goal, giving the school two administrators focused on curriculum alignment and instructional consistency across divisions, school officials said.
“This accreditation confirms what our families already know: that Providence is a place where students are known, challenged, and formed for lives of purpose,” said Caroline Corazza, interim head of school.
She also expressed gratitude to the visiting committee, and to the teachers, students and parents who took part in the WASC accreditation process.
“This process gave us the chance to really look at what we’re doing well and where we can grow. I’m proud of how our whole community showed up for it,” said Wilson at this year’s State of the School event in the spring.
Providence School is a private, Christian, independent PreK-12 school in Santa Barbara, with campuses at Canon Perdido (grades 7-12) and San Roque (PreK-6).