The ACE (Accreditation, Candidacy, and Excellence) Learning pathway is NEASC’s flagship framework for school accreditation. Unlike compliance-focused models, ACE places learning at the centre of everything — prioritising what actually happens in classrooms over documentation alone. It challenges schools to view their community as an interconnected ecosystem, where every decision, structure, and behaviour has an impact on learning.
The pathway is guided by ten ACE Learning Principles, which together ask schools to reflect deeply on what high-quality learning looks like — and to build systems that make it possible for every student.
Waad Academy’s path to accreditation began in 2024 and progressed through three formal stages:
Eligibility (2024) — Waad Academy met the foundational requirements set by NEASC, confirming that the school had the basic structures, policies, and systems in place to support a quality learning environment.
Candidacy (2024–2025) — The school entered a formal cycle of internal reflection, aligning its practices with the ACE Learning Principles and building evidence of its effectiveness as a learning community.
Full Accreditation (2025–2026) — Following a rigorous External Review Visit conducted by a team of trained peer educators, Waad Academy was awarded full NEASC Accreditation.
The ACE framework prompted Waad Academy to re-examine how learning is designed, experienced, and assessed across the school. Rather than organising the curriculum around content delivery alone, the school shifted towards a model that balances knowledge with skills and dispositions — equipping students to think critically, work independently, and engage meaningfully with the world around them.
Teaching and assessment practices were reviewed through the lens of the ACE Learning Principles, with a focus on giving students greater ownership of their learning, developing their capacity for self-direction, and ensuring that feedback genuinely informs growth rather than simply measuring outcomes.
