Monday, June 8, 2009

TSEA receives continued WASC accreditation

In March of this year, the Tall Ship Education Academy underwent a review by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). This review insures that our programs are educationally sound, and deserve recognition among other educational institutions.

Our first review, in March 2006, resulted in a three year accreditation period. This year, a small team of board, staff and volunteers conducted a self-study that was presented to the WASC committee. The committee visited the Tall Ship Academy just before the girls left on their voyage to ground truth the study. They talked to board members, SFSU staff, TSEA faculty and of course, the students.

This week, we received the letter from WASC stating that we have continued accreditation through 2015! This is a great accomplishment and another sign of the effectiveness of the TSEA programs.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Tall Ship Semester for Girls Graduation 2009

This year's group of Tall Ship girls have become known amongst the instructors as beacons of fair weather and tonight was no exception. The event started around 3:30pm when the newly created sailing vessel Hiromi-Maru was launched into aquatic park. There was a fair breeze, so the first launching was in rowboat form; quickly, the breeze decrease to perfect launching weather and the Hiromi-Maru went for her first sail. A beautiful sight!
After the boat launch, the weather continued to be uncharacteristically balmy as family and friends gathered on the historic Balclutha to hear graduation speeches from the girls. They did a fantastic job and we concluded the evening with celebratory cake. Congratulations to the class of 2009!