CENTRE — The Cherokee County Board of Education last week announced that after a four-day final review, the AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Team has recommended full district accreditation for the county school system. The recommendation will mean that all eight schools in Cherokee County will be accredited.

After reviewing the system's district governance policies and conducting over 400 interviews with educators, parents, students and community members, the external review team provided the district with four commendations and three required actions.

The commendations noted the school system's “exemplary shared leadership model” and its “unique, highly effective Professional Learning Community (PLC) structure.”

Required actions included creating and implementing a long-range strategic plan, implementing strategies for stakeholder participation in the decision-making process, and exploring additional funding sources.

The school system's Governance and Leadership standard was considered to be at the highest level obtainable, according to the review.

The Cherokee County District Leadership Team released a statement thanking the standards committee members, administrators, certified and support staff, students, parents, and community members for their work and participation in the two-year review process.

“Because of your commitment to the children of Cherokee County we can celebrate, together, this recognition of achievement as we continue our work towards educational excellence,” the statement read.