Jewish National Fund-USA’s (JNF-USA) Alexander Muss High School in Israel (Muss) is thrilled to announce that in December 2021, the Middle States Association (MSA) of College and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools has received, reviewed, and accepted their Mid-Term Report, thereby reaffirming the accreditation that Muss initially received.
The MSA is a worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement. For over 125 years, they have been helping school leaders establish and reach their goals, develop strategic plans, promote staff development, and advance student achievement.
Muss renewed its accreditation from the MSA, a widely recognized sign of institutional excellence, in 2018, and over the past several months, the school engaged in an extremely comprehensive review in all areas: academic, operational, programmatic, student life, lay leadership and governance, finance, recruitment, and faculty, as is required to maintain MSA accreditation.
In its letter to Muss, the MSA noted that “the report was found to be complete and shows evidence of faithful implementation of the strategic plan for growth and improvement especially given the circumstances requiring extreme and necessary decision making due to the pandemic.”
“Despite the challenging circumstances we have faced these past two years as a result of the pandemic, AMHSI has not stopped working on our strategic plans for growth and improvement,” said Head of School, Dr. Mark Shinar. “In many ways, this was a difficult time to engage in a mid-term self-evaluation study; we certainly could have come up with many reasons to avoid it. Instead, however, we embraced the opportunity to pause and reflect on our program and our vision, and in doing so, we can confidently state that AMHSI is doing exceptional work giving our students a top-notch academic study abroad experience in Israel that strengthens their Jewish identities and leadership skills. We are very grateful to our faculty for their continued and unwavering hard work and commitment to the school and its mission.”
The reaccreditation is an auspicious start to 2022, which also marks Muss’ 50-year anniversary. In honor of this milestone, Muss is launching a fundraising campaign for a $10 million endowment fund, safeguarding the institutional belief that the life-changing experience of AMHSI should be available beyond those who can afford full tuition. The endowment fund, combined with the reaccreditation, ensures that more Jewish teens can experience life-changing trips to Israel for years to come.
Muss is now fully accredited with the MSA until December 1, 2025.
For more information about Muss, visit amhsi.org.
