Branford High School (BHS) has shared the final report produced by New England Association of Schools and Colleges Inc. (NEASC) Commission on Public Schools, following a process which included an on-site accreditation visit conducted over three days in October 2016, by a committee of educators from across New England.

Required at least every 10 years to maintain accreditation, the report assesses the quality of the BHS educational program, from staff to students, classrooms to overall learning facility, in order to gauge how BHS aligns with the Commission's Standards for Accreditation. The full, 112-page report, shared with this article and also posted on the BHS website, measures the progress and growth toward meeting the school's 21st century learning expectations.

Depending on the standards being reviewed, evidence for the report were gathered through sources including self-study, panel presentations, teachers, students, parents, school board, department leaders, central office personnel, classroom observations, student shadowing, student work, teacher interviews, school leadership and school support staff and appropriate surveys developed by Endicott College Research Center.

Established in 1885, NEASC is the oldest of the six regional accrediting agencies in the United States, awarding membership and accreditation educational institutions in the six-state New England region. For public secondary schools, the accreditation program involves self-study (conducted by the local professional staff), on-site evaluation (conducted by the visiting committee Oct. 16 - 19, 2016), and then a follow-up program, carried out by the school, to implement the self-study findings and any committee recommendations.

The report was issued to BHS principal Lee Panagoulias Jr. in March for distribution to the BHS school community. NEASC also requires the report be shared within 60 days of receipt with the district staff, school board, and be made available in public venues (the report is also available at the Blackstone Library).

In a letter issued to parents on April 18, together with a copy of the NEASC report, Branford Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez stated, in part, "The goal of an accreditation visit is to stimulate a continuing drive for improvement in a school.　 The New England Association of Schools and Colleges is a voluntary membership organization of more than 2,000 public schools, colleges and universities, independent schools, and vocational, technical, and career institutions. Of these, over 630 secondary schools have been accredited through the Association's Commission on Public Schools. The Committee works with individual public schools to improve the quality of education through a continuous process of accreditation and evaluation."