Dr. Judy Jankowski Head of School

On Sunday, March 19th, CBA welcomed a visiting team of 5 members from the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) to complete the site visit for our reaccreditation. Their visit marked the culmination of 3 years of work involving all members of our school community – faculty and staff, administration, parents and students, and the board of trustees. The visiting team evaluated CBA on 11 standards for membership. In addition to handily passing all of the standards, the VAIS Visiting Team resoundingly identified the following areas as major strengths of our program:

MAJOR STRENGTHS
Faculty: CBA engages a group of highly passionate, credentialed teachers and staff, who
work to their heart’s calling. Faculty and staff display a clearly aligned school-wide
emphasis on the whole child approach to education. Students feel cared for by their
teachers and parents know that teachers are “on their team.”

DEIJ: The visiting team applauds the School’s commitment to and progressive stance on
DEIJ. Faculty were intimately involved in this work, and the programmatic commitment
to DEIJ can be seen throughout the curriculum. Chesapeake Bay Academy serves as a
model to other independent school communities for articulating and living this bold,
clear, and mission-aligned philosophy.

Educational Technology: The School expertly navigated through the pandemic utilizing
educational technology to engage students through virtual learning. Chesapeake Bay
Academy invested in resources to ensure faculty had the tools they needed to maintain
the standards for educational excellence throughout. They continue to utilize technology
to ensure that every student has access to materials despite significant distances and
necessary medical appointments that might have previously hindered access and
academic progress.

Financial Stability: The School’s financial standing has improved greatly since that last
visit. With the completion of a $3 million capital campaign, the establishment of an
endowment as well as increasing financial reserves the School is in a much stronger
position to face the future.

Culture of Belonging: Students and families feel a strong sense of belonging as part of
the CBA community, and express profound appreciation for their experience at the
School. Parents passionately articulated that their children feel safe and nurtured at
CBA; these students love the space they are in and the faculty has rekindled the love of
learning. Students are excited to come to school and parents expressed how CBA has
benefited their own mental health by providing a refuge for families who have long
fought the public school system or other independent schools for an educational
program that fit the needs of their students. CBA has been a beacon of hope for these
families and students.

CBA is proud of the great work of our community and grateful to all who contributed to the remarkable success of this important work!