An Island private school has become the first outside Canada to receive official accreditation by the Canadian Educational Standards Institute (CESI).

Ten assessors from the institute visited Somersfield Academy in Devonshire in April and decided that the school ranked on a par with the best Canadian schools.

Dr. James R. Christopher, CESI?s executive director, said yesterday: ?The Board of Directors of CESI has unanimously voted to award full accreditation to Somersfield Academy.

?Somersfield is the first school outside of Canada to be fully accredited by CESI. The team of ten assessors from CESI examined the school in April of this year and was exceptionally pleased with the programmes and operations at Somersfield Academy.?

The accreditation is the result of a three-year evaluation process that involved extensive site visits and assessments by CESI council members.

Margaret Hallett, Somersfield?s head of school, said: ?We are delighted to receive the endorsement by such a prestigious organisation as CESI.

?The members of the school community took considerable time and effort to critically examine and document the school?s academic programme, its administration and general operations. A team of ten visiting educators, including school heads, administrators and teachers from accredited schools in Canada, rigorously examined the school.

?We subjected ourselves to this objective review as a matter of credibility and accountability. CESI accreditation means parents, teachers and donors can be confident that Somersfield is a school to trust and one that is committed to ongoing excellence and improvement.

?As a CESI member school, Somersfield will continue to receive valuable and comprehensive feedback on its programmes and operations with a view to steady improvement.?

Somersfield was founded in 1991 by the Montessori Education Trust and has 330 students.