A Look Back: PAIS in the Beginning
By Jay Harvey, Director of Accreditation, PAIS

A meeting of representatives of independent schools interested in taking steps toward organizing the Association of Elementary Schools of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of accrediting elementary schools to the State Department of Public Instruction, as permitted by Act No. 401, was held at the Episcopal Academy, Overbrook, Pennsylvania, on Monday, December 29, 1947, at 4pm. Dr. Greville Haslam, Headmaster of the Episcopal Academy, presided. Of the fifty-seven schools invited to attend, thirty-two were represented by person or proxy.

After several hours of discussion, the group reconvened after dinner and the following resolution was presented.

Resolved: That the schools here represented in person, by proxy, or by receipt of an affirmative letter in answer to the invitation to attend, constitute themselves as the charter members of the Association of Elementary Schools of Pennsylvania. It is understood that as soon as the Association has been recognized by the Department of Public Instruction, these schools will themselves be evaluated before becoming accredited by the Association.

The Resolution was passed unanimously. Acknowledging that some expense would now be incurred, a motion to institute dues of $50 for the charter member schools was adopted. A Committee on Evaluation and Accreditation was formed. This Committee agreed that “They would take the Department of Public Instruction's regulations and questionnaire and incorporate additional ideas into them. The emphasis would be on area, rather than on subject matter as in secondary schools. The Committee believes that accrediting should be for a two-year period, or when in doubt, for a one-year period, where good intent is shown”.

The leadership of the Association at this pivotal juncture was:
Mr. J. Folwell Scull, Chairman, Abington Friends School
Mrs. Grier Bartol, Secretary, The Agnes Irwin School
Mr. Charles E Clisby, Treasurer, The Miquon School

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Association of Elementary Schools of Pennsylvania was held Friday, January 9th, 1948. In response to a recent ruling by the Department of Education, and in keeping with the terminology of PA Act 401, it was decided that the group should rename itself the Pennsylvania Association of Private and Academic Schools (PAPAS). At this point, the Association was composed of schools with Nursery, Kindergarten and Elementary programs, with some stretching to include 9th and 10th grade if they were connected.

Original PAPAS Membership/Purpose Criterion:
Membership: Any private academic institution–elementary, kindergarten, and nursery, or such other not having a full high school program–as may be approved by the Executive Committee, provided such school shall have been in operation for not less than three years under the same auspices, may be eligible for membership and accreditation in the Association.
Purpose: The maintenance and improvement of the standards of the private academic schools of the Commonwealth.

From the minutes of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Association of Private and Academic Schools, March 14, 1948 - held at the Haverford School:
“Mr Scull read a letter from Dr Cressman notifying the Association that it had been approved by the State Council of Education for one year, from March 5, 1948 to March 5, 1949, inclusive”.
From the same minutes, “Miss Tilley reported that a group of five schools had met in Pittsburgh to form the Western Pennsylvania branch of the Association. These schools are: Sewickley Academy, Shady Side Academy, Falk, Winchester Thurston and Ellis.”

Many of the minutes of the group prior to this date seem to be organizational, planning to create Standards and criteria for accreditation. The original evaluation criteria, what we now refer to as Sections within which the Standards lie, was organized as follows:
1) Philosophy
2) Pupil Population
3) Curriculum and Pupil Activities
4) Instruction
5) Administration and Personnel
6) Finances
7) Plant and Equipment
8) Outcome of Educational Program

It is worth noting that the members of the PAPAS Executive Committee at the time of this adoption included the following schools:
• Abington Friends
• The Agnes Irwin School
• Chestnut Hill Academy
• Ellis College (Newtown Square)
• The Ellis School
• Episcopal Academy
• Erie Day School
• The Haverford School
• Germantown Friends School
• The Miquon School
• Montgomery Country Day
• Seiler School
• Wilkes-Barre Day School

The very first spring, 1948, three schools were chosen to pilot the newly created accreditation protocol:
• Chestnut Hill Academy on May 9 and 10
• Stevens School on May 17 and 18
• Montgomery Country Day, the week of May 24

September, 1948:
PAPAS joins the National Council of Independent Schools at an annual fee of $100. PAPAS continued as the accreditor of Pennsylvania independent schools until it was merged into PAIS in 2006.

Then and Now
PAPAS Charter Members 1948: appx 58
PAIS Member Schools 2023: 119

PAPAS Charter Annual Dues 1948: $50
PAIS Member Annual Prorated Dues 2023: Ranging from $274.56 to $11,440

Registration Fee to NAIS (then NCIS) 1948: $100
Registration Fee to NAIS 2023: $325