News & Press

Gain Ville Learning Center earns reaccreditation

Apr 22, 2024

Gain Ville Learning Center is pleased to share that the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) recently met and announced last week that Gain Ville Learning Center was among the 190 schools in 16 states, as well as Puerto Rico, and 16 other countries that received reaccreditation, the gold standard for measuring and advancing school improvement.

Gain Ville Learning Center initially became a candidate for accreditation on 12/6/2013 and gained accreditation for its language educational offerings on 12/1/2015 following an initial MSA site visit during Spring of that year. During the Spring of 2023, Gain Ville embarked on an internal self-audit process with a focus on enhancing student performance which culminated in a second site-visit by the MSA visiting team during Fall 2023. On 4/12, the MSA Commission met and awarded Gain Ville reaccreditation for the next seven year period.

We would like to send a big thank you to all members of our community as it our students and families who inspire us to strive for excellence in the delivery of our language enrichment programs at our learning centers in Rutherford and Ho-Ho-Kus as well as at public schools in Ridgewood, NJ.

About Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) Based in Philadelphia, the Middle States Association is the worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement. Since 1887, Middle States has been helping school leaders establish and reach their goals, develop strategic plans, promote staff development, and advance student achievement. With more than 2,700 accredited schools and school systems in nearly 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in over 110 countries, Middle States is proud of its continuing legacy and its ongoing innovations to meet the challenges of improving education in the 21st century. For more information visit www.msa-cess.org.

About Gain Ville Learning Center GainVille is an educational and cultural network providing customized language learning opportunities to students of all ages and abilities. Our mission is to enrich lives, expand scholarship, and inspire enlightened global citizens. Founded in 2005 as a lifestyles and learning company, Gain Ville’s early beginnings focused on educational placement and personal development solutions. Beginning in late 2008, the company added language programs to its suite of offerings which now represents its key focus area. Language programs to children, youth and adults include Spanish, Italian, French, and Arabic. Gain Ville has two locations in Rutherford and Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ and provides early morning enrichment and the Hola Amigo Spanish summer camp program at public school locations in Ridgewood, NJ.

MSA Update & A Big Thank You to our Community!

Nov 16, 2023

In 2015, Gain Ville Learning Center first obtained its 7-year accreditation term from the Middle States Association, Commission on Elementary & Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS). During the past 18 months, we have been working diligently on our Self-Study process in preparation for a new accreditation term beginning in 2024.

This week, we welcomed the MSA visiting committee who had the opportunity to observe classes at both our Rutherford and Ho-Ho-Kus locations while having the pleasure of speaking with parents, students and teachers.

On Thursday morning, we bid the visiting team goodbye and are hopeful that we will have the privilege and honor of receiving a new 7-year accreditation term. We look forward to sharing with you the official announcement when the MSA Commission meets during the Spring of 2024.

We would like to thank all our stakeholders for helping us get to this point in our organization’s journey. It is because of you that we strive to put our best foot forward every day in our quest to fulfill our mission of enriching lives, expanding scholarship, and inspiring enlightened global citizens.

A special shout out to those community members who were able to take some time from their schedule to personally meet with the committee – whether in person and/or virtually – as your presence and input is very much valued and appreciated!

MSA Accreditation Team Visit Coming up in November 2023

Oct 6, 2023

Gain Ville Learning Center’s accreditation by the Middle States Association, Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) is up for renewal at the end of January 2024. Gain Ville has been undergoing a self-study process for the past 12 months which required input from school leaders, teachers, parents, and students. Following this self-study, a team of educators from MSA member schools will visit Nov. 13-16, 2023 to conduct a peer review. The purpose of this team visit is to closely examine all of Gain Ville’s internal policies, procedures, curriculum process and student performance data in an effort to grant the school with a new 7-year accreditation term.

Previously in 2015, Gain Ville earned an initial 7 year accreditation term for its PreK through Post Secondary programs at its Rutherford location. For this upcoming reaccreditation term, Gain Ville will include its new location in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ which is now into its 2nd year.

During the 3 day team visit Nov. 13-16, a select group from Gain Ville’s community of stakeholders including students, parents, teachers and staff will be called upon to provide individual perspectives on their experiences in an effort to establish goal congruency with the organization’s operations and educational delivery. We will be sharing more details as we get closer to that date.

For questions regarding our MSA Self Study process and/or team visit, please contact Diala Pharaon at dpharaon@gaincontact.com.

MSA Planning Committee Meetings

Oct 27, 2022

On May 26, 2022 the Self-Study Process started with the launch of our first meeting.

Since then, the MSA Planning Committee has come together for a total of eleven meetings and is planning to continue to do so for the coming months.

The values and the ideas of each member are playing an important role in the Self-Study Process leading Gain Ville Learning Center to receive accreditation for a new 7-year period by the Middle States Association, Commission on Elementary and Secondary school (MSA-CESS).

So far, the committee has met on the following dates and covered the following topics:

Meeting on 5/26 Planning team Introductions, MSA Overview
Meeting on 6/9 Mission
Meeting on 6/21 Core Values
Meeting on 7/5 Graduate Student Profiles
Meeting on 7/19 Description, Purpose, Organization, Personnel, Challenges, Opportunities, Additional Information
Meeting on 8/2 The Profile of the students and their Demographic data
Meeting on 9/27 Assessment & performance data (Children)
Meeting on 10/18 Assessment & performance data (Adults)

MSA Planning Committee Meeting for new Self-Study process kicks off tonight

May 26, 2022

Thursday, May 26 2022 – Gain Contact Group (dba Gain Ville) is pleased to announce that it has formed its MSA Planning Committee to kick off the Self-Study process for its new accreditation period by the Middle States Association, Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS).

Gain Ville initially embarked on the initial MSA Self Study back in Fall 2013 and had its MSA site visit during June 2015, culminating in Gain Ville gaining accreditation in December 2015 for a 7-year term that expires on January 1, 2024 (accreditation period extended due to the pandemic). We are excited to launch this re-accreditation process by hosting our first MSA planning meeting virtually this evening, Thursday May 26, 2022 8:15-9:15pm via Zoom, to begin working on the components of the Self-Study in preparation for our MSA Team Visit during Spring 2023.

Who We Are: GainVille is an educational and cultural network providing customized language learning opportunities to students of all ages and abilities.

Our Mission: Our aim is to enrich lives, expand scholarship, and inspire enlightened global citizens.

Never Stop Learning!

Jun 12, 2020

It’s finally summer! You might be finishing up school work or enjoying time outside in the summer sun after work. With COVID-19, you might find that you have more time on your hands. Instead of watching more TV, think of something you’ve always wanted to do. That could be anything from renting a musical instrument and trying it out for a month to playing a new board game with your family. But what about learning a new skill such as learning a foreign language? You might have taken a language in high school, but how much of it do you really remember? Here, I’m going to talk about the benefits of learning a foreign language. Even just 10-20 minutes a day can get you from novice to expert level over time.

Learning a language can be for adults as well as children or can be a fun family bonding exercise. For adults, learning a language can be helpful when searching for new jobs that require bilingual proficiency. This can open doors to new career paths. For children, learning a language could be a fun way to engage in mental activity. Evidence-informed practice shows that stopping mental stimulation through new activities and social gatherings can delay cognitive functioning and might even allow children to fall as much as two years behind in school. To get started, here are three helpful tips:

Practice daily! Think of learning a new language as eating breakfast. Incorporate practice into your daily routine. This can be as simple as setting a time for yourself each day to practice. It doesn’t have to be long. You’ll start seeing improvements and confidence in your abilities through as little as 10 minutes a day.
Make it fun! Whether you’re learning on your own, with your partner, or with children, try to make learning a new language not seem like a chore. Otherwise, you might not feel motivated to continue. If you’re going to play Scrabble with the family, try to translate the words you’re using into another language. Create a scavenger hunt for kids in which they have to identify objects outside and match them with the foreign word, for example. Have a “French only” day, for example, where the family only speaks French to each other.
Sign up with an instructor! You might be the type to be completely disciplined on your own in keeping up the language and that’s fine! However, for those who want to feel motivated by others around them, joining a course might be the best way to keep on track. There are free phone applications such as Duolingo for practicing on the go. Gain Contact offers virtual course instruction with a live, native speaker so that you can practice and get feedback. This will help you improve your skills, build confidence, and stay motivated!

So, I encourage you to sharpen your mind, connect with others, and immerse yourself in a new hobby. Learning a language is part of being a great global citizen and you will come to realize that by speaking a new language, you can connect with so many different parts of the world and ethnic groups. This is truly rewarding as our world is becoming increasingly more multicultural.

For myself, I have traveled to different parts of the world and being able to speak the native language brings great satisfaction and others are more likely to open up. Right now, I’m learning Cantonese through my spouse and who knows where that will take me. The opportunities are endless!

Please contact Gain Contact Group to learn more about our foreign language programs. I would also recommend researching the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) to learn more about the benefits of learning a new language.

~Nicole Fogel, Intern Coordinator

The GIANT Leap

Jul 19, 2009

Forty years ago the world changed. Humanity watched two men take a few steps; small simple steps that crowned a determined decade-long drive. Man graced the surface of the moon.

Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who placed the first footprints on the moon marked the moment. He told the world, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” His famous words seem destined to echo through time (and space) forever. He knew humanity took a GIANT leap.

For thousands of years people dreamed of reaching the moon, and many people alive today were born when it still thought to be impossible. But it was achieved and arguably must be mentioned when conversing about man’s greatest achievements of any generation.

So as we all watch in wonder again this anniversary ( http://tinyurl.com/mx4gmp) what can we learn?

First, we can enjoy anniversary news coverage (you can even follow it on twitter @ReliveApollo11) that is not of a tragedy, a war, or a death, but of a positive human achievement. That alone maybe cause to celebrate. But perhaps we can also simply surmise that the once thought illogical is in fact possible.

So as I continue to watch in amazement about the lunar landing, I am deciding to take my own giant leap to believing we can once again do great things both in the heavens above and here on earth. Are you with me?

Stay adventurous,

Craig Zabransky

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