HAVERHILL — Haverhill High School is up for accreditation again, and this time Principal Bernard Nangle, teachers, students and parents hope they will pass with flying colors.

Nangle said 18 educators will visit the high school Oct. 19 through 22 to do an extensive evaluation of the building and what is taught inside it. The evaluators are from the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Ten years ago, the high school did not fare so well. The school did not lose its accreditation, but it was placed on probation by the association. The building's deficiencies were the reason for that outcome.

The city responded by spending $27.2 million to renovate the high school, which was built in 1963. The school now boasts modern science labs, better access for handicapped students and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improved security, cleaner air and more efficient heating and cooling systems. Windows and doors with thermal panes have been installed to conserve energy.

The city expects $19.3 million in state funding to help pay for the massive project.

"They've come a long way," said local Realtor Jeff Davis, who graduated from Haverhill High in the 1970s and has a son, Wes, who is a senior at the school. Davis noted that the probation resulted not from deficient teaching, but a substandard building. Davis' wife, Ellen Small Davis, is also a Haverhill High graduate.

"The purpose of this evaluation visit is to review and determine from an outside professional viewpoint the extent to which the school is meeting the standards for accreditation," Nangle said.

As part of the evaluation, the visiting committee will meet with all school constituents, review the school's self-study, visit a number of classes and examine examples of student work submitted by the school. During the comprehensive self-study, the faculty attempted to identify the school's strengths and determined those areas in which changes would be beneficial.

Associate Principal Deborah MacDonald voiced optimism about the pending accreditation visit.

"We should do well," she said, now that the "sorely needed" renovations are complete.

The probation status was a "wake-up call to the community," she said.

The most important aspect of accreditation, MacDonald said, is that it serves to tell the community whether the school is doing a good job of educating students.

MacDonald, who served on a team that evaluated Woburn High School, said she hopes — and expects — that the team that visits Haverhill High next month will say, "What you're doing, you're doing well."

John Keogh, math supervisor in the Norwalk, Conn., schools, is heading the evaluation team that will be in Haverhill. Keogh has already visited the school and "his words were very encouraging," MacDonald said.

"Our purpose in visiting Haverhill High School is not to criticize it, but to assist the faculty in its pursuit of quality education for the students," Keogh said.

Like Keogh, the other members of the team are teachers and administrators from various schools in New England.

According to MacDonald, members of an evaluation team serve without pay. And teachers at the high school have been working hard to get ready for the visit, she said.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges is a voluntary membership organization of about 1,923 schools, colleges and technical institutes. More than 650 secondary schools have been accredited through the association's Commission on Public Secondary Schools.

Some observers of education have warned that the loss of accreditation could imperil a student's chance of acceptance at a university.