Category: Association Blog

By Eileen Sigmund and Ildi Laczko-Kerr

Arizona issued its 2017 “A-F” letter grades for public schools – district and charters- last week for the first time since 2014. Here’s what you need to know about these grades:

• The State of Arizona initially instituted an “A-F” rating system in order to provide parents and families with easy-to-understand information about the relative performance of public schools across our state. This year, for the first time, the State significantly altered this formula to one that more heavily emphasizes the improvement and academic growth of students at individual schools, rather than simply looking at student performance on a single assessment. Arizona’s revised A-F accountability system was released last week after the State Board of Education endorsed changes and revised cut-scores for school grades. The grades reflect school performance during the 2016-17 school year.
• As to the results, Arizona’s charter sector leads the state in the percentage of quality A and B rated schools, with 55 percent of charters receiving these top grades. That means that 70 percent of public charter school students are enrolled in a quality school. We are heartened by this fact, and that charters are fulfilling their mission of increasing student achievement by providing parents quality public school choices.
• We are also encouraged by the fact that a larger proportion of charter schools received grades—up to 65 percent from the baseline of 50 percent when preliminary grades were released last fall. Schools not rated include all alternative and online schools, small schools and new schools with limited data. More of these schools will receive letter grades as the state creates additional accountability systems to address their unique needs.
  As policymakers seek to expand Arizona’s accountability system in 2018, hard choices loom around what to do with schools with poor or failing grades. On behalf of Arizona charter schools, the Association will continue to push strongly for changes to ensure public schools are rated appropriately, and Arizona parents and policymakers receive the accurate information they need to make decisions about our public charter schools.

By Megan Gilbertson

The Arizona Charter Schools Association strongly supports Governor Ducey’s teacher pay proposal, which by 2020 will increase average teacher salaries by 20 percent. This plan is positive news for Arizona’s teachers and classrooms, and is a real step in the right direction.

As Arizona’s largest charter support organization, we also strive to share resources with our charter school members to ensure they have the tools and guidance available to provide the best possible education for the 185,000 students attending one of their 556 public charter schools.

The resources include legal guidance, FAQs, and sample communications to staff and families.

Access the Resources

By Julie Wesley, Legacy Traditional School Peoria Teacher

I have had the pleasure of teaching Arizona students as a certified teacher for the past seven years. During that time, I’ve exclusively worked in public charter schools, including the last two years at Legacy Traditional School Peoria.

I am so proud to be part of the Legacy family. Legacy is a highly rated school, and one of the fastest growing charters in the state. Every day, public charter schools offer children in our communities the chance for a strong education.

At Legacy, we take a back-to-basics approach and teach through a rigorous curriculum. We do so to try and bring out the very best in our students.

So in order to help students be successful with a rigorous classroom setting, we start by building connections with our students and families. The key to student success is a strong community. This approach enables our school to be involved and invested in our students, which makes them more engaged and more successful in their academics.

It may not always be the easiest job, but teaching is, without a doubt, one of the most rewarding. I teach because in doing so, I receive great rewards. Each day I get to go to work and make a difference in the lives of children. That fact fills me with satisfaction and purpose.

By Jamar Younger

As the fastest growing sector in public education, charter schools are meeting the needs of an increasing number of Arizona students and families.

With this growing presence, state lawmakers have taken an increased interest in hearing stories from charter teachers who are passionate about their work in the classroom. Dozens of charter teachers have shared their stories with legislators at the Capitol in recent years.

By Megan Gilbertson

As public charter schools continue to expand here in Arizona, more students are able to access the quality choice offered by these innovative schools.

Our data gurus Kelly Powell and Eric Berschback here at the Association painstakingly verified addresses for every school district campus and public charter school in Arizona. Using the most accurate data available, the team geocoded addresses into latitude and longitude coordinates and connected those to files that map each school to Arizona legislative districts.

What they found was impressive.

No matter where you live in Arizona, students have access to public charter schools.

By Bonnie Weppner, Pioneer Preparatory School Teacher

I started my career 44 years ago teaching kindergarten to recent immigrant students, including the children of migrant farm workers, who had previously not been allowed to attend public schools in Texas. It’s amazing to me that my first kindergarten students are now 49 years old!

My career has come full circle, as I am now teaching kindergarten to English Language Learner students of immigrant families in Arizona.

I continue to be motivated by the excitement and the daunting responsibility of being the first contact with formal education for my students! I am honored to introduce my Spanish-speaking scholars and families to the excitement of learning and growing in ways they could never have imagined, which is exactly what they tell me every year at kindergarten graduation. In turn, they present me with opportunities to grow every day in my teaching skills, and to love this profession even more!

This excerpt originally appeared in the “Principal’s Corner” section of Arizona School for the Arts’ newsletter. Sara Maline Bohn is principal of ASA and was named the Arizona Charter School Association’s 2017 Charter Transformational Leader of the Year.

Sara Maline Bohn

Arizona School for the Arts received a unique opportunity to hear from ASA alum David Hallberg, when he visited The School of Ballet Arizona in December to speak with our ballet students. Hallberg is a professional ballet dancer who recently released his book, “A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back.” During the visit, he shared the influence ASA had on him both during his childhood and extending into adulthood. He enrolled at ASA in eighth-grade and graduated in 2000 at which time he joined American Ballet Studio’s Company.

By Sami Majeed

I can remember being a toddler, steadying myself against my grandmother’s wooden chair in Karachi, Pakistan, as she sat with an open book, running two fingers down a page for a few seconds, then running two fingers down the next page. I asked her an unpretentious question, “What are you doing, grandma?” “Reading, bata [little one], reading,” she said.

My grandmother’s dream was to open a school of her own, one where she would have the freedom to teach to the child. One that was informed not by punishments and rewards but through scouring neuroscience articles on learning and child development.

You see, I come from a family of educators. My maternal great grandparents were high school math teachers and district leaders in India. In fact, my great grandfather made a highly scandalous and controversial first step: he threw away traditions and allegiances to patriarchy, stood deftly in the face of criticism and ridicule, and took the miraculous and radically simple step of educating his daughter, my grandmother.