Category: Charters Changing Lives

By Jamar Younger

In 1994, Villa Montessori School was a small, private school with a tight-knit community of educators and parents that cared passionately about the students attending its central Phoenix campus.

However, that didn’t shield the school from financial troubles as it struggled each year to serve the dedicated group of about 60 elementary students and families that valued its unique education model.

Around the same time, Arizona lawmakers were developing a comprehensive new law that would expand choice for all students and create a brand new public school sector that would foster innovation and flexibility in education– charter schools.

With the prospect of charter schools on the horizon, a task force of parents, teachers and administrators from Villa Montessori researched whether the school and students could benefit from applying for a charter.

The group decided to apply and was one of the first schools to receive a charter 25 years ago.

Not only did the charter provide stability for the school, but it also allowed the campus to thrive and grow into one of the top-performing K-8 public schools in the state, with an ‘A’ rating in 2018 from the Arizona Department of Education.

By Jamar Younger

Kingman Academy of Learning is known throughout its northwest Arizona community as a highly-rated K-12 public charter school that provides a rigorous education to area students.

For those involved with the school, however, the family atmosphere is just as significant as its academics.

The school’s sense of family has inspired four of its graduates to return to the school as teachers and classroom assistants, allowing them to pursue an education career while engaging in the culture that helped nurture them when they were students.

By Jamar Younger

Kimberly and Al Bravo was searching for a school that could serve as a perfect match for their son, Isaac.

It was important for the family to find a school that would “fit my kid. I don’t want my kid to have to fit a school,” Kimberly Bravo said.

The family eventually chose Arizona Autism Charter School, a public charter school with elementary and middle school campuses in Central Phoenix.

The family recently sat down to discuss how the school has served their son and why it’s important to protect these education options for parents.

By Jamar Younger

The vision for Adams Traditional Academy began at a kitchen table with a group of parents who wanted to incorporate some of their own ideas into starting a charter school.

The parents drew from their wide array of backgrounds and their belief in traditional education to set the foundation for the public charter school’s approach and philosophy.

These parents believed that students could accomplish the extraordinary if they mastered the basics.

That means if the school integrated phonics, civics, history, cursive writing and Latin with art and science, it could spark their creativity.

Nearly a decade later, Adams Traditional, has grown into an A-rated K-8 school and one of the top public schools in the state.

By Jamar Younger

Phoenix College Preparatory Academy has embarked on a dramatic evolution since the school opened in 2003.

The central Phoenix public charter school, affiliated with Phoenix College, originally opened as a remedial school that catered to students who fell behind in their studies and needed to recover credits to graduate.

Over the years, the school has moved from one serving students who fell behind to a rigorous college prep school helping students get ahead.

The school’s AzMERIT scores have steadily increased within the last three years, rising above the state average, earning an ‘A’ in this year’s preliminary letter grade system.

Phoenix College Prep’s enrollment has more than doubled within the last five years, from 67 to 175 students. About 90 percent of the school’s students qualify for free-and-reduced lunch, said Principal Keith Brown.

More than half of the school’s senior class is on track to receive their associate’s degree by time they graduate in the spring.