Month: October 2019

Association Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Public Charter Schools

Post author By
Post date October 14, 2019

The Arizona Charter Schools Association on Thursday celebrated a quarter-century of charter schools and educational choice with its 25th Anniversary Gala at the Arizona Biltmore.

The Association was honored to welcome as its keynote speaker tennis legend Andre Agassi, a longtime philanthropist and charter champion who has dedicated nearly two decades to expanding educational opportunities for kids and families across the country – particularly in low-income and underserved communities.

Agassi joined Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman to help celebrate the achievements and contributions of Arizona’s public charter schools.

Press Releases

Arizona Charter Schools Don’t “Cherry-Pick”

Post author By
Post date October 2, 2019

The Arizona Charter Schools Association is proud to commemorate the 25th anniversary of charter schools with a series of blogs examining how charter schools have influenced the state’s education landscape.

Students in Arizona charter schools score higher on state achievement tests than district students. In fact, they score better in pretty much all grade levels and every demographic and programmatic category for which scores are published and have done so for several years.

Charter school critics often dismiss the results by claiming charters skim the “cream of the crop.” These critics imply charter schools somehow choose their students or, alternatively, only attract high-performing students.

Association Blog Charters Changing Lives

Arizona’s Charter Law Gave New Life to Neighborhood Montessori School

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Post date October 1, 2019

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.