Edu-Prize School Earns
A+ Certification from AEF

GILBERT - June 21, 2010 - Gilbert’s Edu-Prize School knows a little something about being in the limelight.

The 15-year-old school already proudly claims to be the first charter school to open in Arizona as well as the first charter school in the US to operate as its own independent school district.

Now the administration, teachers and students can proudly boast one additional claim – Edu-Prize School has been named an A+ School by the Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF). It is one of only 20 schools statewide to receive that distinction.

According to the school’s certification paperwork, Dr. Lynn Robershotte and Joanna Curtis combined 30+ years of classroom experience and the best of educational research when designing Edu-Prize.

The school has blossomed from humble surroundings.  The school originally opened with 128 students in an unused elementary school campus leased from Gilbert Public Schools.  Today Edu-Prize has grown to a population of nearly 1,200 students.  The school is now housed on a beautiful campus with two fully-equipped buildings totaling 73,000-square-feet.

According to the certification paperwork, one common trait at Edu-Prize is a very motivated and involved group of parents.

“Although diverse, the common trait of our population is the commitment of parents to education, as they have high expectations for us and our program,” the school’s certification paperwork read. “Regardless of ethnicity, gender or family income, the focus of the school is to take children from where they are, at their emotional, developmental and educational level and help them grow.”

Edu-Prize School will maintain its A+ designation for three years.

According to the AEF website, azedfoundation.org, the A+ program celebrates education and brings to light the positive stories and successes happening in public schools every day.  Created in 1983, the program’s stated purpose is threefold:

• To identify and publicly recognize outstanding public schools in Arizona;
• To make available a comprehensive framework of key criteria for school effectiveness that can serve as a basis for participatory self-assessment and planning in schools;
• To facilitate communication and sharing of best practices within and among schools based on common criteria related to success.

In order to be recognized as an A+ school, each school must submit an application providing demographic information, a description of current programs and practices, documentation of parent and community involvement, a profile of the school principal and his/her vision of the commitment to excellence, equity, service; and sustained high achievement or significant improvement in assessment. The winning schools are recognized for their superior ability to meet the needs of their student populations.

The AEF A+ School Recognition Program is sponsored by APS, The Arizona Republic, Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, Safeway and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. To learn more about the AEF A+ School Recognition Program, please visit, http://www.azedfoundation.org/school-recogition-program.php.