The administration and staff at Arizona Charter Academy announced that the school recently received the A+ School of Excellence designation from the Arizona Education Foundation.

As Principal Jordan Beckman noted, the A+ rating is a prestigious award that dozens of schools in the state apply for each year. The designation will last for four years.

“This year, only 37 schools across the entire state of Arizona won this award, and ACA is one of only two charter schools receiving this distinction this year,” said Beckman, adding that ACA also received the designation in 2019.

As Melissa Montenegro, director of talent and PR noted, the staff went through a lengthy application process to earn the A+ rating.

“There was a 50-question application, where the vast majority of questions were in narrative form,” Montenegro said. “We had input from our entire staff over a course of six months to complete the application.

“We held meetings to garner examples of programs, projects, clubs, sports, curriculum, teams and so much more that exemplify an A+ school. It’s a very deep dive into the very make up and structures of our school.”

Some of the programs that helped solidify ACA as an A+ school, Montenegro said, include Solutions Room, Schoolwide Culture Rubric, Bulldog Parent Committee, Zearn Math, School Participatory Budgeting and Student Ambassadors.

After submitting the application, ACA was chosen for the second round, which included a site visit that lasted two days.

Montenegro said she and the rest of the entire ACA community were incredibly excited to learn the school had once again earned the A+ designation.

“It was also a sense of relief almost because we know we have something really special here at ACA with our academics, our community and our overall culture, and it’s so nice when others can see that and can honor it as well,” Montenegro said.

“We are so proud to offer an A+ School of Excellence as an option to families within the original town site and El Mirage communities. Our school community is special and our ‘We can and we will’ mentality helps us achieve these recognitions.”

Beckman said she is very proud of the hard work the staff, students, and community put in to earn the A+ rating.

“I am also so grateful that others across Arizona are now able to see that we have earned this rating as well,” she said.