These Arizona schools are opening, expanding or offering new programs for Valley students:
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Students, parents and community leaders joined Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead last month as he blessed the grounds and unveiled a sign for a new Catholic high school expected to open in Avondale in fall 2018.
St. John Paul II Catholic High School will be at 13720 W. Thomas Road, adjacent to St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, and will serve a growing number of Catholic students and families in the west Valley.
“To build a Catholic high school in…the most rapidly growing area of our state is a clear statement about the importance of young Catholics in the church’s life and mission today,” Olmsted says in a news release.
More than 14,000 students attend one of 28 Catholic elementary schools, six high schools and 28 preschools throughout the Diocese of Phoenix.
“Our schools provide a rich Catholic culture and environment that fosters students learning in their faith and academics [and offers] students a wide variety of service activities,” said MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese. Learn more at diocesephoenix.org.
Students and staff at two International School of Arizona campuses will be united under one roof when the school relocates to a new property at 95th Street and Via Linda in Scottsdale.
The consolidated school, serving almost 300 students from preschool (age 2) through middle school, is scheduled to open in August. Because of the move, no summer-camp program will be offered this year.
Besides classrooms, a library, and a music room, the new school will have a commons and cafeteria area with indoor and outdoor seating, a culinary-sciences lab and multipurpose outdoor spaces, according to Ettie Zilber, PhD, head of school. The new campus will be equipped with the latest technology and enhanced security.
“The International School of Arizona has been growing significantly over the last decade due to a greater appreciation of mastering a second (or third) language,” Zilber says. “Our diverse community values cultural awareness combined with our rigorous academic offering. Purchasing this beautiful new campus allows us to offer this extraordinary education in a safe, state-of-the-art facility.”
ISA is a nonprofit private school offering full language-immersion programs in French and Spanish. 480-874-2326 or isaz.org.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
PUBLIC SCHOOLSDesert Sun Academy, a K-6 elementary school in the Cave Creek Unified School District, will be the first public school in Arizona to institute a French-immersion program, according to Superintendent Debbi Burdick, PhD.
The district already offers immersion programs in Spanish and Mandarin.
Dual-immersion programs follow state academic standards for education but teach in the target language 50 percent of the day and in English the other 50 percent.
Dual-immersion students typically function at grade level or higher in English while reaching high levels of proficiency in the other language, according to Jana Miller, PhD and associate superintendent for Cave Creek Unified School District. “We are seeing some students add a third language by graduation.”
The French-immersion program is expected to draw attendance from outside of the district boundaries and provide opportunities for wait-listed families at the other CCUSD immersion schools.
Desert Sun Academy is at 27880 N. 64th St. in Scottsdale. 480-575-2900 or ccusd93.org.
Phoenix Union High School District will open a new specialty school in August. Innovation and Technology High School will focus on computer coding and technological skills.
The first class of ninth graders will prepare for college and careers in software development, game design, web and app development, networking, information security, automation and more. Partnerships with the local tech industry will provide opportunities for guest instructors, internships and career pathways.
The high school, designed to eventually accommodate 400 students in grades 9-12, joins Franklin Police and Fire High School and Bioscience High School among the Phoenix Union lineup of 17 schools.
The school will be at 4445 N. Central Ave. in Phoenix. It will open with 100 to 120 ninth graders; a new freshman class will be added each year. phoenixunion.org/CodingAcademy.
Chandler’s Hamilton High School has implemented AP Capstone™, an innovative diploma program that allows students to develop the skills that matter most for their future college success: research, collaboration and communication. It complements the in-depth, subject-specific rigor of Advanced Placement® courses and exams.
Three other Arizona district high schools offer the program: Cesar Chavez High School in Laveen, Red Mountain High School in Mesa and Rio Rico High School in Rio Rico. Four BASIS charter schools—in Chandler, Scottsdale, Tucson and Flagstaff—also offer it.
“The application process to be awarded the program is intense, but we knew the value of the program to our students” says Hamilton High School Principal Ken James.
Hamilton High School is at 3700 S. Arizona Ave. in Chandler. 480-883-5000 or mychandlerschools.org.
SPECIAL-NEEDS SCHOOLS
Arizona Autism Charter School, the state’s first approved K-5 charter school focused on students with autism, is expanding into the middle grades.
“The school is finalizing lease negotiations on a beautiful school facility located at 20th Street and Maryland in central Phoenix, about 3½ miles from our current campus at 4433 N. Seventh St.,” says Diana Diaz-Harrison, AZACS founder and director. The building will house grades 6 through 8 and open for the 2016-17 school year.
AZACS educate students with autism and related disorders using evidence-based strategies grounded in the principles of applied-behavior analysis. Its goal is to make this educational option accessible and tuition free to students with autism spectrum disorder. 602-882-5544 or autismcharter.org.
Gateway Academy, a K-12 private school specializing in twice-exceptional students, is relocating to a more spacious, scenic location at 3939 E. Shea Blvd. in Phoenix, says O. Robin Sweet, executive director and CEO.
The new campus (formerly Tesseract’s upper school) will become the first private day school in Arizona solely serving students who are both gifted and disabled, known as 2E students.
“The new campus will be better able to serve the academic, social, emotional, and sensory needs of its growing population,” Sweet says.
The school will offer a world-language lab and courses in culinary arts, forensic science, anthropology, horticulture, robotics, animation and video editing. The school’s Earth Club/Culinary Club will add a garden-to-table component to its existing curriculum.
Sustainability will continue to be a focus, Sweet says, and community service will be required to enhance students’ global perspectives.
Occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, equine therapy and canine therapy all are integrated into the curriculum.
Gateway Academy is currently at 9659 N. Hayden Road in Scottsdale. 480-998-1071 or gatewayacademy.us.
