2 As, 1 C for Maricopa charters

The Arizona Department of Education gave two Maricopa charter schools – Leading Edge Academy and Legacy Traditional School – “As” for the 2013-14 school year.  Sequoia Pathway Academy received a “C.”

Evaluations for two other charter schools, Camino Montessori and Graysmark Academy, are still pending. A sixth school, Sequoia Charter School, received no evaluation from the department of education.

“We are ecstatic,” Leading Edge Academy Principal Matt Reese said. “We worked on some things last year; we went from a 120 to 152.”

Reese has lived in Maricopa for 32 years and is entering his 42nd year in education. He retired from the Maricopa Unified School District in 2004 and has been with Leading Edge since it opened in 2009.

"I am very proud of our students for the success they have shown,” Legacy Traditional School Principal Nicole Magnum said. “I couldn't be more proud of our district for all eight campuses receiving an ‘A’ label. I truly believe our back-to-basics traditional philosophy shows that our direct instruction teaching style is very successful."

Click here to read how Maricopa Unified School District schools fared.