Arizona Charter Schools

In addition to its current strategy of partnership with districts, the foundation also partners with two K-8 charter schools in the metro Phoenix area of Arizona - Dobson Academy and Hearn Academy. The foundation established both schools in 1998, and today they serve over 900 students. They are now self-sufficient organizations. While the foundation no longer supports them directly, they continue to be part of the foundation family as members of the Partnership Learning Network.

The schools' mission is to provide quality education where children are the priority, focusing on student achievement and parent satisfaction. The schools foster partnerships among parents, staff, children, and the community to promote academic excellence through an extended, 200-day school year, a focus on early literacy, and a comprehensive educational foundation built on basic skills.

The schools' major strategies are:

·Shared decision making - Dobson and Hearn have adopted the Ball Foundation's School Design Collaborative (SDC). SDC facilitates shared decision making among all school stakeholders, including parents, teachers, administrators, staff, and students for the purpose of increasing student achievement and parent satisfaction.

Professional development - Regular and sufficient time is provided for teachers and administrators to develop skills, further their learning, and work collaboratively with colleagues. Teachers, working in grade-level teams or content teams, use professional development time to plan for instruction, interact with parents, and participate in ongoing training.

Student as individual and teacher as facilitator - Each student has unique talents, skills, interests, and ways of learning. Recognizing that fact, teachers at Dobson and Hearn adapt their instructional practices to meet the needs of individual students.

Community collaborations and volunteers - Dobson's and Hearn's volunteer programs strive to foster a closer relationship between the schools and the community. Volunteers work directly with students in the classrooms and serve on teams involved with the development and implementation of school programs.

Technology - Both schools are dedicated to ensuring that students learn to use technology and that teachers and staff use technology to improve strategies for tracking student progress and reporting to parents.

Market research response - The schools receive regular feedback from constituents, mainly through parent satisfaction surveys given three times per year. This feedback is used to create and direct student programs, communications, and operations.

In the fall of 2001, Dobson and Hearn received $9.1 million in bonds issued by Pima County to meet their facilities needs, often a challenge for charter schools. Dobson purchased its current site, which allowed the school to add a new classroom building and use space previously designated as off-limits by its lease agreement. Enrollment at Dobson has grown from approximately 400 students to over 530. Hearn broke ground in the spring of 2002 on four acres of bare land for a new campus, which can house up to 500 students and contains three classroom buildings, an administration building, a multi-purpose room, and two recreation areas. (For more information about the schools' facilities, see a related article in the Winter 2001-2002 issue of the Review newsletter.)

One of Dobson's and Hearn's major goals is to become more data-driven. Biannual parent satisfaction surveys are one important tool the schools are using very successfully to evaluate and improve their programs - in the fall of 2001, 95% of parents gave the schools a rating of B or above and 64% awarded the schools an A or A+. In addition, site visits to both schools have been completed by SchoolWorks, a leader in charter school evaluation. Dobson and Hearn have developed school improvement plans based on the SchoolWorks report recommendations.