Flagstaff Academy’s middle school has once again received a prestigious designation.
Flagstaff has been recognized as a Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch by the Colorado Association of Middle Level Education. It is the only charter school in the state to hold this designation, which Flagstaff also received in 2019, according to a release from the school.
Flagstaff, along with more than 100 other schools across the nation, will be recognized at the National Schools to Watch Conference in June in Washington, D.C.
Flagstaff Academy is a public charter school in Longmont that offers preschool through eighth grade curricula.
“Flagstaff demonstrates that high-performance is the result of intentional focus on the whole child,” said Julie Shue, state co-director of the Colorado Schools to Watch program. “An inclusive environment that cultivates student kindness, empowerment, and intellectual rigor results in a dynamic school where students thrive. Flagstaff Academy middle school excels in providing active and engaging student learning for every child. They have built a powerful, high quality middle grades program that is a model for our state.”
Selection is based on a written application that requires schools to show how they met the criteria developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. In Colorado, teams organized by the Colorado Schools to Watch program conducted site visits in order to affirm that selected schools have indeed met the rigorous requirements of the award.
The teams observe classrooms, interview administrators, teachers and parents, then review achievement data, suspension rates, instructional quality and student work. Schools are recognized for a three-year period and, at the end of three years, must repeat the process in order to be re-designated.
"Flagstaff offers a unique and personalized middle school experience for students to learn and grow into themselves,” Flagstaff Academy executive principal Katie Gustafson said. “Students experience a rigorous curriculum, supported by exceptional educators, with big school opportunities and a small school feel.”
Launched in 1999, Schools to Watch began as a national program to identify middle-grades schools across the country that were meeting or exceeding 37 criteria developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. The Forum is an alliance of 65 educators, researchers, national associations and officers of professional organizations and foundations that aim to improve education in the middle grades.
