Over the course of just three years, George Washington was able to transform their failing institution into a school with the highest possible ranking on state testing.
The Challenge
George Washington Academy (GWA), a small charter school with an unlikely and untraditional beginning, was originally founded in the town of Snowflake, a relatively rural part of Arizona. GWA was initially formed after parents in the area became concerned with the town’s lack of school options. The community, along with the help of state senator Sylvia Allen, was able to create an impressive alternative. The most unique characteristic about the school was that rather than teaching in a standard school building, they decided to base classes out of a residential home in Snowflake. Bedrooms were converted into classrooms, the backyard was transformed into a recess space, and soon the opening of a new school was in motion.
It wasn’t long after the commencement of George Washington Academy that it became apparent a much larger building was needed. The original enrollment of 48 students had quickly grown to over 80 within the first year alone. The regional director and principal, Beth Kulish, she was transparent about how difficult that first year was. They ended up on the state’s school improvement list in 2017 after scoring an F on the Arizona State assessment. On top of being categorized as a high risk, the academy was also forced to downsize from grades K-8 to grades K-6. Although George Washington was able to use supplementary programs, such as Saxon math and Spalding grammar, they lacked a comprehensive reading curriculum.
The Results
George Washington Academy, the combination of SFA coaching, dedicated staff, and a unified vision for progress has proved extremely beneficial. The school’s seemingly instantaneous improvement is best captured by a comparison between their 2017 and 2019 scores on the Arizona benchmark. Over just three years, they were able to transform their failing institution into a school with the highest possible ranking on state testing. Not only did rates of student achievement and attendance soar, the number of teacher referrals needed for struggling students diminished.
Unwilling to settle with George Washington Academy’s rapid progress, leaders at the school hope to continue making significant gains both academically and socially. The leadership team decided to add SFA to grades 6 through 8 and to make the neighboring school of Sequoia an SFA partner. The tangibility of GWA’s improvement convinced the nearby school that Success For All produced legitimate results which it too could benefit from.