Flagstaff Academy awarded Colorado 'Schools to Watch'

Flagstaff Academy's middle school is once again being recognized as a Colorado Trailblazer Schools to Watch by The Colorado Association of Middle Level Education (CAMLE). Flagstaff is the only charter school in the state to hold the Schools to Watch designation, having also received the designation in 2019. Flagstaff, along with 100+ schools across the nation, will be recognized at the National Schools to Watch Conference in June in Washington, DC.

The school is a public charter school in Longmont that offers preschool through eighth-grade curriculums. Known for a strong science and technology focus as well as a core-knowledge curriculum Flagstaff graduates continue to be recognized on the local, state, and national levels in science, technology, athletics, and the arts. Most recently, nine Flagstaff Academy students received top awards at the Boulder Regional Science Fair, while twenty alumni were members of a robotics team that won the Oklahoma Regional Robotics tournament and took home the General Motors Industrial Design Award.

"Flagstaff demonstrates that high-performance is the result of intentional focus on the whole child. An inclusive environment that cultivates student kindness, empowerment, and intellectual rigor results in a dynamic school where students thrive!" explained Julie Shue, state co-director of the Colorado Schools to Watch program. "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. These teams observe classrooms, interview administrators, teachers, and parents, 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," said Katie Gustafson, Flagstaff Academy executive principal. "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 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 dedicated to improving education in the middle grades.

About Flagstaff Academy: Flagstaff Academy is a preschool through eight grade public charter school located in Longmont, CO. Flagstaff Academy is now in its seventeenth year of operation, serving approximately 800 students and employing nearly 95 faculty and staff. Learn more at http://www.flagstaffacademy.org.