CASA ACADEMY

CASA Academy provides low income students with the early academic foundation and character skills necessary to graduate from college and succeed in life. At CASA we are not just a school, but a movement to raise the bar for education in Phoenix.

In 2012, two teachers, Jenna Leahy and Tacey Clayton Cundy, met and immediately connected over the injustice they witnessed in their classrooms- even in the primary grades, students from low-income communities were not entering or progressing at the same rate as their higher income peers. Unfortunately, their experiences were not unique: statistically, on average, low-income students are already two years behind by the time they reach the fourth grade.

They decided to join forces, driven by a common mission-to raise the bar for education in Arizona. Their drive and persistence resulted in over $950,000 in start-up funding. Together, they visited over 50 of the top-performing schools across the country to learn best practices before submitting their charter application, which was unanimously approved in January of 2014.

After countless months of knocking on neighborhood doors in the stifling summer heat, CASA opened to a record number of students on August 4, 2014. Their vision, guided by overcoming the inequalities they had experienced in the early grades, is today a reality: a Phoenix school dedicated to closing the achievement gap-CASA Academy.

CASA is unique in that it is part of the "New Schools for Phoenix" incubator program, a highly selective and competitive non-profit program devoted to expanding educational opportunities to all students throughout Arizona. At CASA, 96% of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, the national indicator of poverty, 67% are English Language Learners and 97% are students of color.

Today, CASA is a free, public charter school that serves low-income students in kindergarten through fifth grade. CASA is adding one grade level each year until it reaches the ultimate goal of serving grades pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in the year 2025.

CASA is not just a school, but a movement to raise the bar for education in Phoenix. Through a combination of rigorous academics, a college-bound culture, competitively selected teachers, and an extended school-day, CASA aims to have all of its students make over a year of growth in a single year. At CASA, the road to college truly starts in kindergarten.