Achieving this status is one of the highest honors for which a school can be named because it is only bestowed on 349 schools nationwide. Only 13 schools in Michigan were awarded this honor in 2018.
"Our Achieve staff and students are incredibly proud and feel honored to have received this award,” said Jen Conley, principal at Achieve Charter Academy. “Our staff and students continue to focus on growth and learning while maintaining a strong school community. We are appreciative of this recognition!”
Throughout the celebration, students and staff wore special T-shirts and demonstrated their excitement with festive blue pompoms. The assembly featured several speakers, including Principal Conley; Brian Britton, National Heritage Academies President and CEO; Richard Gordon, Achieve board president; Cathy Henkenberns, director of school quality; and Patrick Williams, Canton township supervisor.
Two teachers, Rebecca Cunningham and Paul Stasa, also spoke and shared their excitement over the award. Student speaker, Ally Wang, shared her experience studying at Achieve throughout her schooling. The celebration concluded with a performance by the sixth-grade choir.
Leading to this accomplishment, Achieve has outperformed the local district since opening in 2009-10, and the school has outperformed the local district and state in 100 percent of subject and grade combinations.
About Achieve Charter Academy
Achieve Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Canton, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
Visit Achieve Charter Academy's blog to read more stories like this.