Gila Preparatory Academy was a high school in

Safford, Arizona Safford (Western Apache language, Western Apache: Ichʼįʼ Nahiłtį́į́) is a city in Graham County, Arizona, Graham County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population of the city is 10,1 ...

. It was run by a company known as the Gila Educational Group, of which the head was Crae Wilson, Jr. It formerly also had a middle school, which served grades 7 and 8. It opened in 2000 as Pathways to College. The

Arizona Department of Education Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is a state-level department tasked in Arizona with oversight of Public Education, public education from kindergarten to secondary school. The ADE is run by an elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruc ...

with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, which manages charter schools like Gila Preparatory Academy, could have revoked Gila Educational Group's charter for the middle school and high school because the middle school had not met standards on the

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) was a standardized test administered by the state of Arizona. AIMS was a standards-based assessment aligned with the Arizona Academic Content Standards. In November 2014, the Arizona State Board of E ...

statewide exam and granted "alternative school" (at-risk school) status to the schools. In a settlement, the Gila Educational Group agreed to close the middle school effective 30 June 2010 and to stop serving students in grades 7 and 8; it also agreed to create a performance improvement plan with the ADE to improve AIMS scores that extended through June 2013. Continued decreases in state funding forced the high school to close after the 2010–11 school year and its assets to be sold off to meet its financial obligations. Gila Prep's ten staffers lost their jobs.

References

{{authority control Former high schools in Arizona Schools in Graham County, Arizona