Academy of Math and Science (AMS) won the prestigious Federal BLUE RIBBON Award

The "No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools" program recognizes schools that make significant progress in closing the achievement gap. In 2008, only sixteen public charter schools nationwide were honored as "No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools" by the United States Department of Education.

Emily Casarona, the Secretary of Education's Regional Representative from the U.S. Department of Education, stated during the award ceremony held at AMS on September 19 that, "Washington can point to you, Academy of Math and Science, as a model school, as an example of what is possible. You are an inspiration to other teachers and students in Tucson – and in other cities across America. We applaud your success in ensuring that every student learns – that no child is left behind – no matter which of the twelve native languages your students may speak."

DeAnna Rowe, Director of the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools, stated that, "This is a school that is dedicated to providing students with a quality education. While the name of the school and mission of the school clearly support a strong academic focus in math and science, it is very clear that the students of this school work very hard in all academic areas. As signified by your Blue Ribbon Award, your work has paid off."

In receiving the Blue Ribbon Award, AMS/MASSA Director Tatyana Chayka exclaimed, "We are honored to have been selected among such a small and distinguished group of schools across the nation. We have worked hard to create the best possible learning environment for our students, and obviously our efforts have enabled our students to achieve a high level of success."

  
Amanda Westwater, Third Grade Teacher at the Academy of Math and Science, represented the school at the Blue Ribbon 2008 awards ceremonies in Washington, D.C. (See the picture on the right)

 Mrs. Chayka, AMS Director and Emily Casarona, Secretary's Regional Representative from the U.S. Department of Education.

 Click here to see Fox 11 news video about the AMS Blue Ribbon Award.

In addition to the BLUE RIBBON Award,  AMS has been recognized for the following awards:

• America's Best High Schools, Bronze Medal, U.S. News and World Reports, 2008

• Gold Gain Middle School EPIC Award Winner. The Academy of Math and Science has received a Gold award in the 2008 pilot year of the Effective Practice Incentive Community (EPIC).  AMS is one of 22 charter schools in the US, and the only school in Arizona, to be recognized by EPIC for its incredible work with students. EPIC identifies and rewards charter schools that are making significant student achievement gains and honors educators who are willing to share their knowledge and skills with their colleagues. Click here to see the nationwide list of participants and winners.
• Highly-Performing School Designation from the Arizona Department of Education
• AMS students participated and earned many awards in various competitions such as RAZA Development Fund Essay contest, Readers Digest National Word Power challenge, Language Fair, Science Olympiad, Math Kangaroo, Southern Arizona Regional Science and Engineering Fair, and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. See our "Competitions" web page.