ASU/Compadre link opens door to teens’ learning, earning

News of an innovative program allowing Compadre High School students to pursue better educational futures brought plenty of excitement to the Tempe campus. (Billy Hardiman for Wrangler News)

By Jonathan Coronel

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The watchword in education of late has been access. Arizonans are acutely familiar with this due to the fact that the country’s largest university, Arizona State, has made educational accessibility a priority under President Michael Crow.

With an ever-growing presence online, ASU has become a major producer of college grads in the world; the next step will take it even further toward its goals.

Starting this fall, ASU Prep will open a fourth high school, to coexist on the campus of Compadre Academy, part of the Tempe Union High School District.

Currently, ASU Prep operates schools in Phoenix, Mesa and Casa Grande and its notable academic success has encouraged the coming expansion into the Tempe area. ASU Prep has 2,100 students enrolled across its three existing campuses, and the school is producing results quickly, with the 2016 class graduating 100 percent of its students, all of whom were admitted to some form of secondary education or military service. Most were admitted to ASU itself. Art Lebowitz, the head of schools for ASU Prep, acknowledged this success and how it will positively impact Compadre Academy.

“Initially we will be focusing on starting off the 9th and 10th graders. While Compadre has generally served older students, the goal here is to give those kids a full high school experience in a smaller environment with a college-attending emphasis.”

Once ASU Prep at Compadre expands, Lebowitz sees the successful post-graduation opportunities garnered by ASU Prep graduates as crucial because these older students will serve as role models for the younger students. Though the implementation of a separate school on a currently existing high school campus sounds like it could pose logistical problems, administrators from both ASU Prep and Compadre High are optimistic for the plans.

Jason Ruiz writes in a journal at Compadre Academy on Monday, May 15, 2017 in Tempe, Arizona. (Billy Hardiman for Wrangler News)

Ed Flores, current principal of Compadre Academy, was particularly excited, noting that he is confident this innovative partnership will bring new and exciting opportunities to his students, while still allowing Compadre to offer the same unique services that are so crucial to the community.

For example, though ASU Prep will initially be more like a separate school, this set-up is planned to last only through the first semester, after which Compadre students will have the opportunity to take courses from the ASU Prep Cambridge curriculum that has served their students so well; ASU Prep students will also be able to take courses from Compadre.

Flores sees this move as huge for Compadre students and crucial to their future success.

“If you give students opportunities, they will run toward those opportunities.

“It’s our duty to provide that for them, we would be doing a disservice if we did not. It’s an exciting  time to be a Lobo.”

This sentiment was echoed by Deborah Gonzalez, Chief Academic Innovations Officer at ASU Prep.

“We held a focus group [of Compadre students], every student wanted to be educated and have the opportunity to go to college when they choose to.”

ASU Prep will achieve this goal of expanded opportunities for Compadre students by working closely with Compadre to achieve these goals that will mutually benefit all students, as Gonzalez explained.

“We are bringing in our own teachers, the administration at Compadre is helping us as we are helping them so that we can realize these goals,” she said.

“Compadre students will have more options for success beyond high school and be able to go to a university or a career that is meaningful to them. ASU Prep students will benefit by having more opportunities for extracurriculars that we would not have on a smaller campus.”

Though Compadre is set for these new and promising changes, Flores clarified that the school’s normal programs like the Teenage Pregnancy Program (TAPP) will still be available and older students up to 21 years of age will still be able to attend Compadre to complete high school credits, as both of these and other services are crucial to Compadre’s overall mission.

Flores, Gonzalez, and Lebowitz all agreed that the ultimate goal of the partnership is a total integration of the two schools, so that students effectively double their opportunities in high school and beyond.

Although they have their eyes set on this goal in the future, it’s clear that they aren’t so forward-looking that they are overlooking the current mission of getting the partnership started in the coming school year, as was clear when the group was asked about the possibility of adding a middle or elementary ASU Prep at Compadre High school in the future.

Said Gonzalez:

“We are going to hit this one out of the ballpark before we even consider what’s next.”

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