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Math, Science Academy Draws Few Students: Only 24 Enrolled so Far; School to Still Open in Fall

Posted on: Thursday, 4 May 2006, 15:01 CDT

By Andrea Falkenhagen, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

May 4--Fewer students than expected have enrolled in a new math and science school that Scottsdale Unified School District officials hope will pave the way for a series of speciality magnet schools across the city.

Officials still plan to open the Copper Ridge Math and Science Academy in the fall, despite having only 24 students enrolled as of Wednesday.

When the idea was proposed in March, officials planned for a minimum of 60 students, beginning with a ninth-grade class at the Copper Ridge middle and elementary school campus, 10101 N. Thompson Peak Parkway.

The academy is the first in a series of magnet schools planned by the district and will prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math by offering four years of highlevel courses such as statistics, physics, trigonometry and calculus.

While more students mean more course offerings, the academy's director, Mike Wolf, said he still believes the school can offer the courses it outlined to the district's governing board in March.

He will not propose any significant changes in curriculum or location when he asks the board to approve the school at its meeting Tuesday, he said.

"We've been doing some research on other specialized programs in the Valley, and we're finding that many of these schools are having success with these lower numbers," he said. "We think we are going to grow from the 24 we have today, but we are prepared to work with any number."

Governing board president Jennifer Petersen said that because of the small enrollment, she would like the board to consider moving the academy to an existing high school instead of the Copper Ridge campus, which houses a middle and elementary school.

"My inclination would be, let's move it to someplace else," she said. "I do have to question the expense of just doing one class up at Copper Ridge. One class doesn't really seem cost-effective. But incorporating it into an existing high school, that doesn't really add costs."

One piece of encouraging data showed that the academy's students are coming from a diverse mix of schools, Wolf said.

The district succeeded in pulling in seven students from charter and private schools, including one from the elite Tesseract private school in Paradise Valley.

Three students are coming from BASIS School Scottsdale, a nationally recognized charter school for grades five through eight.

A district plan to offer free transportation for students probably encouraged the enrollment of some students from southern schools, such as Supai Middle School, Wolf said.

Wolf is continuing to recruit students for the academy by visiting middle schools and speaking with families. Several families already have asked to place their sixth- and seventhgraders on waiting lists for future years, he said.

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CONTACT WRITER: (480) 970-2348

or afalkenhagen@aztrib.com

Where they're from

Students who have enrolled at the Copper Ridge Math and Science Academy came from:

SCOTTSDALE UNIFIED SCHOOL

DISTRICT SCHOOLS Copper Ridge Middle School: 4 Supai Middle School: 4 Cheyenne Traditional School: 3 Ingleside Middle School: 1 Mohave Middle School: 1 Mountainside Middle School: 1

OTHER SCHOOLS BASIS Scottsdale (charter): 3 Mesa Arts Academy (charter): 1 Rancho Solano Private School: 1 Scottsdale Christian Academy: 1 Tesseract School: 1 Out of state: (Florida, Texas, Illinois) 3

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Tribune

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