Gilbert Elementary

A Charter School provides all the opportunities of a private school with none of the cost! Charter Schools are publicly funded by the state, but are privately managed.

Charter Schools provide a unique learning environment designed to improve student achievement and offer additional public school alternatives. They encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods, returning decision-making and control to local leadership, teachers, and parents. That’s why more parents are choosing Charter Schools every year.

Leading Edge Academy is a safe environment where high student achievement is our focus. We provide a rigorous educational program that combines core character values with a special emphasis on reading, writing, and math.

Our teachers, like all public school teachers, are required to meet the federal standards of a “highly qualified” teacher according to the No Child Left Behind Act. Although not required by the State Department of Education, most of our teachers are also certified by the State of Arizona.

Yes, along with increased flexibility comes increased accountability. However, instead of being “rule-based” accountable, charter schools are “performance-based” accountable. The state monitors student performance through annual standardized testing (currently the AZMerit test). Leading Edge is accountable to both the State Board of Charter Schools and the Arizona Department of Education. A rigorous annual compliance and fiscal audit is performed each year by a state-approved outside audit firm. Leading Edge is also subject to various fire, health, safety, municipal, local, and federal regulations.

Any student may apply to enroll. Once open enrollment has ended (usually around March of each year) students are taken as space is available. Students with discipline issues from current schools may not be eligible to enroll.

One of our goals is to foster parental involvement. Parents are encouraged to be involved in the following ways:
• Develop a close teacher-parent interaction
• Volunteer, when possible, for 1-2 hours per week
• Participate in Parent/Teacher Organizations
• Support your children in their homework, assignments, attendance, etc.
• Attend the open Governing Board Meetings
• Support the school financially, especially through the Arizona Tax Credit Program.

NOTHING! Leading Edge is a Tuition Free public charter school!

Yes. Each campus has a catered hot lunch program available for purchase. Additionally, Leading Edge participates in the Government sponsored Free/Reduced Lunch Program.

Five days a week: Kindergarten to 8th Grade Monday – Thursday 8 AM – 3 PM; Friday 8 AM – 12 PM.

Leading Edge determines and submits for approval their own calendar each year. It is similar to many of the surrounding school districts, with classes beginning in early August and completing prior to Memorial Day.

Students in K-8th grades wear uniforms. Specific uniform guidelines and dress codes for each campus can be found on the Resources page.

Leading Edge Academy participates in the State of Arizona’s Tax Credit Program. When individuals contribute, these funds directly support extracurricular activities and Character Development Programs at the school. Donors receive a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit: up to $200 for individuals and up to $400 for families filing jointly. Any Arizona taxpayer can contribute to Leading Edge and receive this tax credit, regardless of whether they have a student attending the school.

Our students take the current Arizona State Assessments (presently AZMerit), similar to any public school. These assessments are used by the state to evaluate our school’s performance. Additionally, we employ several other methods to monitor our students’ progress, such as AIMSWeb, Galileo, and other performance measuring instruments.