Arizona College Preparatory

Arizona College Prep is a junior high school and high school in the Chandler Unified School District in Chandler, Arizona, USA.

The school has two campuses, both of them repurposed from their former use. ACP-Oakland, the one-time campus of Chandler Traditional Junior High, opened in the 2011-12 school year to serve grades 7 and 8;^[2] ACP-Erie, a former elementary school, opened in July 2012 to serve grades 7 through 12. The expected enrollment of ACP-Erie is 486 students.

History

The first college preparatory junior high/high school program in the Chandler Unified School District was Hamilton Prep, opened in 2007. Hamilton Prep served grades 7 through 12 and operated using space rented from Chandler Christian Church (though the church did not have any influence on policy or curriculum). Hamilton Prep offered its own junior high sports teams, but high school athletics was routed through the bigger Hamilton High School, with which it also shared colors and mascot. They

In 2010, Chandler Traditional Junior High School opened on the site home to the original Chandler Junior High School (closed 1988 and later used by Chandler High School). It was an extension of the district's Chandler Traditional Academy (CTA) program. For the 2011-12 school year, the focus was shifted to college prep and the name changed to the current Arizona College Prep. The junior high school is known as the ACP Oakland Campus. At the same time, the district looked to upgrade the Hamilton Prep high school program to a permanent location that could serve more students.

Conversion

Erie Elementary School, a school with declining enrollment in an older part of Chandler, was selected for the renovations to begin to convert the site into a high school. The school continued operations during the 2011-12 school year with portions cordoned off to allow construction.^[3] $8.6 million was spent on renovations,^[1][4] $3.3 million more than anticipated due to an expanded scope of the project and due to higher than budgeted costs for utility work.^[5]

Arizona College Prep has its own athletics program instead of feeding into Hamilton. School colors are purple, black, and silver; the mascot is the Knights. For the 2011-12 school year, the renamed ACP Oakland Campus retained the Chandler Traditional Junior High colors (royal blue and gold) and mascot (Mustangs); this image was replaced with the new Knights.

The high school alone expects to have 300 students when it fills out.^[6]

References