Primavera Online School
| Primavera Online School | |
|---|---|
2471 N. Arizona Ave., Building 1 Chandler, AZ | |
| Information | |
| Type | Charter school, virtual school |
| Established | 2001 |
| Founder | Damian Creamer |
School district | American Virtual Academy |
| Director | Jessica Pagoulatos, M.Ed. |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Enrollment | 6,820 (2023-2024)[1] |
| Colors | green, white |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Website | www |
Primavera Online School is a publicly funded charter school serving grades K–12 in Arizona. The school was founded in 2001 by Damian Creamer and was made possible by a program established by the Arizona Legislature in 1998.[2][3] Primavera targets students at risk of not graduating from conventional high schools, estimating that 70% of their students are high risk. In 2018 Primavera was ranked the #2 charter school in Arizona.[4] Primavera added grades K-5 in the 2020/2021 school year.[5]
Structure
Primavera Online School is accredited by Cognia (formerly AdvancED.)[6] There are no fees for students aged 5–22, and only students 22 or younger are accepted.[7] Two types of students attend Primavera: full-time and concurrent-enrolled.
Primavera has open enrollment throughout the year, and offers block scheduling. Students take can take multiple courses in a semester, trimester or credit-recovery block. Each course equals one credit. All teachers are certified and are required to stay in constant contact with each student throughout the course. Primavera claims a student-to-teacher ratio of 33:1.[8][2]
Results
In 2017–18, there were 21,782 students enrolled in grades six through 12.[2] In 2017's state standardized tests, under a quarter of its students passed mathematics and around a third passed English, both below the state average.[2]
For the last several years, Primavera had some the largest graduating classes in Arizona with 1549 graduates in 2024 and 1462 graduates in 2025.[2]
Finances
Primavera, like other charter schools in Arizona, is publicly funded per pupil, although at a reduced rate due to being online-only.[2]
Primavera opened in 2001 under the management of Primavera Technical Learning Center, a nonprofit charter management organization.[9] In 2015, the school's charter was transferred to for-profit education management organization Flipswitch and its subsidiary, American Virtual Academy, Inc. Flipswitch was renamed Strongmind. It has one shareholder, Damian Creamer, who paid himself an $8.8 million annual salary and made payments to other companies he owns.[8][2] The school also allocated education funding to a for-profit investment portfolio, worth $36 million in 2015, in lieu of teacher salaries.[8]
References
- ↑ "Primavera - Online". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Primavera online charter school CEO pays himself another $1.3 million from school funds". azcentral. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- ↑ "Digital Learning: Is It Time to Give up or Double Down?". November 7, 2018.
- ↑ "Ranking Arizona: Top 10 charter schools". August 2018.
- ↑ "Primavera Online Elementary K-5 | Home".
- ↑ "Cognia - Institution Summary".
- ↑ "How to Enroll | Enroll Today! | Primavera Online High School".
- 1 2 3 Harris, Craig. "Primavera charter CEO gets $8.8M despite having Arizona's third-highest dropout rate". AZCentral. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
- ↑ "Primavera Form 990". ProPublica. Retrieved November 24, 2018.