Welcome to the Tempe Preparatory Academy, a tuition-free, open enrollment public charter school in Tempe, Arizona for Grades 6-12. Using Socratic practice as our pedagogical foundation, our students, parents, teachers, and staff engage the Great Books and best of the Western tradition on a daily basis. Our graduates are confident, knowledgeable, and articulate, and prepared to live full lives. The
y are trained in advanced mathematics and science, the fine arts, literature, history, philosophy, economics and languages (both modern European and Classical), and they possess the intellectual skills and disciplines which make a lifetime of learning possible. Of course, a liberal arts education cannot be pursued hurriedly or with a sense only of its immediate benefit or material value. The formation of our students’ characters and imaginations involves an exposure to great works and thinking over time engendering a habit of excellence. By enrolling your son or daughter at Tempe Prep, you join us in a commitment to personal growth for each student in each of his or her years here. It will be a rich experience, marked by the formation of deep understanding, new discoveries of personal excellence, and the creation of enduring friendships. It is an education for life. We welcome you to the Tempe Prep experience. The mission of Tempe Preparatory Academy is to educate students for the lifelong pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. TPA graduates have a foundation in the liberal arts of grammar and rhetoric, logic and mathematics, history, natural science, and philosophy. Graduates will also have practiced the fine arts of music, drawing and painting, and drama. TPA graduates are thus prepared for every career, every course of advanced or specialized study, and every kind of leisure. The Academy fulfills itsr mission by the following means:
- Service to a rigorous, core liberal arts curriculum in the Western tradition that is the same for all students.
- Small classes of 22 or fewer.
- Dedicated, enthusiastic, and intellectually excellent teachers who serve as models of learning and of character.
- Detailed student evaluation, with an emphasis upon written, narrative evaluation of learning rather than upon grades and percentages.
- Regular and meaningful homework assignments.
- High standards of personal conduct and comportment for students. Though the curriculum is rigorous and expectations for students are high, the Academy is not exclusive schools strictly for the elite. Our goal is to provide an environment that allows every student who is curious and diligent the opportunity to fulfill her or his potential. The Academy offers a core curriculum in which each of the grades builds on previous grades over the student’s seven-year tenure. The 11th and 12th grades in particular gather all of the previous years of liberal arts study together to offer students a critical and comprehensive understanding of the
Western tradition. Along with being a Blue Ribbon School, Tempe Prep receives local and national recognition with our mission to educate students for the lifelong pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness through a rigorous liberal arts curriculum using Socratic practice to explore the Great Books and the best of Western tradition:
· Ranked 1st in the State of Arizona for the percentage of college graduates from a public high school, Arizona Board of Regents (2016)
· Ranked 1st in the State of Arizona for open enrollment public high schools, Arizona Dept. of Education Report Card (2012)
· The only open enrollment public high school to be ranked in Arizona's top 10 for 2 consecutive years, Arizona Dept. of Education Report Card (2013)
· One of only 5 schools to receive the Arizona Dept. of Education’s Reading Excellence Award (2011)
· Ranked 5th and 6th in the U.S. for Reading and Math Achievement, Bush Foundation's Global Report Card (2011)
· State Championship Speech and Debate Team for 8 consecutive years (2006-2013 AIA 1/2/3A)
· State FIRST Robotics Competition Winner (2013)
· State Championship Women’s Basketball Team (2012 AIA Div. IV)
· State Championship Men's and Women's Track Teams (2011 AIA Div.
