Mesa Prep Academy opened in 2007 as a charter school for students in 6th through 12th grades with an average of 325 students per year. The school offers a challenging liberal arts education that centers on science, math, and classical literature. Fine art classes are required.

Along with core subjects the school offers a large array of extra curricular activities and sports including band, bell choir, chorus, orchestra, music theory, creative writing, drama, dance, ceramics, design, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, textile design, baseball, basketball, archery, cross country, track, football, soccer, football, soccer, judo, golf, ultimate Frisbee, martial arts, softball. Student clubs available include book club, chess club, ballroom, dance club, community service, foreign language and culture club, gardening, Latin, buddy club, recycling club, math club, robotics club, yoga club, yearbook, science club.

The reviews of parents are quite mixed. Some parents express the school, teachers, and staff are very disorganized and often make up policies as they go. There is no order or rules set forth with the handbook not presented one year until the 3rd semester. On the other hand, several parents are very happy with the school and curriculum even though there may be a high turn over of teachers. Students enjoy going to school and seem to have no issues with teachers or staff.

To see if the school is actually making the grade and helping students learn, we can look at the percentage of students that passed the AIMS series of exams. In reading, 99% of 6th graders passed the exam while in reading and math percentages were above state averages by around 20%. Seventh graders did just as well with higher percentages than state averages in core subjects. In reading, 100% of 8th graders passed the exam while science, writing, and math were around 30% and up above average. 10th graders did exceptionally well with 100% of students passing the exams in reading, writing, and math.

The school seems to be providing students with the educational they need to succeed, however, with a few bad comments by parents; I would at least visit the school and talk with a few parents before enrolling my child.

Mesa Prep Academy
1303 S. Lindsay Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85204
480-222-4233
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