Great Hearts Academies is a non-profitcharter school management organization that operates a network of elementary, middle, and high schools in the Phoenix, Arizona Metropolitan area; in San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and Irving, Texas; and East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with new academies planned for Florida in Fall 2025.[1]
Great Hearts Academies has 30,000 students enrolled for the 2024–2025 school year.
History
Overview
Great Hearts Academies is a non-profit network of public charter schools in the United States. Founded in 2003, the organization aims to provide a classical liberal arts education to students in grades K-12. As of the 2024–2025 school year, the network comprises 47 charter schools across Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana serving 30,000 students. Great Hearts Academies is known for its rigorous curriculum, high academic standards, and emphasis on character development.[2]
Founding and early years
Great Hearts Academies was established in 2003 by Dr. Daniel Scoggin, Jay Heiler, Bob Mulhern and a group of like-minded educators in Phoenix, Arizona. The founders sought to create a network of public schools that would offer students a comprehensive liberal arts education, focusing on the development of critical thinking, effective communication, and intellectual curiosity.[3]
The first school in the network, Veritas Preparatory Academy, opened its doors in 2003 in Phoenix. This flagship institution set the standard for the rigorous academic program and core values that would be central to all Great Hearts Academies.
Expansion and growth
Following the success of Veritas Preparatory Academy, Great Hearts Academies expanded rapidly throughout Arizona, opening more schools to meet the growing demand for high quality classical liberal arts education.[4][5] In 2011, Great Hearts Texas was founded, and the first Texas campus, Great Hearts Monte Vista, opened in San Antonio in 2014.[6] As of September 2024, the Great Hearts network comprises 25 schools in Arizona, 21 in Texas, and one in Louisiana.[7]
Curriculum and educational philosophy
Great Hearts is a K-12 charter school network offering a high-quality classical liberal arts education, tuition free. Great Hearts’ curriculum focuses on a core reading list of Great Books called Classics to Keep.[8] The Archway campuses – the elementary schools of the network – all teach phonics, spelling, handwriting, and grammar as a part of their classical curriculum. Additionally, they use the Core Knowledge curriculum (designed by E.D. Hirsch) for teaching in-depth and chronological world history and American history and geography as well as studio art and music. They use Singapore Math as their math curriculum and as all students study Spanish, French, or Latin (depending on the school).[9]
At the prep school level (middle and high school), students are required to study literature and composition, humanities, laboratory sciences, and mathematics. Great Hearts only offers one common course of study, but students may select from language options including Spanish, French, Latin, and Greek, depending on the school.[10]
Great Hearts Academy graduates proceed immediately to college or university at a rate of 98 percent, with 51 percent pursuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses of study.[11] Great Hearts students achieve SAT scores that are 220 points higher than the national average.[12][13]
An overview of Great Hearts Academies curriculum from Kindergarten through 12th Grade
Extracurricular activities and community involvement
Great Hearts Academies offers a wide range of extracurricular activities to complement the academic program, including athletics, fine arts, and various clubs.[14] Students are encouraged to participate in these programs to develop a well-rounded education and foster personal growth.
The organization also emphasizes the importance of community involvement and service. Students are encouraged to engage with their local communities, participating in service projects and volunteering opportunities to help develop character, leadership skills, and a strong sense of civic responsibility.[15]
Academic success
Great Hearts Arizona has gained attention for its impressive academic performance. According to 2021–22 academic performance data from Arizona State Board of Education, Great Hearts Arizona ranks as the highest performing public school system in the Phoenix metro area. In the 2022 Arizona Academic Standards Assessments (AASA), Great Hearts Arizona's 22 schools collectively outperformed every other district and charter network in Phoenix with an aggregate rating of 88.9.[16]
In addition, Archway Classical Academy Lincoln, a Great Hearts school, was the highest ranked school in the state with a score of 104.47.[17]
In the 2021–22 school year, Great Hearts Texas was awarded an A-Grade from the Texas Education Agency.[18]
Great Hearts Arizona's decision to prioritize in-person learning during the COVID19 pandemic minimized learning loss and partly accounts for the outstanding academic results in the 2021–22 school year.[19]
Academies
As of September 2024, Great Hearts Academies operates 47 schools across Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana, of which two are online charter academies. Great Hearts also operates a preschool - Young Hearts - in Arizona.[20] The following list provides the names of currently operating Great Hearts charter schools in each state:
Great Hearts Academies has gained national recognition for its success in providing a rigorous and well-rounded education.[68][69][70][71][72][73] The network's schools consistently rank highly in both state and national rankings, with a high percentage of students achieving top scores on standardized tests and gaining admission to prestigious colleges and universities.[74]
As the demand for high-quality education continues to grow, Great Hearts Academies plans to further expand its network in existing and new regions.[75][76] The organization remains committed to its mission of providing a transformative classical liberal arts education to students across the United States.
Controversies
Policy on transgender students
In June 2016, the Great Hearts corporate Board of Directors adopted a policy that requires their transgender students to align all school activities with their biological sex, rather than the student's gender identity.[77] The student's participation in extracurricular clubs, sports, and the use of facilities such as restrooms all must align with the sex of the student as printed on his or her birth certificate. This requirement extends further to Great Hearts' gendered hair cutting standards, school uniform requirements, "girls line/boys line" classroom management, and daily pronoun usage.[78]
Great Hearts' policy on transgender students is strongly opposed by local LGBT organizations and transgender advocates.[79] Opponents to the policy argue that Great Hearts has chosen to ignore clear guidance from the medical and psychological communities regarding how best to support their transgender student population.[80]
Great Hearts argues that, since the civil rights of the transgender population is not yet a matter of settled law in the United States, the Board of Directors will define school policy in line with current statutory guidance and use the birth certificate as the official document that defines a student's gender.[77]
Local reaction
On April 25, 2017, the city council of Scottsdale, Arizona discussed whether to move forward with exploring a land agreement between the city and Great Hearts Academies to build an athletic complex near the community of DC Ranch. The City Council cited concerns they have before finalizing any agreement with Great Hearts, chief among them the Great Hearts policy on transgender students.[81][82]
The Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a press release opposing the city's partnership with Great Hearts until the policy is replaced.[83] Great Hearts abandoned the land deal with the City of Scottsdale in favor of purchasing land adjacent to their already-established high school.[84]
Haircut standards
In February 2018, Teleos Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, part of the Great Hearts charter school system, notified one of their students that his hairstyle did not conform to the school's policy standard. The child's family argued that he was targeted because he was not white.[85] Great Hearts responded with a statement reinforcing their policy of no braided hair on boys and that Great Hearts was "sorry to see this family leave the Teleos Prep community... we fully respect their decision to do so."[86]
The Arizona chapter of the ACLU together with Black Mothers Forum, a local advocacy organization, called on Great Hearts to eliminate their grooming standards.[87] Eight days later, Great Hearts offered to make a policy exception and readmit the family. The family refused.[88][89]
Homework assignment on slavery
In April 2018, Great Hearts apologized after one of their teachers in Texas assigned homework in which students were to list the pros and cons of being a slave.[90] Social media spread the story of the homework assignment nationwide, sparking outrage.[91][92] In response, Great Hearts issued a statement condemning the homework assignment.[93][94]
Although the same homework assignment had been given in the past, the teacher who gave the assignment was reprimanded and briefly placed on leave.[94] He was reinstated after remedial training was complete.[95]
Response to the Black Lives Matter protests
On September 5, 2020, an art teacher at Great Hearts Western Hills in San Antonio, Texas was terminated by Great Hearts for wearing a facemask that visibly said "Black Lives Matter" as a violation of the school's dress code policy.[96]
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