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Phoenix-Talent Racing Academy reports steady enrollment and focus on small-school supports
Summary
The independent Phoenix-Talent Racing Academy told the district board it is stabilizing enrollment, offering weekly in-person activities, and focusing on community building, attendance goals and teacher collaboration through outside partners.
The Phoenix-Talent Racing Academy — an independent school operating within Phoenix-Talent School District — presented its fourth-year progress to the board, emphasizing small-school structure, steady enrollment trends and goals to strengthen attendance and core instruction.
A presenter described the program model: the elementary program (K–5) combines half-hour daily direct instruction with homeschool-style family support; the middle-level program (6–8) uses online curriculum with teacher check-ins, in-person weekly activities and monthly field trips. The presenter said current enrollment included 17 elementary and 18 middle-school students, and that cohort size typically grows through the year from the 20s toward mid-50s.
The presenter said the secondary population is mainly students with anxiety or social–emotional needs who require a smaller environment, while the elementary population includes families seeking flexible homeschool support. The program uses the district's adopted curriculum (Amplify for reading and math at the elementary level) and Mentum for middle-school online instruction.
Officials described assessments and goals: the program uses I Ready for academic checks and reported that reading and math performance is "in line with the rest of the district" though small sample sizes produce large percentage swings year to year. The presenter said midyear assessments were under way and that the school aims to improve attendance and math achievement through coaching and targeted intervention.
District supports and external partners named included Oregon RTI Project and edX for implementation and professional learning, and staff emphasized building teacher collaboration and unit planning before deeper data analysis. The presenter also asked the board to understand the school's structure so members can answer constituent questions and referred to districtwide efforts to regain enrollment lost to other charters and online options.
Ending: The presenter urged board members to refer families and to recognize staff for working in a nontraditional, flexible environment. Board members expressed appreciation for the school's work.
