Armadillo Charter highlights student safety, food supports and credit-recovery gains

Armadillo Charter Community representatives told the Phoenix-Talent School District board that the school's chief priorities remain student safety, significance and belonging, and that program changes and grants this year are intended to support those goals.

"Our main focus, for the last 3 years, and it will continue to be for the next 3, is providing our students with safety, significance and belonging," the Armadillo Charter representative said. She highlighted a returning graduate, Rigo, who visited the school, presented on wildland firefighting and encouraged students to persist academically.

The presenter summarized enrollment and outcome figures: 91 students had attended the program this year; 35 seniors were enrolled and nine students earned a GED. The speaker said 73% of the student body this year were juniors and seniors and that more than half of students had been at the school for less than a year.

Armadillo staff reported survey and service numbers: about 97% of students reported feeling safe or that staff care about them; 97% said a staff member would notice an absence; 63% said family situations make it hard to attend. The presenter described attendance challenges and noted many students arrive to the program after months out of school.

The school emphasized its credit-recovery and accelerated offerings: staff said students earned 10.25 credits during a spring session and 20 credits during summer programming that included incentives (rafting and hiking). Presenters said credits earned from the start of the school year to the time of the presentation totaled about 20.5 credits.

Leaders described expanded student supports funded by grants: the school reported that about 84% of students use provided snacks and food; 70% used a newly updated hygiene space (showers/laundry) funded through grants; the Ashland Community Health Foundation supported meals; Project Youth Plus provided food-box storage; and an Amazon Future Engineers sponsorship will support STEM coding pilots. The presenter also named local partners including Mount Ashland, Talent Maker City, Phoenix Counseling and artist Patrick Blake.

The Armadillo representative said the school is piloting more homemade meals to boost attendance, moving from largely donated clothing to grant-funded new-clothing purchases that students themselves select, and expanding experiential programming (camping, Pacifica Outdoor School) and internships.

Board members and district staff praised the school's progress and asked about capacity and recruitment. The presenter said the charter's capacity is 120 and that staff are pursuing outreach at middle schools and other recruitment strategies to enroll more ninth graders and retain students for four years.

The presentation closed with a request for board support through referrals and community awareness rather than direct funding requests. The Armadillo representative asked board members to refer families and to recognize the work of staff and community partners.

Ending: The board offered positive feedback and offered to schedule a walkthrough. The presenter thanked the board and emphasized ongoing recruitment and partnership efforts.