Ogden prep academy is honored as best in '09

Ogden Preparatory Academy is the 2009 Charter School of the Year, as recognized by the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools.

OPA is a Spanish dual-immersion charter school for grades K-9. The school has 585 students. It began in 2003 under the leadership of Principal Kathy Thornburg.

"We've worked very hard and it's really rewarding to know it has finally paid off and we are being recognized," Thornburg said.

OPA received a plaque to display in the school. School leaders also will put up a banner announcing the honor.

As an inner-city Title 1 school, OPA has made great academic gains over the past six years.

The school continues to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress goals of the federal mandate No Child Left Behind.

OPA's scores on state-required testing are above the proficiency requirement. For example, the IOWA Test of Basic Skills showed 35.8 percent of the school's third-, fifth- and eighth-graders scored in the top 10 percent of the nation.

Immediate academic intervention is the key, Thornburg said. If a student's grades fall, they attend remediation after school or during a non-core class.

Cell phones are not allowed at OPA. "Students are supposed to be learning, not yakking and texting misspelled words," she said.

Attendance at OPA exceeds 95 percent. Parents volunteer numerous hours. The faculty consists of 94 percent highly qualified teachers.

OPA students have placed in many science, history and math state competitions.

The school also focuses on community service. They have done paper recycling projects, knitted caps for newborns, made dolls for Primary Children's Medical Center, gathered spare change to purchase cattle for third world countries, collected 800 pounds of food for the Utah Food Bank and written letters to soldiers in the Middle East.

OPA's library was deemed the best in the state by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.

E-mail: astewart@desnews.com