Citizens’ Academy of Cleveland, Ohio, is one of the top-performing urban schools in the state, and since 1999 has developed a national reputation for its commitment to academic excellence and responsible citizenship. Citizens’ has recently been recognized as a “Cleveland School of Excellence” by The Cleveland and Gund Foundations (2008), selected as a “School of Promise” by the Ohio Department of Education (2007), and was one of nine schools chosen nationally for the Charter School Growth Fund’s Business Planning Cohort, eligible for a major expansion grant. Our school currently serves nearly 400 students at the K-5 level, and plans to add both a preschool and a middle school during either 2009 or 2010. Ninety-seven percent of Citizens’ Academy’s students are African-American and 80% are economically disadvantaged.

Citizens’ Academy has built its success by demanding excellence from its students, teachers, and leaders. The school’s students have thrived in our no-excuses, highly structured college preparatory environment, which emphasizes high academic and personal standards, continuity and uniformity of expectations, a focus on core skills, and high marks on the State’s achievement tests. Rigor and high expectations are combined with warmth and compassion to create a place where students can excel, academically and personally.