Heritage Academy (Mesa, Arizona)

Heritage Academy is a traditional public charter high school in central Mesa, Arizona serving grades 7-12.[2] It opened in 1995 as one of the first charter schools in the state.

Heritage Academy
Address
32 S. Center St.

Mesa
,
Arizona
85210

United States
Information
School typePublic charter high school
Established1995
PrincipalHeidi Udall
Grades7–12
Color(s)Red, white, blue
Athletics conferenceCAA/AIA assoc.
MascotHeroes[1]
Websitehttp://www.heritageacademyaz.com/

History

Founded in 1995 by Earl Taylor Jr. this public charter high school was one of the first schools granted a charter in Arizona after the passing of the Arizona Revised Statutes Title 15 section 181–183 in 1994.[3] Located in historic downtown mesa this school has since opened three additional campuses in Laveen, Queen Creek, and Maricopa Arizona.

In 2016, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a federal lawsuit against the school, claiming that the Heritage Academy schools violated the First Amendment, the Arizona Constitution and Arizona state laws through its student instruction and required reading. Specifically, the AUSCS claimed that the school was teaching Taylor's belief that the Ten Commandments must be obeyed in order to attain happiness. It was also claimed that the school used listed as required reading two textbooks written by W. Cleon Skousen, a Mormon theologian who was closely associated with the far-right John Birch Society, and was eventually officially "shunned" by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The complaint also stated that teachers in the school taught religious principles, for instance denying evolution in science classes, and saying that enjoying rock music will inevitably lead to addiction to drugs and alcohol. [4][5]

References
  1. Arizona Interscholastic Association school directory
  2. "Heritage Academy". Education Rankings. US News & World Report. 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  3. https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i03-002-r03-010. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Fischer, Howard (September 7, 2016) "Charter school accused of using state money to teach religious doctrine" Arizona Capitol Times
  5. Kearn, Rebekah (September 9, 2016) "Arizona Sued for Funding Religious Schools" Courthouse News Service
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.