About

When was Champion Schools founded?

Our organization was founded in May 1999.  For the past ten years we have operated a successful inner-city charter school, Champion Schools: Summit Elementary located in an historic building adjacent to a public park in central Phoenix. 

History of Champion Schools

On school Field Days, the faculty noticed that kids did not know how to jump rope, side step, skip, or use efficient techniques when running races.  Further examination of the students also revealed many delays in gross motor development.  We also observed that about 75% of our incoming students did not have the fine motor skill development needed to perform well in school.  It was clear that an intervention on our part was necessary to improve the students’ academic and physical performance.  We experimented by adding daily student conditioning programs with exercise routines in the classroom and on the field.  It was not long before we began to see the advantages of having a rigorous sports program included in the school day.

Gross motor skills develop before fine motor skills and are essential building blocks for proper athletic training.   Thus, the school began developing programs focused on improving these gross motor skills in our students.   We recruited teachers and coaches with sports’ backgrounds to enhance our PE programs and develop competitive athletic training programs. Our athletic programs are centered around the belief that practice, strategy, determination, and hard work are essential qualities to be successful academically and athletically.  To address fine motor skills development, we began working with an occupational therapist.  The original classroom interventions were intended for handwriting, as many of the students did not have the necessary fine motor skills to be proficient at this crucial skill.  We began providing class-wide interventions to develop the students’ upper extremity strength.   This process began with shoulder stability and worked down the arm to thumb web space stability.  As strength was developed, students began working on coordination skills to further refine fine motor development.  These exercises included developing separation between the power and precision sides of the hand and isolated finger control.

CHAMPION SCHOOLS

Champion Schools makes athletic training an integral part of a longer school day.  Sports activities confined to after-school hours can be a hardship for student athletes and their families.  Additionally, the cost of private professional athletic training means many parents cannot afford to give their children a competitive advantage.  Champion Schools ‘levels the playing field’, giving ALL students athletic enrichment, regardless of their resources.

Our  Vision

We believe that the discipline gained in sports activities supports academic performance and is transformative in young people.

Mission Statement

It is the mission of Champion Schools to establish a premier learning environment that will develop students’ mental, bodily, and emotional intelligences. Our schools are designed to utilize the discipline gained in sports activities and the motivation gained through parental involvement and psychological support to augment the pursuit of academic excellence.

Strategic Initiatives

Champion Schools creates and maintains effective academic, athletic, and psycho-educational programming geared toward building a solid foundation for student achievement and life-long inquiry and learning. To this end we will:

•    Build powerful learning environments which include collaborative work, project-based learning, and hands-on experiences utilizing the community as a laboratory.

•    Institute a comprehensive assessment system to measure students’ progress individually, by grade, class, and as a whole school.

•    Establish a broad-based athletic training program that focuses on core strength (strength, speed, flexibility, conditioning, balance and agility), fine motor skills (precision, dexterity, visual perception, spatial orientation, and hand-eye coordination), sport-specific skills training, health, and wellness.

•    Create a psychological support program to assist students and their families as they negotiate the social and emotional tasks of adolescence.

•    Establish public and private partnerships that will enhance students’ academic, athletic, and emotional development.

Champion Schools is able to take ANY child and using specific methods – designed by occupational therapists and professional trainers – build the core strength, motor, and sports-specific skills that not only increase a child’s self-esteem but also his/her athletic performance. Fundamental physical skills development training at an early age is a huge benefit to future academic and athletic performance.

Our Champion Schools Model is truly a school of the future, founded on researched-based methods and experience in school design.

• To support academic performance, Champion Schools employs methods to build core strength used by trainers when conditioning the world’s top athletes… focusing on strength, speed, flexibility, conditioning, balance, and agility.
• Champion Schools’ students build fine motor skills to improve skills using specific exercises designed for our classrooms… focusing on precision, dexterity, visual perception, spatial orientation, and hand-eye coordination.

Champion Schools builds a strong culture that supports students in making significant academic gains and excelling in athletics: an unbeatable formula for success.