Charter school moves closer to the top

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio--A local charter school reached its highest performance level in the last school year.   

Springfield Preparatory and Fitness Academy moved up two categories, earning an “Excellent” rating after meeting nine of 15 possible indicators and benchmarks for adequate yearly progress and value-added, both achievement measures based on the progress students make.

Myrrha Satow, superintendent and founder of Edvantages, the organization behind the prep and fitness chain of schools points out they've been improving each school year for a long time. 

Ohio Department of Education data shows Edvantages operates 10 such schools in Ohio and four reached the “Excellent” rating this year.

In 2009-10, Springfield Prep and Fitness was rated “Continuous Improvement,” the fourth of the six ratings. Satow credits the improvement to hard work from students and staff, extended school days, small class sizes and a back to basics curriculum that includes two hours of reading and 90 minutes of math each day.

Clark County’s other two charter schools, Life Skills of Springfield and Springfield Academy of Excellence, earned “Academic Emergency” and “Academic Watch” ratings respectively.