Pinnacle Charter Schools


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About Pinnacle

Enrollment Information

Pinnacle History

What we now know as Pinnacle Education began in 1995 as the Arizona Career Academy. Started as an alternative learning environments built on computer-assisted learning, personal and social skill development and workplace readiness, the original sites in Tempe and Mesa were a major success. In 1998, the schools changed their name to Pinnacle Charter High Schools and the Casa Grande site was opened.

A pilot project to explore internet-delivered educational content began at Pinnacle in 1999. Using technology to connect fully-certified teachers with students in remote locations, Pinnacle Education developed it own course materials and instructional environment around students’ needs.

Three new high schools and two K-8 Academies were also added in 1999. While the high school sites maintain a strong technology focus, the emphasis at the elementary level is on small class sizes, personal attention, and creating a caring environment.

In 2001, Pinnacle Education was granted a charter by the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools to operate six school sites.

Pinnacle Education high schools currently include:

Pinnacle Charter High School -- Chandler
Pinnacle Charter High School -- Tempe East
Pinnacle Charter High School -- Mesa
Pinnacle Charter High School -- Tempe West
Pinnacle Charter High School -- Casa Grande
Pinnacle Charter High School -- Nogales

In addition, Pinnacle offers a K-8 school:

Day Star Academy -- Phoenix, Arizona

In 2003, the Pinnacle Virtual High School was designated as an Arizona distance education provider. Students from throughout Arizona may now access all Pinnacle courses and teachers. Today more than 5,000 students earn over 26,000 high school credits from the Pinnacle Virtual High School.

For more information on how you may enroll in the Pinnacle Virtual High School, please click on the Virtual School link.

Philosophy & Technology
Pinnacle has always been committed to keeping the student at the center of the instructional process. The Pinnacle model starts with the Arizona State Standards, building each course to help students meet or exceed the standards. As the result of the student being the focal point of the instructional program, courses offered in the Pinnacle model are "living and dynamic", being constantly adapted, updated and revised by the instructor, similar to the process that takes place in a traditional classroom setting.

Using the Internet, over 35 Arizona-certified teachers develop and deliver content in the Pinnacle model. With six on-campus high school locations serving over 1,200 students yearly, our teaching staff delivered and proctored over 11,000 instructional units (.5 credit courses) to students in Maricopa, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties. Our student population has included students at our school sites, students at The Village Charter High School, who partnered with Pinnacle to meet the needs of their pregnant and parenting teens, and students who engaged Pinnacle content for a fee, while remaining in attendance at their local high school.

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