Benjamin Franklin Charter School

Benjamin Franklin Charter School, founded in 1995, was one of Arizona's first charter schools and has since been "Educating Arizona... One Student at a Time"TM. Its mission is to provide well-rounded education with proven superior academics, exceptional programs, time-honored values, and a high level of parental participation. There are three elementary (K-6) campuses and one JH/HS campus located in the East Valley of Arizona. Their campuses rank among the top 10% of Arizona's 445 districts. They offer their students not only world class education, but also extracurricular activities, fine arts programs and athletic programs.

Mission Statement

The mission of Benjamin Franklin Charter School is to offer a well-rounded education with proven superior academics, exceptional programs, time-honored values, and a high level of parental participation.

History

Benjamin Franklin Charter School applied for and was granted its charter by the State Board of Charter Schools on 12 June 1995 for the Mesa campus and became one of Arizona's first charter schools. The Crismon (Queen Creek) campus received its original charter from the Unified School District of Ganado on 13 May 1996. A year later, in May 1997, Benjamin Franklin Charter School added the Gilbert campus.

Recognizing the need to unite their programs and staff and to promote excellence in education, the BFCS leadership decided to consolidate the three campuses under the original charter, making the Arizona State Board of Charter Schools its sponsor for all sites.

In the fall of 2006, the Franklin Charter School added a fourth campus to the Franklin family with the opening of its Power (Queen Creek) campus. In 2013, BFCS opened its first ever high school, Benjamin Franklin High School, which was combined with the Jr. High grade (7-12). BFCS also built two brand new buildings for their Gilbert and Crismon campuses in 2013 to better serve their families and students.

In 2018, the Benjamin Franklin Charter School became a non-profit corporation in Arizona. The transfer to a non-profit corporation with a new Board of Directors set up has allowed them to continue the tradition of providing higher education while at the same time pursuing new resources that are now available to the non-profit organization to better serve our students, teachers and staff.

Their charter allows them to operate multiple campuses across the state to meet current and future parent demand for the program. The decision to add grades and/or sites shall be governed by the availability of facilities, parent interest and funding. They will continue to grow and meet student demand to the best of their abilities. On behalf of the parents and students who have had the opportunity to experience the program, they are grateful to the teachers, administrators and staff who have made the program possible.

School’s Philosophy

The philosophy, curriculum and strong parental involvement that define the Benjamin Franklin Charter School are based on many years of experience with similar programs that resulted from the 'Back-to-Basic' movement in the 1970s. In the same spirit of parental involvement that gave birth to those earlier programs, the Benjamin Franklin Charter School is the result of parents becoming involved in their children's education by taking advantage of the new charter school legislation to form parent schools.

Their charter allows them to operate multiple campuses across the state to meet current and future parent demand for the program. The decision to add grades and/or sites shall be governed by the availability of facilities, parent interest and funding. They  will continue to grow and meet student demand to the best of their abilities. On behalf of the parents and students who have had the opportunity to experience this program, they are grateful to the teachers, administrators and staff who have made the program possible.

The priority is always to their students, parents, teachers, faculty and staff-the aim is to provide their students with world-class education, a program that engages and encourages parents to play an active role in their child's education, and a culture that promotes virtue in both their students and their staff. A clear brand position will support this goal as they continue to educate Arizona... One student at TimeTM.