[Source: Ofelia Madrid, Arizona Republic] — BASIS Scottsdale, the charter school that garners some of the top test scores in the state, is moving to bigger digs. The 250-student school is at capacity at its current location, 9128 E. San Salvador Drive, and is adding Grade 9 this fall, said Michael Block, one of the school’s founders. School officials are still working out the details to move to an empty building, near Via Linda and 136th Street, which is already zoned for a school. The facility will require some renovations, Block said. “It’s a beautiful setting,” he added “It’s bigger and will be permanent.”
Although the fifth- through eighth-grade school is adding Grade 9, most of the expansion is to accommodate a growing number of middle-school students. The new school could eventually hold up to 600 students, school officials said. Next school year, Block expects enrollment to reach about 400 students, with 350 in middle-school grades and 50 in Grade 9. “The high school will eventually be around 200 students,” he said.
Opened in 2003, BASIS Scottsdale offers an accelerated curriculum emphasizing math and science. Students enroll in pre-algebra and algebra coursework in the Grade 5 and work their way through advanced science and math classes.