About Our School
Our Mission
Our Mission at City Academy is to create and sustain a model secondary public school where all students are engaged in academically rigorous, civically oriented curriculum; critical and creative thinking; and authentic learning in a personalized educational environment.
What will you find at City Academy? City Academy is a vibrant educational setting for students eager to learn, work hard, and expand their horizons.
The City Academy AdvantageCity Academy is a public charter school open since 2000 and located in downtown Salt Lake City. We began with 60 students in 7th and 8th grades and then have added grade levels and students each year. Educators from the University of Utah's College of Education using research-based best practices for effective and equitable secondary education founded our school. We are an independent public high school chartered by the Utah State Office of Education with highly qualified teachers in every classroom, and small classes so that teachers can work more personally with each student.
City Academy is unique in providing a learning environment focused on students developing and demonstrating knowledge and competencies in academic areas as well as in personal citizenship. Our award winning teachers create a very personalized and challenging learning community for our students.
We know our graduates are prepared for college because they have accomplished challenging graduation requirements that include foreign language, extended years of math and laboratory science, and service learning. City Academy graduates will have submitted academic papers through Cambridge International Examinations, the international gold-standard in advanced placement programs for high school students, completed community internships, and presented a comprehensive personal portfolio. City Academy graduates are recognized with a College Ready Diploma and the City Academy I'm Ready $1,000 College Scholarship.
We invite you to experience the difference at City Academy!
Cambridge International Centre
City Academy is proud to have become a Cambridge University Cambridge International Centre. As such we are accredited to offer Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) courses, the first school in Utah to achieve this status. This accreditation is an important statement about the rigor and opportunities provided by the curriculum at City Academy. Our students are able to pursue challenging and stimulating courses and may receive certification through internationally recognized and prestigious examinations.
Cambridge International Examinations is the world's largest provider of international qualifications for high school students. Its courses are globally renowned for their high academic standards and also for being engaging, relevant and up to date. The Washington Post (formerly Newsweek) magazine includes CIE Advanced-Level courses in its rankings of the top high schools in the United States.Why did City Academy choose to offer Cambridge International Exams?
- Cambridge Advanced-Level courses demand higher levels of analytical thinking and generally provide a better balance between breadth and depth of study than Advanced Placement courses.
- CIE provides courses geared specifically for ninth and tenth graders, which are excellent preparation for future study at the Advanced level. Students earn the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for successfully completing these course exams.
- We see a happy marriage between CIE courses and City Academy's distinctive approaches to learning that include our longstanding commitment to investigative, active, community-centered learning.
The AICE Diploma
Students who sufficiently pass six CIE Advanced-Level examinations with at least one from each of the three groups - Mathematics and Sciences, Languages, and Arts and Humanities - will earn an Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) Diploma from Cambridge.
CIE and College Credit
CIE Advanced-Level exams passed are recognized for college credit similarly to AP and IB exam scores. Some colleges offer college credit for sufficiently high exam scores. Other colleges offer advanced placement or scholarship opportunities. City Academy counselors will work with students to ensure maximum appropriate benefits at the college of their choice from CIE scores earned.
Accreditation
City Academy was one of the first charter schools in Utah and is now well established and fully accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS). Every 3 - 6 years a school wishing to be accredited by NAAS must undertake an extensive self-evaluation and improvement process, followed by an evaluation through site visits and records review by a state evaluation team.
City Academy has been NAAS accredited since 2003, the first year possible for our new school. This is nice validation for all the excellent work being done at our school. The NAAS has eight core standards for the accreditation of all high schools.
Teaching and Learning Standards
1. Mission, beliefs, and desired results for student learning
2. Curriculum
3. Instruction
4. Assessment
Support Standards
5. Leadership and organization
6. School services - Student support services - Guidance services - Health services - Library information services - Special education services - Family and community services
7. Facilities and finances
School Improvement Standard
8. Culture of continual improvement
Our Board of Trustees
Trustee Bios Sheryl Gillilan Advisory Council Parent Chair Larry Hintze Vice President, Bank of Utah Erika Stevens Horne, Chair Marketing Specialist, Intermountain Healthcare Chris Mancini Attorney, Woodbury Corporation Sarah Phillips American Express Bonnie Weiss Alumni Parent
Now Accepting Board Member Applications
City Academy is currently seeking additional Board Members. If you are interested in applying to become a board member or if you are interested in nominating someone from the greater community, please use the appropriate form below.
Board Membership Application Form
Annual Report
The Utah State Office of Education posts annual reports for charter schools at http://www.schools.utah.gov/charterschools/Annual-Report.aspx. Reports on City Academy, and all charter schools are available back through school year 2005-06. Additionally, you may view City Academy's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports as measured by state end-of-level testing (CRT) since 2002-03 at http://www.schools.utah.gov/data/DATA-STATISTICS/Educational-Data/Accountability-School-Performance/Accountability-Reports.aspx. We are proud of our students' personal learning progress. If you have questions about any of this please contact Sonia Woodbury at 801-596-8489.
