Walden Grove Celebrates A+ School of Excellence Award

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Walden Grove High School (WGHS) has earned the A+ School of Excellence™ Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF). Walden Grove was one of 39 Arizona schools to receive this prestigious honor, and now joins the ranks of four other schools in the Sahuarita Unified School District to receive this special recognition.

The AEF celebrates outstanding schools throughout Arizona with the A+ School of Excellence Award, which the organization first gave out in 1983. Schools are judged based on an extensive written application submitted by the school followed by a site visit conducted by a team of judges.

Each school will receive $500 and a banner designating it as an A+ School of Excellence™. All staff and faculty at the awarded schools are eligible for partial scholarships from Argosy University Phoenix.

A sea of red and black shirts swept through Walden Grove High School’s gymnasium as students and staff filled the room to celebrate their school’s Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF) 2017 A+ School of Excellence™ designation and award ceremony.

A myriad of dynamic performances transpired, keeping the audience riveted and enthused— the band playing a lively repertoire of music, the choir singing the national anthem, the cheerleaders chanting and tumbling, the PAC team repeating their viral Pixar performance, the NJROTC Drill Team spinning and tossing rifles, the winter guard twirling and leaping, and a finale of the WGHS staff dancing across the gymnasium.

Sahuarita Unified School District administration, Board Members, and staff along with community organizations and businesses were also at the event to congratulate Walden Grove’s efforts.

AEA Executive Director, Bobbie O’Boyle, presented Principal Teresa Hill with a banner signifying the school’s A+ achievement, which is now proudly exhibited at the school.

“The A+ School of Excellence™ program celebrates outstanding schools throughout Arizona and calls attention to the positive stories and successes occurring in public schools,” explained AEF Executive Director, Bobbie O’Boyle. “The application and evaluation process for this program is comprehensive and rigorous. We applaud these schools for going above and beyond the norm to meet their students’ needs and for achieving overall success despite the many challenges that face the education community statewide.”