CORONA DE TUCSON - "It's like a city within a school." Those were the words Arizona Educational Foundation (AEF) A+ Schools certification judges used to describe... (read more) Story: Sycamore Elementary School's "City within A School" Draws High Acclaim from Arizona Educational Foundation   PHOENIX - Arizona Department of Education Superintendant Tom Horne announced on Wednesday the release of the AZ Learns profiles for 1,896 schools... (read more)  Story:  AZ Learns & Adequate Yearly Progress Numbers for State Schools Show Record Number of Schools Exceed TEMPE - As he watched movers unload boxes and stacks of plastic-wrapped chairs in his school's vacant parking lot Monday, Compadre High School Principal Sean McDonald smiled like a proud parent admiring his new baby... (read more) Story: Former Evans School becoming Compadre High campus PHOENIX - While most Valley students are just beginning to think about going back to school, the Balsz Elementary School District started classes... (read more) Story: Balsz district goes to 200-day school year     Beat the Odds Program Available Statewide in 2009-2010   STATEWIDE - Arizona K-12 schools interested in joining the Beat the Odds School Partners Program for this academic year may do so through September. The program provides principals with training, assistance and support in applying research-based principles that have been found to provide better-than-expected academic performance. The 2009-2010 school year is the first time the popular and rapidly expanding program has been available statewide. More than 85 school principals from the metro Phoenix and Tucson areas, as well as Whiteriver, are expected to participate. Interested principals and superintendents can obtain further details by contacting Beat the Odds Institute Director Marjorie Kaplan at (602) 496-1360 or Marjorie.kaplan@asu.edu.   Ask your friends and colleagues to log onto www.azschoolsmakeadifference.org and sign up to receive our weekly newsletter. They will be one of the first to hear about good things happening in public education around the state. We are looking for impressive stories about how Arizona's teachers, students and schools are making a difference every day. Log onto www.azschoolsmakeadifference.org  and submit your stories.