Tempe unites to strengthen education with Thrive in Tempe

In the wake of budget cuts and the population declining, the Tempe public school system decided to combine forces, realizing they could face these challenges by utilizing each other’s resources.

For the past two years, superintendents, teachers, administrators and communications staff from Kyrene Elementary School District, Tempe Elementary School District, Tempe Union High School District, the city of Tempe and ASU have discussed how to meet these challenges with programming, support, communication and cooperation.

Led by ASU, the “Thrive in Tempe” campaign is a citywide campaign that promotes educational programs and resources offered by partners across the community to support students from Pre-K through PhD. The campaign’s website serves as a centralized portal, connecting families with school district and city programs, wrap-around services and enrollment information, while showcasing the unique educational opportunities found throughout Tempe.

Dr. Stacia Wilson, Superintendent of Tempe Union High School District and Tempe’s Mayor Corey Woods joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss more about the program.

“It’s critically important for us to have a high quality thriving educational system in the city of Tempe,” Woods said, “…i’m glad that the city, ASU and our school districts have come together, and we’re all on the same page with recognizing how big of a priority this is.”

Dr. Wilson discussed how they come together quarterly to discuss the structural model of the schools, alternative teaching methods and how to utilize their resources to better support the kids and their families.

“We’re looking to get this message out,” Wilson explained, “…Tempe has had a long history of having a standard of excellence in its schools, and a huge commitment by the city to support that and nurture that…we know that the landscape has changed…we’d like others to choose Tempe.”

Woods emphasized how it is critically for the city to provide enough resources for the school district, in order to entice more families and businesses to relocate to Tempe.

“For those that have already made the decision to locate here, they many times tell me the reason why they did was because of the quality of the education system,” Woods said, “…it’s a critical priority, if not the number one thing we all have to collectively focus on.”