Community Highlights: Meet Renita Miller of Arizona Language Preparatory

Today we’d like to introduce you to Renita Miller.

Hi Renita, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been an Arizona educator for 20 years. I started my career teaching English, Spanish, and ELL at the secondary level., and have served the last 10 years as an administrator at both the elementary and secondary levels. Five years ago, I had the opportunity to move to the elementary level as a charter administrator at Arizona Language Preparatory – a tri-lingual immersion school in the Phoenix area. My first Master’s degree is in Bilingual/Multicultural Education, so I knew this school (one of a kind here in Arizona) had tremendous potential for student learning and growth! I was intrigued by the vision and mission of the school, and from studying abroad myself as a teenager, I understand how powerful immersion is.

We all face challenges, but would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Education is an exciting topic, especially in our state. There is so much more to it than teaching “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” So, the journey is only sometimes smooth, but it is worth it. I am proud of the work that my colleagues in education do. Specifically, here at Arizona Language Preparatory, I am proud of how far the school has come and the teachers. When I arrived at ALP, the school was in major transition and near closure. We focused on AZ standards and how to teach them in an immersion setting, and we have utilized data to inform our instruction and make necessary changes. Now we are an A school! Of course, the pandemic hit us hard, and we lost enrollment. In schools, loss of enrollment equals loss of funding. So despite some of the pandemic efforts that the government made, our tiny school was hit hard with student and staff turnover.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our Curriculum: Arizona Language Preparatory offers a challenging and engaging curriculum in Mandarin, Spanish, and English that’s so many fun students do not realize how much they are learning! ALP Mission – Arizona Language Preparatory will achieve academic excellence and intercultural competence through an authentic, globally relevant curriculum and trilingual immersion in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. We focus on building cultural and language perspectives to nurture and develop the leaders of tomorrow.

ALP vision: Arizona Language Preparatory is committed to developing students’ knowledge and skills to be productive citizens in a culturally diverse and global society and to prepare all our students to succeed academically in secondary and post-secondary education.

ALP is a small public charter school in Phoenix. We teach the AZ State Standards in Mandarin, Spanish, and English following a 40/40/20 model. We have students from KG – 6th grades. As rated by the Department of Education, we are proudly an A school. Our model sets us apart from others, as we are currently the only K-6 public charter that does what we do. I emphasize that we are a hidden gem! The staff and parents work together to make this an incredible experience for our students. I want readers to know what we do! Where we are and that we are an excellent option for their children!

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Primarily we want to provide our students with a culturally relevant experience, whether it be traditional dance, traditional art, or even books in our target language. Our school participates annually at Desert Ridge for a Chinese New Year performance. And we are always looking for presenters for our school.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.azlanguageprep.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alpdragons/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alpdragons
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renitamiller