As we enter the last month of 2019, we take a moment to reflect on all that has happened at Challenger School in the last ten years. In the 2010s, Challenger has reached various milestones and celebrated many achievements.
We opened five new campuses, building two new locations in Nevada (Los Prados and Desert Hills) and expanding to Texas (Avery Ranch, Round Rock, and Pond Springs). To best meet the needs of our students, we also renovated several of our campuses and playgrounds. We relocated our California and Utah region offices as well as our printing and distribution center. Additional development will continue into the new decade.
Within the last ten years, a Challenger group in California had the opportunity to hear renowned author Dinesh D’Sousa speak, and more than 700 Challenger eighth graders have experienced a week touring historical landmarks and locations in Washington, D.C.; Boston; and Philadelphia. We celebrated our fiftieth anniversary and mourned the passing of our extraordinary founder, Barbara B. Baker, whose vision and legacy live on.
Always seeking to better our communications with families, we launched a new website with a portal for parents, began sharing achievements and announcements on social media, and instituted an emergency notification system.
With all the improvements over the last decade, the Challenger Way remains the same, as evidenced by the continuing success of our students. The Challenger name is well known for the achievements of these exceptional young people. Our students’ performance on standardized tests has remained phenomenal year after year—our average scores are in the top percentiles of public and private schools nationwide. We’ve had state and national champions in spelling bees, writing contests, science fairs, math challenges, and geography competitions. Challenger students have competed in world-class athletic events, performed at prestigious musical concerts, and excelled in technological and engineering tournaments. From impressive wins in Doodle for Google and the National Geographic Kids photo contest to Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth awards, the confidence, skills, independence, and achievements of our students continue to be our greatest success.