Educator named top administrator
Rick Piercy recognized for establishing the Academy for Academic ExcellenceLEIGH MUZSLAY/Staff Writer
APPLE VALLEY — The California Network for Educational Charters presented Rick Piercy, the president and CEO of the Lewis Center for Educational Research in Apple Valley, with "The Hart Vision Award for Outstanding Charter School Administrator" Thursday night in San Francisco.
Daily Press / File photo Rick Piercy was awarded 'he Hart Vision Award for Outstanding Charter School Administrator.' |
Piercy, a Victorville native, was recognized for establishing the Academy for Academic Excellence as part of the Lewis Center.
The Lewis Center was founded in 1990 and established the academy as a K-12 charter school in 1997. The academy serves more than 750 students and has a 520-person waiting list.
"It's a neat facility, but it has great people," Piercy said. "I feel a little embarrassed because I get this award, but really all the people at the center deserve this award. They make it what it is. I think the thing that sets us apart is that it's a really nurturing atmosphere."
Both the academy and the Lewis Center focus on hands-on learning with activities like the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope Program where students from around the country learn about space using the 34-meter radio telescope at NASA's Deep Space Communications Complex at Goldstone.
The Lewis Center maintains partnerships with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Defense Educational Activity, University of Redlands, University of California, Riverside, and the Mojave Air Quality Control Management District.
Used with persmission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2002