Scholars at Phalen Leadership Academies (PLA) worked all year to help their school make the grade--today they celebrate that all four PLA schools are A-Rated.

Students at James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy on Indy’s Far Eastside reacted to the news (WATCH: https://youtu.be/iv8E-JQ_SyY).

Scholars and teachers were ecstatic to learn that their school had received the state’s top rating. During the announcement, freshman class president, Darrance Jennings, thanked PLA’s Founder and CEO Earl Martin Phalen.

“We are very grateful for what you did and what you are doing for us to make our school good,” he said. “We really did our best to get a good grade. We worked hard on the tests. The teachers all pushed us. This school changed me. [It changed] my life… and a lot of these kids.”

In Indianapolis, PLA@93, PLA@103, James and Rosemary Phalen Leadership Academy and George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academy are now A-rated schools. Though PLA’s longest and strongest track record is in Indy, the organization works with 14 schools and over 6,000 scholars across the country to close the achievement gap for underserved youth.

“We are creating a new narrative in school turnaround,” said Phalen. “There is much more work to be done, but we truly believe in our teachers and our scholars and their ability to achieve.”