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Many businesses begin as stories of people overcoming adversity to launch successful companies while others involve spotting a need and forming a business to fill it. Still others are the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. The remarkable story of Challenger School happened because a young woman saw a problem and took steps to address it.
As a first grade teacher in 1960, Barbara Baker was concerned when students came into her class having spent their kindergarten year working only on social skills without learning foundational academic concepts. Barbara believed that the prime time for learning in a child's life was being wasted. She decided to leave the security of the public school system to start her own preschool to give children a foundation in phonics before they entered school.
The idea of raising expectations to increase learning was so central to Barbara's philosophy that it became the very name of her school — Challenger School, which opened in San Jose, Calif., in 1963. Today, Utah-based Challenger School operates 20 locations in four states, annually serving 10,000 students in preschool through eighth grade.
Challenger staff believes that education is much more than a good classroom environment, school supplies, playgrounds, and a nice teacher. Challenger students learn conceptually, making connections and becoming rational thinkers. The curriculum at Challenger School focuses on the four foundational disciplines — reading, composition, math, and history. Because of this, the school's educational philosophies and methods are what set it apart.
Suffice it to say that after 47 years, Barbara Baker's effort to provide better learning has been fulfilled through Challenger School.
