History & Philosophy

Benjamin Franklin Charter School applied for and was granted its charter by the State Board for Charter Schools on June 12, 1995 for the Mesa campus, and became one of Arizona’s first charter schools. The Crismon (Queen Creek) campus received its original charter from the Ganado Unified School District on May 13, 1996. A year later in May of 1997, Benjamin Franklin Charter School added the Gilbert campus.

Realizing the need to unite our program and staff, and promote excellence in education, the leadership of BFCS decided to consolidate the three campuses under the original charter, making the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools its sponsor for all sites.

In the fall of 2006, Benjamin Franklin Charter School added a fourth campus to the Franklin family with the opening of its Power (Queen Creek) campus. In 2013, BFCS opened our first ever High School, Benjamin Franklin High School, which was combined with the Junior High grades (7-12). BFCS also built 2 brand new buildings in 2013 for our Gilbert and Crismon campuses to better serve our families and students.

In 2018, Benjamin Franklin Charter School converted to an Arizona nonprofit corporation. The transfer to a nonprofit corporation with a new Board of Directors created allowed us to continue the tradition of providing a superior education, while at the same time pursuing new resources now available to the nonprofit organization in order to better serve our students, teachers, and staff.

Our charter allows us to operate multiple campuses throughout the state to address current and future parent demand for the program. The decision to add grades and/or sites is governed by the availability of facilities, parent interest, and funding. We will continue to grow and accommodate student demand to the best of our abilities. On behalf of the parents and students who have had the opportunity to experience this program, we are grateful to the teachers, administrators, and staff who make the program possible.

The philosophy, curriculum, and strong parental involvement that define Benjamin Franklin Charter School are based on many years of experience with similar programs that resulted from the “Back-to-Basics” movement during the 1970s. In the same spirit of parental involvement that gave birth to those earlier programs, Benjamin Franklin Charter School is the result of parents getting involved in their children’s education by taking advantage of the new charter school law to form parent operated and governed schools.

Our priority is always our students, parents, teachers, faculty, and staff - we aim to provide a world-class education for families, a program that engages and encourages parents to take an active role in their child’s education, and a culture that promotes virtue in both our students and staff. A clear brand position will support this goal as we continue Educating Arizona...One Student at a Time™.