The Academy for Academic Excellence is a K-12 public charter school located in Apple Valley, California. The school was first chartered in 1997 by the Apple Valley Unified School District. The AAE is a direct-funded charter school operating as its own Local Educational Agency . The school currently operates one site, Grades Tk-12. Although started as an independent study school, the Academy for Academic Excellence has become a full-time school that operates as most traditional schools do.The Academy for Academic Excellence is run by the Lewis Center for Educational Research, a 5013 non-profit organization. The CEO of the Lewis Center is Rick Piercy, a former kindergarten teacher with Apple Valley Unified. The principal of the Academy for Academic Excellence is Lisa Lamb. The AAE has a full-time teaching staff of 64 members.The AAE has demonstrated a significant increase in state testing results each year. The AAE is also the only public charter school in the state of California with an AFJROTC program, instructed by Colonel Armstrong. By 2009, one third of AAE high school students were enrolled in the AFJROTC program. The AAE is also received a full-term accreditation from WASC in 2005, and received a California Distinguished School Award in 2007. Most recently, the AAE was named a Certified Charter School by the California Charter Schools Association. Only 39 charter schools in California have received this recognition. In 2014, the AAE was voted as Best Elementary, Best Middle School and Best High School by readers of the Daily Press.
