KnoxGifted Academy

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Knox Gifted Academy (2023-2024)

In the 2023 Arizona PBS Kids Digital Video Contest, Ryan Park from Knox Gifted Academy, a kindergarten student, emerged as the 1st place winner in the kindergarten grade level category. Ryan's winning video creatively demonstrates how to brush teeth like a vampire, educating fellow kids on proper oral care while featuring their favorite spooky creatures.

Knox Gifted Academy (2023-2024)

CS100 Awards Recognize elementary schools nationwide that commit to teaching at least ten hours of computer science to every K-5 student in the 2023-2024 school year. Congratulations to KGA for being awarded the CS100 "All In" Award! 2023 CS100 Awards

Knox Gifted Academy (2022-2023)

Please help us congratulate, Manomay Vader of Knox Gifted Academy! Fourth grader Monomay placed 8th in the State Math League Contest. He placed fifth at the district level. As the largest network of local and state math competitions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in the United States and abroad, mathleague.org runs more than 400 contests globally and reaches over 30,000 students each year.

Knox Gifted Academy (2022-2023)

Nkiruka Aningo, fifth-grade student teacher at Knox Gifted Academy, is one of three CUSD recipients of the Intel Teacher Diversity STEAM Grant in 2022. Nkiruka receives $1,200 which can go toward schooling and education.

" I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I would like to thank the committee for selecting me as one of the winners. I would also like to thank my principal Kristy Braaksma and my mentor teacher Laura Yockey for recommending me for this opportunity."

"Intel is proud to support CUSD educators dedicated to transforming the school-to-STEAM pipeline into an equitable pathway for all students. Most people had a teacher who changed their life for the better. We are investing in teachers who are inspiring families and striving to make Chandler a more vibrant community for everyone," Jenn Sanchez, Intel Arizona Community Manager, said. Read more on the Intel Teacher Diversity STEAM Grant Winners.

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP:  Five Knox Gifted Academy students won 1st place, the "Governor's Cup Championship" in the chess tournament in May. Congratulations to Aaron Li, Henry Zhou, Alan Zhang, Vedant Mudaliar, and Evan Lushnikov.

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP:  Congratulations to Aditi Ganesh who won Broadcom MASTERS® Nominee and 1st place in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2022 Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AzSEF) for the project titled "Earth Cell." Due to her first place win, Aditi's teacher will also receive a yearly subscription of Arizona Science Center's Science on Wheels. Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AzSEF) website

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Aditi Ganesh who won 2nd place in Cellular and Molecular Biology - EL, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2022 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled "Earth Cell."

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Vishal Dutt, Aiden Quakenbush and Linus Urman who won 2nd place in Computer Science - EL, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2022 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled "Party In The Glass."

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Liz Hing, Riley Kashimba and Julia Rawlings who won 2nd place in Behavioral and Social Sciences - EL, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2022 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled "How does the amount of noise in a test environment affect performance on a memory test?."

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Knox Gifted Academy MathLeague students who placed 2nd in Division 6 for the State of Arizona during the January 22 competition and third in the state overall.

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Knox 3rd grader Caroline Wu who won 3rd place (Writing: K - 3rd grade) in the City of Chandler's Creative Expression Competition. This year's theme was: Connected Through Diversity: Finding commonalities and connections in our diverse community.

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Congratulations to Knox Gifted Academy school spelling bee champion 5th grader Manha Hossain who placed in the top eleven at the district spelling bee, held on January 13 at the Chandler Center for the Arts. Manha now moves on to compete in the regional spelling bee on February 8 in Queen Creek.

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Maricopa County School Superintendent recently recognized Knox Gifted Academy principal Lynn Weed as a semifinalist for the Maricopa County Exemplary Principal Award. She was selected from more than 1,200 principals in Maricopa County. Congratulations!

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

On Tuesday, November 23, Knox Gifted held their 10th Giving Thanks Parade. Third grade led the parade with singing, the Kinder CATS made balloons, second grade made thank you floats for the KGA staff, and fifth grade closed the parade with a recorder marching band. PHOTO ALBUM: Giving Thanks Parade

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

Today KGA has honored Patriot Day and the International Dot Day (a day to celebrate creativity by "making her mark"). Patriot Day and Dot Day Photo Album

Knox Gifted Academy (2021-2022)

SchoolDigger Top Ranked Schools:  Congratulations to Knox Gifted Academy, ranked the #1 elementary school in the state of Arizona by SchoolDigger (out of 782 schools ranked). SchoolDigger calculates school rankings based on AzM2 English Language Arts and AzM2 Mathematics test scores released by the Arizona Department of Education, last updated on August 31, 2021.

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Congratulations to Aarna Patel (4th Grade), winner of the Kids Safe Online Cyber Security Awareness Calendar Contest.

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Congratulations to Manha Hossain (4th Grade), winner of the Kids Safe Online Cyber Security Awareness Calendar Contest

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Congratulations to these Chandler Online Academy students from Knox Gifted Academy -- Gandi Jishnu, Ganesan Hari, Madupu Puranjay, Shan William, Tomar Reyaansh, Yanjarlapati Varshit Reddy -- who have been invited by Mathleague.org to participate in the 2021 Elementary School National Championship on June 19, 2021.

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Our Student Council hosted a food drive to benefit the Chandler Care Center and Matthew's Crossing Food Bank. With the generosity of our Knox families, we were able to donate over 1,200 pounds of food for Matthew's Crossing and three carloads of food for the Chandler Care Center. Our best count is that over 3,200 items were donated to families in need!

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Congratulations to Knox Gifted Academy resource teacher Sydnee McClure who won the Apple Achievement Award, Sharri Fitzpatrick who was named the Outstanding Volunteer, and sixth grader Samantha Villanueva Ramirez who is the Superintendent Citizenship winner for 2021. Read their stories here!

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Congratulations to Vikash Nagarajan and Shravan Ganesh from Knox Gifted Academy, Visual Arts (K-4 Category) Runner-up winners in the 2021 City of Chandler Creative Expression Competition. The theme for the 2021 contest: How your experience of culture or understanding of equity has changed with time. Winning artwork entries were displayed as street light banners in downtown Chandler during the month of January 2021 and on the City of Chandler website. City of Chandler Creative Expression Competition website

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Knox Gifted Academy teachers purchased several toys to help with the toy drive for Hartford Sylvia Encinas and the Chandler CARE Center.

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Knox Gifted Academy's ninth annual "Giving Thanks Parade" went virtual this year. Like the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade it was inspired by, students at KGA had to find another way to bring their community together with their annual parade. The parade was watched in classes and sent home to parents. Kinder students made balloons. Fifth grade made floats and students in 4th-6th grade were in the recorder band. This year's parade looked different, but still brought joy to the school community.

Knox Gifted Academy (2020-2021)

Each year the Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology Office conducts an art contest for K-12 students that focuses on Cybersecurity and Online Safety. A Knox Gifted Academy fifth grader (2019-2020) Ananya Lakkaraju was chosen as a National Cybersecurity Poster Contest Winner. Anaya's poster is featured at the month of November 2021 in the calendar. She is currently attending ACP Oakland and Chandler Online Academy for sixth grade.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Puranjay Madupu (3rd Grader) and William Shan (4th Grader) who took 1st place in their respective grade levels in the online District MathLeague contest and were selected for state level.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Rebecca Coplan and Tara Zichichi were honored to present at the 2020 Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented (AAGT) Annual Conference in Phoenix.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Lynn Weed, Jennifer Nusbaum, Lynn Barakat, Allison Davis, and Monica Dalton presented at the 2020 California Association for the Gifted in Palm Springs, California on February 21-23.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

What an amazing turnout from our community for our Science and Engineering Night! They provided a wonderful, authentic audience for the variety of creative projects across campus. Science and Engineering Night Photo Album

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to 5th Grader Tara Nair who won 1st place in the 8th Grade Level Writing Category for this year's Creative Expression Competition.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Our kids are so gifted and talented in so many ways. We love to celebrate their passions with them! Our very own Mack Jones is auditioning for America's Got Talent and he couldn't wait to perform his audition piece for his peers. In this piece, he uses technology to loop parts of the song as he plays with a foot petal and computer program. So impressive. Good luck, Mack!

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

We saw so many familiar faces at the Chandler Innovation Fair! The day was filled with activities for the whole family. Our Vex team Knox Bots won the sportsmanship award, and we were able to reconnect with Knox alumni! Hope you were able to make it out to see the end of our student's journey with their projects.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to the KGA 6th grade for their project titled Sight Sense, winner of the Waymo Invention Award and the Grand Canyon University Invention Convention Award in the Invention Convention category at the 2020 Chandler Innovation Fair. Pictured from left to right: Bryce Carlin, Pranav Samanthapudi, Tyler Wong and Ryan Le. CIF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Tara Nair and Sriya Mamillapalli who won 2nd Place in Behavioral & Social Sciences, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled How Math Affects Art. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Soham Joshi, Varin Hoskoti and Krish Gopalan who won Honorable Mention in Chemistry, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Cheaper Water Filtration. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Sumedh Sangam, Keiserinne Li and Michael Simon who won 1st Place in Engineering, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Solar Success. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Micah Knipmeyer and Grayson Cagle who won 2nd Place in Engineering, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Piezoelectric Scooters. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Siyaa Poddar, Sadie Brown and Kennedy In who won 2nd Place in Environmental Sciences, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled The Effectiveness of Carbon Dioxide Reduction Methods. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Ila Hatwal and Ceyda Oz who won 3rd Place in Mathematical Sciences, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Lighting Up the World. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Kyra Hogarth, Leia Lattuca and Jaelyn Sasik who won 1st Place in Medicine & Health Sciences, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Shant Be Slippin'. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Saumit Sripathi and Isaac Rubenstein who won 1st Place in Physics & Astronomy, Elementary Division (5th - 6th Grade) at the 2020 Hamilton Invitational Science and Engineering Fair (HISEF) for the project titled Plants in Simulated Martian Regolith. HISEF 2020 Award Winners

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Fifth grade was all abuzz the with designing, engineering, collaborating, and dreaming of possibilities for their golf hole designs for our Science and Engineering night. This year, students could choose between working on teams to create table top golf holes or fun size ones. We can't wait for construction to begin! Golf Hole Designs Photo Album

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Knox Gifted Academy noon aide and resident artist Billy Williams is exhibiting his artwork around the school in celebration of Black History Month. His artwork features Jimmy Hendrix, Malcolm X/Rosa Parks/MLK, Sade, Bob Marley, Prince and Muhammad Ali. He not only makes the kids so happy at recess every day, but he also runs clubs, helps our VEX teams create unique shirts -- and now has transformed our campus with a special art gallery! Thanks for all you do, Mr. Williams! Mr. Billy Williams and Art Gallery Photo Album

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Thank you to our special guests Todd Mowen and Sula Aerials who came in and shared their talents and knowledge with the Knox Gifted Academy Drone Club!

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Superintendent's Student Citizenship Award winner: Ila Hatwal exemplifies the core values of KGA by her cooperation, teamwork, always seeing the possibilities, and going above and beyond to make those a reality. A compassionate leader, she is always ready to work in groups and bring out the best in her peers. Ila is kind and empathetic toward students and teachers, and continually looks for ways to help. She has a smile for everybody and makes KGA a positive experience.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Fifth grader Ananya Lakkaraju was the winner in the "Kids Safe Online Cyber Security Awareness Calendar Contest." With hundreds of students from all around Arizona submitting art work, it is truly an honor to be chosen. Her family is invited to an award ceremony over spring break at the Arizona State Department of Administration in Phoenix. 7th Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Kids Safe Online Calendar Contest

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Creating curriculum to meet the needs of our gifted learners that engages them and aligns with their interests is one of the best things about Knox Gifted Academy. Integrated projects are one way we do this. These projects include research, writing, debate, collaboration, engineering and design, problem solving, conceptual math, presenting to an authentic audience and so much more. With so many opportunities for learning and growing, students are excited to come to school! KGA Integrated Projects Photo Album

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Our fifth and sixth grades are working hard on preparing for the Chandler Innovation Fair! You can see them all around campus right now collecting data, collaborating, and constructing prototypes.

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

Congratulations to Kristy Braaksma, our tech teacher, who was named our AAA Award recipient this year!

Knox Gifted Academy (2019-2020)

The first week back after winter break at Knox Gifted Academy flew by with many activities to reconnect as a community and share about experiences we had while away. Parents came in to teach lessons for many grade levels based on their expertise and presented challenges, helping us to bond again as a campus. KGA Challenges to Start the New Year - Photo Album

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