All of us want the best education for our children and grandchildren but few of us have gone so far as to start our own school. American Academy charter school in Castle Pines North was started by two mothers a few years ago. Today, the school has more than 800 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The idea started as a causal conversation on a front porch between the two women.

"That's when I said to Jackie: 'Hey, what do you think about starting a charter school?' And I always tell people it was an idea that got a little out of control," said Erin Kane, founder of American Academy.

The idea quickly turned into a passion for Erin Kane and Jackie Santos. They wanted more for their own kids and their community, so they decided to start a public school through the charter system.

"We felt pretty passionate that our kids have a math, science, technology component to their education," said Kane.

Starting a charter school takes a lot of research, a lot of paperwork, and a lot of persuasion.

"We had to convince parents of 391 children to give up their home schools and come to our school even though our school was not more than a Power Point presentation that Jackie and I put together talking about how great it was going to be," said Kane.

"When we first started we met every Saturday at Erin's house from nine to five," said Santos.

Santos and Kane put in at least 80 hours of work a week for two years without being paid. The American Academy opened a new, three-story building in Castle Pines North in August 2009. The school is open to any student since it is a public school.

"Our wait list is somewhere around 1,500 kids to get into this school," said Kane.

CSAPS and other test scores are impressive from American Academy, but perhaps the greatest measure of the school's success comes from the students' enthusiasm.

"I like the ability grouping which is the way they put students according to their ability in each class so each student feels challenged," said eighth-grader Addison Wagoner.

"I like that I am challenged, so I have to work for everything instead of just having it handed to me," said seventh-grader Will Pieseski.

"I like the science about it. I really like science and since this is a science based school it is really good," said eighth-grader Annika Chapleski.

To learn more about the school go to www.AmericanAcademyK8.org.