Based on preliminary results released Wednesday, The Academy of Moore County made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the second year in a row.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, the charter school met all nine of its target goals for the 2009-2010 year. The results will not be official until the State Board of Education approves them Aug. 5.

Sandhills Theatre Arts Renaissance School, the county's other charter school, did not meet all of its target goals for the year.

AYP is an assessment based on the No Child Left Behind Act, which mandates that all students demonstrate proficiency at or above grade level in mathematics and reading/language arts by the 2013-2014 year.

Allyson Schoen, director of instruction for The Academy, said she was pleased with the preliminary re-sults after seeing her students and staff work so hard over the past year.

"It solidifies what we've done and that it's worked," Schoen said.

The improvement is good news for the charter school as it prepares for a full hearing next month in a case against the State Board of Education over its charter.

Last March, the state board voted not to renew the school's charter for the 2010-2011 year, citing low academic performance. The decision came despite a recommendation by the N.C. Office of Charter Schools to renew the school's charter.

School officials protested the decision, saying that the state board was relying on old data instead of the academic improvements resulting from the school's 2008 corrective action plan.

In June, Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison Jr. granted a stay on the state board's decision, which allows The Academy of Moore County to keep its charter until a final ruling on the merits of the case is made.

Schoen said that The Academy of Moore County has seen more than 110 percent growth since it began implementing its corrective action plan in 2008.

"We've put our money where our mouth is," she said. "I saw what went on this year with the implementation of diagnostic prescriptive data that we used to figure out where kids are and to fill in holes. I was thrilled when these results came out. These kids worked hard and so did the teachers."

The Academy of Moore County is a charter school that serves as a tuition-free alternative to public school, providing the setting of private school with smaller classes.

Contact Hannah Sharpe at hannah@thepilot.com.