AZPSS for Parents

Welcome, Arizona Military Families

Whether your family is arriving at a new duty station, preparing for a move, navigating deployment, or transitioning from military service, Arizona Purple Star Schools are committed to helping your student feel welcomed, connected, supported, and prepared for success.

Military-connected students bring resilience, leadership, diverse experiences, and unique perspectives to Arizona schools. Frequent moves, changing schools, deployments, and family transitions can also create educational challenges. Arizona Purple Star Schools build purposeful systems that help students and families navigate those transitions.

What Is an Arizona Purple Star School?

An Arizona Purple Star School has demonstrated a commitment to supporting military-connected students and families through policies, practices, programs, and partnerships that promote successful school transitions, educational continuity, and student belonging.

Arizona Purple Star Schools provide:

A dedicated school Point of Contact for military-connected students and families
Student transition and peer-support opportunities
Staff awareness and professional learning focused on military-connected student needs
Family resources and community partnerships
Support for students arriving at or departing from the school
A school culture that recognizes and values military-connected students and families

What Parents Can Expect From a Purple Star School

Changing schools should not mean starting over alone. Purple Star designation signals that a school has intentionally developed systems to welcome and support highly mobile, military-connected students.

A Purple Star School Helps Families Connect

Parents should know who to contact when questions arise about a school transition, enrollment, academic placement, student activities, deployment support, or other education-related concerns.

For students, that support also means opportunities to connect with peers, learn the culture and routines of a new school, become involved, and develop a sense of belonging.

New to Arizona?

Relocating can be challenging, but families do not have to navigate a new school community alone. Connecting with the receiving school before or soon after arrival can help make the transition easier.

When enrolling your child, consider asking about:

The school's Purple Star Point of Contact
New-student transition support
Student peer mentoring or ambassador opportunities
Academic and course placement
Transfer of credits and graduation requirements
Extracurricular and athletic eligibility
Special education services and accommodations, when applicable
Deployment-related support

Parent Resource Hub

School Transition Support

Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission (MIC3)

The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children helps address common education challenges that eligible military-connected students may encounter when transitioning between school systems because of military orders.

The Compact primarily addresses four areas:

Enrollment — including educational records, immunizations, and entrance-age considerations
Placement and Attendance — including course or program placement and certain deployment-related absences
Eligibility — including enrollment and extracurricular participation
Graduation — including certain course, testing, and diploma requirement considerations

VISIT MIC3

Academic and School Planning

Preparing educational information before a move can make it easier to communicate with a receiving school and maintain continuity in your student's academic program.

Families may want to organize information such as:

Report cards and transcripts
Current class schedules and course descriptions
Testing information
Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or Section 504 Plans, when applicable
Gifted, advanced, honors, AP, IB, CTE, or other specialized program information
Extracurricular and athletic participation
Graduation progress for high school students

SchoolQuest® by MCEC

SchoolQuest is designed to help military-connected families manage school transitions and organize information associated with a student's educational journey.

EXPLORE SCHOOLQUEST®

Supporting Students With Individualized Needs

A school move can require additional planning when a student receives special education services, accommodations, related services, or other individualized supports.

Families are encouraged to keep copies of current educational plans, evaluations, relevant records, and service information and to communicate with the receiving school as early as possible.

Military families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) may also have access to installation resources that can assist families in locating and understanding services available in a new community.

The Interstate Compact may address certain school-transition issues, but it does not replace federal or state special education requirements.

MILITARY ONESOURCE EDUCATION SUPPORT

A Connection From Day One

Starting at a new school involves more than finding classrooms and receiving a schedule. Students are also learning new routines, meeting new people, finding activities, and discovering where they belong.

Arizona Purple Star Schools recognize the importance of student connection. Peer-support and student ambassador programs can help transitioning students become familiar with their new school and begin building relationships.

Supporting Highly Mobile Students

Transition practices can benefit more than one group of students. Welcoming systems, peer connections, communication, and purposeful onboarding can help schools create stronger environments for highly mobile students while maintaining dedicated support for the unique experiences of military-connected children.

Supporting the Whole Military Child

Military life can include frequent moves, deployment and separation, reintegration, changes in family routines, and repeated transitions into new communities. Students may experience each transition differently.

Strong school-family communication and meaningful student connections can help children adjust to a new environment, maintain relationships, participate in school activities, and establish a sense of belonging.

Installation School Liaisons

Arizona military installations are supported by School Liaison Program professionals who help military families navigate Pre-K–12 education questions and connect with local schools.

Because Arizona's School Liaisons have a dedicated ADE page, liaison contacts, installation information, and regional resources are maintained there rather than duplicated on this page.

FIND YOUR SCHOOL LIAISON

Military Family Support Beyond the School

Military-connected families may need support that extends beyond the classroom. Arizona and national military-family organizations provide connections to education, employment, wellness, family, and community resources.

BE CONNECTED ARIZONA MILITARY ONESOURCE

Military Child Education Coalition Resources

The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) provides resources for military-connected students and families throughout the educational journey. Parent and student resources include school-transition information, student support materials, webinars, toolkits, and other educational resources.

MCEC FAMILY RESOURCES BACK-TO-SCHOOL RESOURCES

Find a Purple Star School in Arizona

Whether your family is arriving in Arizona, relocating within the state, or exploring schools before an upcoming move, use the regional map and links below to explore Arizona Purple Star Schools.

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Online Purple Star Schools serve students differently from Arizona's five geographic regions. Availability and enrollment requirements may vary by school.

VIEW ONLINE PURPLE STAR SCHOOLS