Two officials from the U.S. Department of Education visited Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker campus Thursday.

The West Philadelphia school was among 12 schools nationally awarded $9.3 million in grant funding in December to support innovative federal educational programs. Mastery Charter School CEO Scott Gordon said the school, configured for students in 7th to 12th grades, has seen improvements in school climate and student performance since management was turned over to the city’s largest charter school operator in 2006.

Emma Vadehra, chief of staff for the U.S. DOE, and Nadya Dabby, associate deputy secretary for the office of innovation and improvement toured classrooms with school ambassadors Zahir Owens, 16, Rodney Ross, 18, and Allure Burns, 18.