My child has attended 5 public schools in their life, far…read more They are intelligent and could learn easily, work well in groups, think creatively and logically .. then some health and life events impacted them which caused a sharp decline, on paper. It seemed as if we were invisible. I asked for help again and again, but as long as they were not failing a class already they were "doing great", brushing aside all of the very real events occurring. We have attended some very "highly rated" schools over three states, including AZ. AZ NSAA has been life changing and maybe even saving. I highly recommend this school for any child. The 'one size fits all' with standardized tests to qualify and quantify, transactional education systems are a societal failure. Of which, over all, AZ NSAA is circumventing. I very much appreciate and applaud this school for their seeming intention and approach to being a supportive place for our children to experience education, community and themselves.

As so many other reviewers have pointed out, this school has so much potential it could likely…read moreachieve if it weren't for a Dean who runs the school in a purely chaotic manner and thrives on "listening to the kids" so long as the end result is a CPS report or other way to divide kids from their parents. Equally as terrifying is Camille Rankin, school counselor, whose credentials include being an exotic animal trainer. In all of the time she's been at the school, she's failed to put in the hours required to counsel kids. I have met with her one time and she spent our meeting explaining to me that the Dean doesn't know how to effectively communicate or get thoughts across and we should listen to her as the voice of authority. In reality, Ms. Dowell is actually running the school and she does it with a level of grace and professionalism you won't see elsewhere at NSAA except in interactions with Miss C, who is a dance instructor and administrator. She is also humble, knows when to be soft and when tough love is in order. Everything that has been said in other reviews about Ms. Parker is also true. She is a blight on NSAA, a grumpy, angry and outright mean human who has caused so, so many kids to walk away from their love of art. She interacts with the kids from the moment they're dropped off to the moment they go home, enforcing ridiculous "rules" like they can't use the bathroom or "are walking the wrong way." Be careful about sending your children here. It's not just the lack of physical security that's an issue (no lockdown drills, no emergency protocol) but there is a deep, deep threat to the kids' psyches between the Dean and Camille, the exotic animal trainer who hasn't put in enough hours to actually be certified to do the job she is doing. The fact that Camille will counsel children and, as part of that counsel, tell kids and their parents that the Dean is incapable (which IS true) is super confusing to young minds. I think a really recent story that illustrates what's important to the top brass at NSAA is this one: this summer, during some of the hottest months, the a/c in the middle school went out for an extended period of time. Parents were not alerted unless their child mentioned it. But watching the Dean get into her Land Rover and drive home in the lap of luxury each day while these innocent kids were sweltering really struck a cord with me. It's a good lens to look through when thinking about this school.

My daughter is having an amazing experience at the Scottsdale Artist school. They have classes for…read moreteens that are short 6 week courses. The space is absolutely gorgeous! It's a truly peaceful place for teens to be creative. The prices are very reasonable and the teachers are knowledgeable and kind.

What a special place this is for us to study! Thank you for the kind desk staff and providing us…read morelast minute supplies so we don't feel unequipped. I had the special opportunity to take a three day intensive class focused on an Impressionistic Approach to Watercolors with the world renowned Watercolor painter from Uruguay, Alvaro Castagnet. He taught us to look for the revolution within the painting & not 'paint pretty' We don't make pussy cats we make lions! And being a Leo myself this was incredible to hear. Interesting new concepts I learned like Maintain dirty water and never refresh it. Never clean the palette so one can Blend colors you have never seen before. Look for Lost & Found brushstrokes. Alvaro reminded me, To Paint with authority / Do not ever lack authority. because, If you are not confident it will show In your painting. All Three days we learned everything from figures to Cafè culture to architecture to interiors and all the time messing up or having a success on repeat ; most importantly "Our mistakes in life are our greatest teachers." Scottsdale Artists' School, you are very special - thank you for hosting teachers like this and thank you for giving us so much to learn in such a compact time that works with our travel schedules!

Serial killer speakeasy was killer! Haha…read more The shows were great! They were like mini stories about the 4 serial killers; Gein, Dahmer, Gacy & Bundy! I got the mocktails, and let me tell you... they were DELICIOUS! My favorite was the 2nd drink with the sprinkles, and the last one with Biscoff was my 2nd favorite! The show was also very interactive with the crowd, which made it even more fun! The only downside was the ladies sitting behind me, they were VERY loud and talked way too much, which was pretty annoying. But overall, the show moved pretty fast, and luckily there were 4 bathroom breaks! Definitely made it easy to enjoy the whole thing!

Love that there is street parking right outside if you're early enough. I stopped by the Cambria…read morehotel lobby bar for a snack before my show and the ribeye aguachile blew my mind! The serial murder speakeasy theater performance was so fun and unique! I highly recommend it! So appreciated the Mocktail options! Wonderful night out!

Took a beginners pottery throwing class and had a blast! It was 2.5 hrs including a brief demo…read moreAnd then free time with the wheel where you can create as many bowls as you'd like. You then pick your top two which will be glazed by the studio and picked up 3 weeks later. I have 0 pottery experience and made 2 dog bowl sized pieces that turned out pretty cool! I will be taking more classes as they come up At the tempe of phx studio

I took a pumpkin making class and it was a lot of fun! This is a new location for Pip, located in…read moreTempe. I knocked off a star because parking was hard to come by and far away. Pip is located in the walking-only community so car parking is way off to the side of the apartment/shopping complex. The space is in a large corner studio and there is a cute little area with some pottery and art goods for purchase. Unlike the Pip and Clay in Phoenix, this one does not have a coffee shop inside of it. I took a class while a wheel-throwing class was happening and since there is no room divider it was a little hard to hear our instructor at first but that class finished as ours started. Overall, for the price ($55-$60 for 2.5 hours) I think you get a fun piece! This is my second Pip and Clay class and I certainly plan on taking more!

Such a beautiful space! Great parking in the back. Amazing owners! Tables, chairs, bathroom, coffee…read morebar! All there! Perfect place for indoor workouts, baby showers, parties, small gatherings! Comfortably fit 40 people

This is such a cool idea, I think every city should have something like this. I forgot to take a…read morephoto of the ending, though learning how to decorate a cake is pretty cool. The teacher was amazing, helpful. Will come again.

Xcellence in staff , currilculum, student body selections, and care, care, care !…read more Total involvement with students, families, Environments, and EVEN grandparents !

Metropolitan Arts Institute, a school that I previously attended from eighth grade to the beginning…read moreof my junior year in high school. And at every turn, every possible opportunity I have been dissapointed by this school. This supposed "Art" school lacks any classes that would actually qualify it as an art school, and in that regard Metro manages to somehow offer lessart classes than a majority of public schools, lacking any culinary classes or even woodworking. This school offers no opportunities for students to excel within their own classes or grade level by offering the opportunity for students to skip a classes if they have already studied or learned the topic within a class outside of the school. That aside, the school does not support students who wish to gain college credits as they progress through school and as such a majority of the students cannot benefit from gaining early credits. Even still the school has absolutely terrible management, from the absolutely mediocre job as a principle that Matt Baker does. Where as he rarely participates or is even active around the school. The poor sanitation conditions within the school bathrooms both male and female. The unfulfilling and almost laughable attempts at a legitimate prom that this school has. Whereas it is poorly planned and funded, poorly put together and absolutely terribly executed. Even other students here laugh, at the miserable and terrible management this school suffers from. The teachers constantly changing yearly and the new ones coming in not knowing how to adequately teach their students. Overall this school is an absolute waste of time, money, and resources in general save yourself and your children from this absolutely mediocre excuse for a school and go to an actual school. Paragraph construction and organization skills provided by Alhambra Traditional School, not Metro Arts, this school taught and gave me nothing but disappointment.

I have had 6 kids there over the years and the school has really gone downhill recently…read more Leadership cannot keep things straight, then invent new policies and apply them here and there but no constancy and a huge lack of communication. The students are the ones losing out due to them shifting to be a very punitive type of campus. They have taken retaliatory actions against my children for me pointing out their hypocrisy and sadly the kids are only there because they want to be there whereases before I loved and supported the school and wanted them there, now i dont but they want to be there, so im trying to put up with it but many parents i talk to are disappointed with them as well, and new parents should be warned. They cut dozens of good teachers due to loss of students, but they seem to want to push more out!!!

The bullying was out of hand here. If you are not a large contributor to the school, your child is…read moretreated poorly. We witnessed this with several kiddos.

This school was a true joke in all the sense of the word…read more To start off with how I was accepted into the school. I had a dream of becoming an animator for Disney. That was the dream for me. I was told that I needed know how to draw to be accepted into the animation program, so I submitted three of my best drawings and lo and behold, I got a callback. I moved to Tempe, AZ with aspirations of becoming an animator and working my way to Disney. Well, when school started after 3 months into the program I started to realize I wasn't in the animation program that I asked for. I came to realize I was in Graphic Design. I started asking questions and when I went to see my counselor to get some clarity and also who I submitted work to and who kept my original drawings on her walls, was no longer there and neither were my drawings. She had quit and taken them with her along with other students work. I made a big complaint and was told that, that was the program I was put in and that I needed to prove again that I could draw to be accepted into the animation program. I showed them and they immediately agreed that I could draw. By then I was deep into a program I didn't want to be in, in the first place. Years later I've tried to get credits transferred to another college as I am returning back to school, they conveniently closed down to fraudulent practices (like putting students into programs to suit the school's needs for funding) and come to find out they didn't update my GPA and I was stuck with a below average GPA so, I had to jump through hoops to prove to the new college I had a very high GPA. Now I am finding out my AA is pretty much just a worthless piece of paper and would be better off made into a paper airplane. It's embarrassing to have that on my application as I have not been hired for nothing to do with what I went to school for. Tuition is still there too. There has been a huge criminal investigation and it's all public documented. See for yourselves.

I used to work at Collins College in Tempe. All they cared about was money, and the level of…read moredishonesty, especially with CEC employees (parent company/owner) was disgraceful, and sometimes illegal. Like when I discovered a new student had an $18k loan he did not apply for or know about. He said he used scholarships to pay his tuition and did not need a loan, so I pulled his promissory note; showed him it was electronically signed, approved for $18k - and he was shocked! He thought his tuition was already paid, and no one mentioned him needing a loan. In the end, his admissions rep got all the necessary personal information by telling him it was for his enrollment application -- then he used it to electronically sign a promissory note but never told him. And they tried to reprimand me for canceling a loan the student clearly did not sign, want or even know he had. That's just the tip of the iceberg; the place was a nightmare, and it is good they are closed. Corporations like CEC that are only care about profit should not be allowed to own any schools.

I've had my kids do 2 summer camps here and they loved it. My husband and I did a painting date…read morenight and it was awesome. We thought it was a super value and will be back to do another!

This is one of the original guided painting studio experiences. I've been going since 2013. It…read morenever ceases to amaze me what we can do in two hours! Last Friday night, my daughter and I painted a desert scene and the teacher was great. The only thing I encourage them to do is provide the same canvas size to the audience as the original work was done on otherwise things need to be squeezed in or left off altogether. I asked for one and they happily provided it.

What an incredible Arizona gem. This is a place that you can take a couple of hours and be…read moreintroduced to different types of art that changes every eight weeks. There's a permanent sculpture garden outside and inside our art exhibits from Arizona artists

I love that this local art center and gallery showcases local and up and coming artists, even high…read moreschool students. The sculptures outside are all for sale and extensive in variety. Inside, this repurposed house (?) is charming with several different display rooms. We came during the New Horizons Student exhibit and I was amazed by the talent of these local teens. The staff were very welcoming and knowledgeable.