I'm very saddened that Desert Canyon isn't better. There are the little things like the school…read moregrounds area always messy with dirt from monsoons still on the walkways weeks after the monsoon, weeds everywhere, etc. It makes the school feel old and dirty, which I expected much better for a city like Scottsdale. Then there are the big things like the very rude lady that works the front office, they work off a reactive model for education instead of proactive waiting around for your child to start failing before they step in to helping bullying my kids from day 1 in the classroom, bus and on the playground, giving kindergarteners homework almost every night. The kids are mean and lye. My kindergartener has started lying and saying mean things on a daily basis. When I brought it up to him today, he said "my friends at school lie and say mean things so I do too to fit in". I am thoroughly disgusted by the culture at this school.

We moved to Scottsdale from the Midwest and I was worried about the public schools in AZ. Desert…read moreCanyon has been impressed me in so many ways. From the wonderful teachers and support staff to the curriculum and high expectations. The grounds are lovely and everyone was/is very welcoming. I am so thankful we chose Desert Canyon Elementary School.

This school has been a life changer for my grandson. He is thriving and loves going to school. The…read moreprincipal and staff truly care about these students. I wish it could be open year round!! Thank you for all you do for these children.

If you have child that is high functioning child that can get overwhelmed easily from having high…read moredemands and needs structure and patience to flourish, stay away from this place. The teachers are overwhelmed and don't have enough support to handle high demand ASD kids especially ones that require outside the box thinking specialist and ones that require unique curriculum to help them grow. The school forced my daughter to do lower grade academics and then tried to say that I wasn't happy with her academic achievement! She received 100% in her Language Arts 3rd grade 4th quarter and they still insisted that she wasn't ready for 4th grade due to behaviors. Since the start of the school year, my daughter struggled with the high demand that was being placed on her to fit into their programs and she was purposely placed in lower academic curriculum due to her behavior and I tried to constantly advocate that the behaviors were due to boredom but no one would listen to me. I was told that until my daughter started following directions and behaviors improve, her academic would stay the same. I just recently had my daughter's IQ tested and it came back top 5%. She tested into 5th grade reading and 7th grade spelling; her math was behind because the school refused to teach her grade level math telling me initially that she was behind and then they said oh we are too ahead in the curriculum and we can't have her join the 3rd grade class then they wanted me to get her caught up during the summer if she wanted to be in 4th grade. The owner (Victoria) just doesn't really care about your children. Your child is just $$$$ to her. She just wants the money and wouldn't care if your child succeeded or not. They have also had such a huge turn over with their staff and I am not surprised at all. The only reason I tried this place was cause of the so called "great reviews". I usually don't like to place reviews, but I just had to share since so many people recommend this school! I would be very careful with placing my child here.

Love this school. The admin, the teachers, and the rest of the staff are amazing and really care…read moreabout your child. My son has learned so much and made so many friends and the community of parents are welcoming and kind. When you walk in, the dazzling smiles of Dana, Lauren, and Athena greet you and your child by name and remember details about you and past conversations. Amber and Debbie made my son feel safe and taught him how to spell and write his name, the alphabet, cutting, etc. Brittany, Susie, and Mona interact with every child and you can just really tell how much each person at the school cares. When my other child is older this is the only preschool I would even consider.

Horrible experience with my son at this "school" (ie daycare). He had just turned 2 and had no…read moreformal school/daycare experience. He only attended two days a week for a few hours and the teacher would literally call me each time to pick him up because he was "having a bad day." He wasn't allowed to go to lunch (even though I was paying for it). Now, my son is very active and enthusiastic, but at 2 years old, looking back on it, he was just a baby! I pulled him out after 2 months, blaming it on Covid, when really I was just fed up with the way they treated both of us.

I came to pick up my daughter for a Drs appointment and was told I was not allowed to pick her up…read moreafter 2:45. It was 2:47! Not only that, is it even legal to hold a child over a parents wishes? I should be able to pick up my child at any time without being treated like crap. Also the front desk receptionist was extremely rude and argumentative. Are they going to reimburse me for the cancellation fee I am now incurring at her drs office? I'm appalled!

Like always there is a pros and cons to the school. There are great teachers who actually care…read moreabout their students and work with them if they have a need to help better understand the curriculum. Teachers like Ms.Anderson, Ms. Katz, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Tarter, Mr. T, and Ms. Esper, they are the best teachers that I have seen by far since 2019. The biggest issue in the school is the cliche got money type of attitude. This is what tends to be detrimental to the kids or the experience at the school. However they do have some programs that actually show that they do care about the community and their students. The biggest complaint I've had at the school by far has been the parking lot. I have seen multiple accidents in the parking lot because parents are not paying attention when pulling out of parking spaces or trying to get out of the parking lot in general. The school has had it observed several times and it's the best flow that they have had in the district but they're still issues that need to be addressed. It does help that they have officers who are here throughout the day during that time to actually direct the traffic as well as the school resource officers.

Rancho Solano:…read more Incredible teachers. Caring staff. Great kids and families. Between foreign exchange students, and our own children, we have sent all of our "kids" to 5 different high schools in Scottsdale. Public, charter, and private. Several have been great, but Rancho Solano high school has been OUTSTANDING! By far the best decision we have ever made for our children's education. The teachers are engaging, highly educated, and compassionate. They make class fun, and encourage CRITICAL THINKING! And let's be honest in a world where everyone sees what their favorite influencer or political party says first, raising a child who is supported for their independent, critical thinking skills is a breath of fresh air. Lots of families of the students are in medical. Yet the kids are 50/50 when it comes to the educational track they are pursuing. 1/2 are STEM, and the other 1/2 are focused on more creative fields. Rancho Solano is incredibly supportive for both tracks. Our son who always thought he was more science minded, thrived in creative writing. He is even considering that as his minor in college. In regards to college, a friend told me this: You either pay for high school, or you pay for college. And thankfully there are currently state tax savings programs that contribute to your child's private school tuition - so there are no excuses. You CAN send your child to an excelling school like Rancho. Our investment in our son's private school education payed 2x more in college scholarships that he was offered! (He was offered 6 figures in college scholarships!) Our other kids didn't receive anywhere near the same number of college scholarships after attending other high schools - which made paying for their college much harder for us (and them). Rancho even has a staff member whose job is to help your child get into the best colleges for them! We fully believe Rancho Solano saved our son's life - and gave him a reason to excel. He's perusing an educational track above and beyond what we expected of him (and we expected a lot). He says some of the best friends he made at Rancho are the teachers. He felt like his voice mattered. And he THRIVED there. You will hear me support ALL of our state's teachers because they are all doing the best that they can with the resources they have. And I will also tell you that the teachers at Rancho Solano are BEYOND! They reignited my son's love of learning after school burnout from other schools. And the administration took time to meet with me, listened to my concerns, and they TOOK ACTION to make things better. That never would have happened in a large school. Incredibly grateful for Rancho Solano and everyone there.

The male staff members essentially have a strange sort of fraternity bond with one another. There's…read morea lot of picking and choosing who gets protected despite ongoing allegations and who gets fired for merely questioning certain rules. Mr. Brown, I'm very disappointed in you. When 10+ girls go to the counselor about the same teacher for years, how can you brush it all off? You can keep removing my reviews but everyone knows what kind of man the economics teacher is. No matter how many disturbed female employees you fire, you can't keep the truth hidden. People talk. It's very shameful what men will defend other men for, especially when it comes to the safety, mental health, and comfort of your young female students that you are supposed to protect. Credentials: I went there for 5 years

The only focus of this school Is the ib program. The other…read moreteachers come And go often and don't teach at all. They turn a blind eye to real problems and retaliate against parents who make their concerns known.

Took a tour for a family member becoming a freshman this year. The school had a really bad…read moremusty/moldy odor and lots of roof leaks, and the principal Dr. Hirsch was very difficult to deal with to get the tour scheduled, cancelling on me 3 times and then cancelling on our last tour. Luckily an office receptionist showed us around, which was really nice of them.

This is a wonderful school. I had transferred from a middle school in Los Angeles. I had only…read morethree weeks left for the school year. It was such a shell shock to go from a middle school to an elementary school, with kinder Garten age kids running around and sharing the playground with 2nd graders. However, the teachers were wonderful, and the cafeteria had great food.

best school ever my kids love it here and have made so many good friends and the teachers are great.read more

We cannot really find anything we don't love about this school. Our daughter did not get in for…read morekindergarten, but we had researched so much and decided to pull her from her current school and put in for 1st grade when we got the call that she was in. We have not regretted it. Of course, she missed her friends from kinder, but the Academy is so well done we never regretted our decision. The campus is done with such purpose and the teachers truly care about the students. So get on it and get on the waitlist asap!

Veritas is hands-down the best school I have been a part of. It has been open for one school year…read moreand my husband and I are very happy that our son was able to be accepted in to the school. It has made such an impact on his on his life. He is so much more structured in his ways of life...and he is only 9. His first year at Veritas was great and he had a phenomenal teacher. I joked with that teacher, Mr. Haley, about him being Kai's teacher every year. It's also nice that parents get many volunteer opportunities so you can engage with your child and his/her class. That kind of engagement even help change my life and gave me weekly volunteer opportunities to be a part of with the children. On another note, it is also very neat that the school also just made a plethora of renovations and added a high school. It's wonderful to such forward progress so fast. I can only imagine what the future holds for this incredible school. I think it's great that the children have to wear uniforms and adhere to a strict appearance policies. Veritas is a classical academy so it really try to enforce that in everything. Not only are "normal" subjects taught like match and science, students choose between Greek and Latin, they read classic novels, learn and practice different genres of art, and they partake in Healthy Hearts. It is a really impressive curriculum. Also, the the extra-curricular activities are amazing: there's ballroom dancing, chess club, running club, sportball, just to name a few. I highly recommend Veritas to any parent who is looking for a well-structured, well-rounded, classical way of teaching. I have already referred many of our family friends to the school and they have set up appointments for next school term. If you have a child, I recommend you do too!