After looking at 6 different preschool options (in home, church, and generic preschools), I am EXTREMELY Happy I found Desert Sun. There's no other preschool like it. I feel so good sending my 3 year old daughter there. read more

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I can not say enough good things about this school. We have been coming here since 2017 and all 3 of my children have gone here. It is a great school where they let kids be kids and everything is developmentally appropriate. The amount of play and sensory experiences they get is amazing. The teachers and staff are all wonderful and take the time to get to know each child and family. The outdoor environment is the best I have ever seen at a school plenty of room to play and explore. It is always hard to leave the school when our kids enter first grade. We wish they could stay through all of their school years. The school fosters a great community and we have met many wonderful and kind families that we still stay in touch with outside of school and years later. Everyone should send their kids here it's truly the best! read more

Desert Sun has been the preschool and kindergarten home for all four of my kids, so our family has been here for almost a decade! Each year, each teacher, each classroom has been a gift to my kids and my family. It is a developmentally-appropriate, play-based, child-first education environment. It allows kids to be kids and encourages social-emotional as well as academic growth. We are so blessed by this school family! read more

Desert Sun gives lip service to being a "school family," but I have never been so poorly treated by a business, let alone one that claims to teach values to children. We experienced a breathtaking lack of empathy at this preschool. My son attended this school since he was 2. For the first half of the previous school year they did ask me to shadow my son because he does challenge authority and he is very energetic. I observed him and noticed similar negative behaviors in the other students, so I was confused as to why I was there. Admittedly, there were times when my son's emotions took control of him, but most of the time he did not seem out of place to me. We followed the school's advice and had my son evaluated by a psychologist and a developmental pediatrician. He was diagnosed with mild ADHD and needed occupational therapy for his handwriting. For the 2019-2020 school year my son received an acceptance letter for morning pre-k without any accommodations or conditions. But in early July, I received a call from the director. She was offering him a spot in the afternoon pre-k, in a class with a 2 to 10 ratio. She said we could take the spot or go to preschool elsewhere. I asked for weekly progress meetings with the teacher, as this school doesn't talk about the child's behavior in front of the child. We got through August and his teacher told me that my son was making progress on his behavior. Then in early September I was told that he needed an aide and it was, "a good thing." I was confused as to why he would need an aide to shadow him. The teacher told me that they were not going to expel him from the school, which made sense to me at the time, because he was a four-year-old with mild ADHD. Two weeks went by and the teacher missed the weekly conference due to an appointment. The next week my son was home sick on conference day. When I called, the secretary sounded smug on the phone, as if she didn't believe that my son had a cough and mild fever. The next day I got a call from the director inviting my son to "continue his preschool journey elsewhere." They fired my four-year-old from preschool, using corporate speak! It's really too bad that there aren't Oscar awards for Most Concerned Administrator, because the director of this school would definitely be nominated. When she was telling us that our four-year-old was being dismissed from the school, she checked her watch four times during a meeting that lasted less than 15 minutes. At a second meeting, where the teacher was present, she turned up her concerned administrator act to 11. "We love your child and just want what's best for him." Which must be why they waited almost a whole week after our dog died to dismiss my four-year-old. Their evidence that my mildly ADHD four-year-old needed special-needs preschool was 3 measly pages of offences that sounded fairly normal for a four-year-old. Things such as "turning on the water hose," "knocking down another child's block structure." They claim to be child-led and play-based, but complained that my active four-year-old didn't spend enough time at the writing table, or moved through activities too quickly, or got stuck on one activity. I was confused about what it was that they wanted from him. I can only imagine how distressing it was for my four-year-old. I was told that the lead teacher spent 80, no 90% of her time with my son. This made no sense to either of his preschool teacher grandmothers. It confused two pediatricians. The developmental pediatrician was not surprised, but said that his ADHD wasn't enough to warrant special needs class, as Desert Sun was claiming. The family therapist we are now seeing also agrees that my four-year-old's ADHD is mild. His current teacher is teaching him and 16 other four-year-olds, and says he's very independent and a good advocate for himself. I would be in the class for about 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning and end every day and I barely saw the Desert Sun teacher interact with my son. Although, there was the time that she blamed him for throwing something at another kid when it was the child next to him who threw it. He had one bad day at his new school with a real teacher and I sincerely believe it was because of the toxic treatment he received at Desert Sun. When we went into the Desert Sun office for the last time, he automatically sat in the chair by the desk. He was "assuming the position" for a time-out in a school that claims to use Conscious Discipline! They had conditioned him to sit automatically in the chair, as if he were a dog. They "fired" him right before school pictures so my four-year-old wouldn't get his ADHD cooties all over the class photos. If you're looking for a school with diversity, teachers who connect with their students and who are effective leaders and teach by modeling kindness, keep looking. This school doesn't have ethnic diversity and they can't tolerate neuro-diversity. read more

Desert Sun is a unique and fun school. My child jumps up ready to go to preschool and always has a great day. The kids learn through play so they don't realize they are learning, which makes it better. Before covid times it was parent participation which was better, so I hope it can return to that, as I like being more involved and seeing the learning in action. read more

I cannot say enough good things about this school. It has truly been the most wonderful learning environment for my daughter. Not only did she learn academically, but the focus on emotional intelligence and regulation is excellent. The emphasis on the school family was truly a life changing experience and we can't wait to send our son here. I just wish they continued all the way through elementary. Thank you to my daughters amazing teachers, Heidi, Daniela, Scott, and Tina. You are all a gift. read more

Seriously such an amazing school that truly cares about the whole child. It's sad to see that there aren't more schools like this and even more sad that it doesn't go beyond kindergarten. Trust me, you will not regret it. I'd make the drive from anywhere. read more

The preschool is acceptable but stay as far away as possible from the kindergarten. Kids need consistency & families need support, without exception but is absolutely not what we experienced. When the kindergarten teacher says that kids that go to kinder there will need to repeat elsewhere... run as far & as fast as possible. Even teachers there won't put their own kids into the kinder program. Isn't that telling? When we chose to leave the school there was no exit meeting or even any interest in knowing why. They will gladly wash their hands of families who do not fit their exact mold. The way that they say they support is completely different than their actions. They don't lead with their hearts & for ECE, that's a shame! There are so many other school who do it right. They are so hung up on brain science that they miss the basics, like having proper supervision on their huge playground or even having set organized breaks for teachers. This place is a disaster! I used to evaluate preschools as this place would not be one that I would approve of. Do yourself a favor & find a place that cares not just says that they care. read more

Sarah L's story is almost identical to what was happening to our family. But, as a note Teacher Linda for the 3 year olds is amazing and should be the person running this place because she has a (kind hearted) soul, cares about the children, and is just a happy fun person. Which is opposite kind of person who runs this place with her iron fist of ignorance. As a preface, I grew up in the neighborhood before Desert Sun moved into the little county island horse ranch property it calls home. So when it came to growing up and having children of our own, we wanted to make sure they had a good start in preschool. We researched NAYCE schools, and Desert Sun popped up. We had been taking our children to this place because they were supposed to be a place that help kids through positive play and conscious discipline. We were blind to the wrongdoing that happened to our oldest as the second was still a baby. Our oldest child wasn't directly ignored or belittled or setup to fail like our younger one was, but the child was never engaged to develop basic writing and scissors skills that our child easily picked up his first year in a real school, a Chandler public school. There, at the elementary school, the teachers and administration actually cared about my child and the difference in positive behavior after two weeks in Kindergarten was shocking compared to DS. Our younger child had a great experience in Linda's 3 year old class, but a completely horrible experience in 4s/Pre-K and TK. If our oldest's neglectful experience was great in comparison, my younger's experience should warrant an investigation from any accreditation facility. I can list dozens of incidents that just rub anyone with a soul the wrong way, but when the damage and trauma comes from a place that says they are all about family, and play, and caring, and love, and helpfulness to the school community, it just feels even worse than it did before. Then with the administration gas lighting parents and constant fascist style self praise and boasting about being the best, you seem like the crazy person when you attempt to speak about a problem you encounter. As soon as you, as a parent, question an action, decision, or would like further "enlightenment" to understand the rationale behind the actions of the administration, you are told to listen to Desert Sun because they have been doing this for over 30 years and they know more than you about your child. Here's the problem, if your institution has been the pinnacle of greatness early childhood education and conscious discipline for 30+ years, why aren't you published in journals for education and psychology? Why don't ASU, GCU, NAU, and U of A have a partnership of some kind for student teaching and research and development? What kind of program do teachers take to make sure they are following conscious discipline? Do you partner with Dr. Bailey? No? Why not? If you are as great as you say you are at following her guidelines you should have several members that teach and do CE fo the program to others around the valley and state, etc. If you truly cared about early childhood education the way you say you do, you would be famous in this state. But Trisha has no leadership skills, no continuing education in fields that matter to the growth and development of this place. I am sure that 20 years ago this institution was revolutionary, but then with crappy leadership and poor management it has all but shunned any innovation and evolution to keeps it stronger than its peers The director Trisha is a terrible administrator. She cannot speak publicly to the "Desert Sun Family" at the school events and festivals without falling all over herself and losing her train of thought; and her emails are just as badly written as the speeches she stumbles through. The director used a child development test on my child and another child that she had a preconceived bias to want to hold back from the Kindergarten, even if they weren't ready, it was only administered to two children in the class. We weren't even going to pretend that the DS K class would be a replacement for REAL kindergarten, we were hoping it would give our child a leg up for real kindergarten. So I did what any parent with half a brain and cares about their child's welIbeing would do; I researched the test she spoke of to see what child development experts say about the test. The Gesell tests could be a good if done properly over the course of each quarter and regular parent teacher and admin meetings were held. But a HUGE portion of the Gesell Institute's idea of testing and screening the child is to create portfolios at school and at home so the parents and teachers can discuss behaviors activities the child does at school and at home, and then compare growth and gaps etc. Trisha told us about the test one week before she administered it. No conference, no dialogue, no collaboration of portfolios and discussing, etc. read more

Great environment for kids. There is a lot of parent involvement. Teacher Stephanie is outstanding with the kids!

Desert Sun Child Development Center is a wonderful place to bring your child. I have my son enrolled in the parent interactive toddler program and he loves it. The teachers are all caring and respectful, the administration are helpful resources and meeting the other families really is awesome. The sense of community of the school is terrific. read more

This is absolutely an amazing school. If I could give it 10 stars I would. This is a play based school with an amazing community of parents and teachers. I feel blessed to have found a school that partners with parents and children. My children have flourished here, they really felt a part of their school family and they have developed into confident learners. We have all developed wonderful lifelong friendships. I can't recommend this school highly enough. read more

This school protects bullies, and punishes the victim. It's so unfortunate, because it could be a wonderful school, if it were not for the Director (Trisha). Anyone who has a difference of opinion from Trisha is ousted. She is never wrong, and you better never question her. My four year old daughter was in a PreK class. There were two highly aggressive boys (one special needs, but only has an aide in the class for part of one class a week) in her class. The first boy targeted another girl in the class, and repeatedly choked her (two hands around her neck, and squeezed to the point of choking), on a daily basis. I spent time in the classroom, and witnessed this myself. Many times the Teachers were not paying attention, and I had to point out his actions to them. The school never thought it appropriate to let this girl's parents know that she was repeatedly being choked. Being extremely concerned about the affect this would have on her, I let her parents know. They were shocked that nobody told them. Instead, the Teachers encouraged us to let our children know that they were "safe" in the class. The other aggressive boy repeatedly hurt my daughter (pushed her down cutting her leg open, hitting her, grabbing her). She screamed every time I brought her to school, and was terrified. I brought this to the attention (along with the choking) to Trisha, who was adamant that this was "typical boy behavior". After going round and round with Trisha and getting nowhere, I requested an open board meeting, where all parents involved could be present. I figured that if parents were unaware that their child was being choked on a daily basis, maybe the parents of the boys were unaware of the behavior. Maybe if they became involved, we could correct the behaviors and go on our merry way. Instead, I was called by the Board, and told that there had been a closed door meeting, and that Trisha moved to remove my daughter from the school. I was told that my daughter (who had never done anything to anyone), was not a good fit for the school. Everything happens for a reason, and we found a wonderful school for my daughter. It took her months to not be afraid of every boy in her class, and to know that they won't hurt her, and that NOW she is safe. I would NEVER recommend this school, unless Trisha were no longer a part of it. read more

Desert Sun Child Development Center is the absolute best preschool for your children. It is a play based school with the most kind, caring, and smart staff. The parent community is outstanding as well. They have many community events that the children and parents enjoy. Your child learns so much...and they sometimes they don't even realize they're learning as they play! It is a great first experience away from parents in a school environment. It a great first step for the kids. I highly recommend this school! read more

Beware of this school! It seemed like a good fit for us in the beginning but the Director of the school has made changes in the last year or so that are not in the best interest of the students in my opinion. If you have any concerns that need to be addressed the director is confrontational and not professional. She is notching more than a one sided manager and not a leader. I will be enrolling my child elsewhere next year. read more

Desert Sun is the BEST preschool for young children. It's a very warm, caring and nurturing environment for children to have their first school experience. We have tried other places and are so comforted now that we finally found the RIGHT place for our kids. We have a daughter who spent two years there and our son will be in his second year this fall. Our favorite part is that the school emphasizes parent involvement and encourages you to volunteer in the classroom. They even host fun family events like a campout on the property in the spring. We highly recommend Desert Sun! read more

This letter is to inform every parent that he/she needs to be aware of the voice that parents have in their child's education. Not a teacher or a principal can dictate the child's educational future. It is with the teamwork of the parents, teachers, and administrators that will lead to the success of a child's educational future. Without a plan of action, there's no success. Desert Sun did not care enough to ensure the success of our child. We wonder how many other parents were treated and dismissed by the staff of Desert Sun after the collection of tuition without giving a child a 100% chance to introduce and adapt that child to their "new learning environment"? Even though there are high reviews for this school please beware. The director seemed very nice in the beginning but had a very strong attitude, and wasn't willing to work as a team regarding our child behavior in class. We were told after a couple of months that our child was not a good fit. Long story short, there refused to work together to help out child and kicked him out. read more