Cielo on 5th

Peter Howell has the best teachers and principal ever! I got custody of my great granddaughter last year who had hardly attended school. She is in the first grade. The staff at Peter Howell has worked with her so diligently to catch her up in reading.

Hi, former student here. Please don't send your kid here. The environment was HORRENDOUS and extremely toxic. Kids literally vaped in the bathroom and got away with it, and fights were uncomfortably common. When I enrolled, they were testing out a collage level program (not meant for middle schoolers by the way.) called canvas and BARELY anyone knew how to use it, not even the teachers. I would also like to mention that kids with special needs did not get the proper education. Most of my teachers did NOT read my IEP nor did they even know I had one. My mom had to pull me out after sixth grade because of the amount of stress and pressure I was put under. The expectations of some of these teachers were UNBELIEVABLE. I still remember how I had a panic attack due to the fact I had two projects from different teachers back-to-back, due on the SAME week. The amount of assignments I had was insane too, especially considering the fact that I was supposed to have LESS according to the IEP. I was not accommodated properly and me failing sixth grade was entirely the schools fault. At the end of the semesters, they would have field trips for kids who had good grades, but barely anyone actually went because this school failed so many of us. And the teachers had the AUDACITY to guilt trip us for it, even though they were the ones failing US. Some of the teachers were nice, but some were also ignorant, manipulative, and just straight up harsh. This school has horrible expectations for children and I highly advise not sending your kid here if you want to keep them sane.

Sadly, this school put my child with special needs in danger and then completely abandoned her. This was our home district and we were happy to get my children into what we thought was a kind and inclusive school community. The problem at Miles wasn't the teachers, they are caring and creative, the problem is poor resources and ineffective and inflexible administration. The district will try to get out of paying anything they can for students with special needs. I had a letter documenting my child's need for an aide from her developmental pediatrician and they had the data from the school showing she clearly needed 1:1 support but they still would not provide it due to the cost. When my 5 year old got away from her teacher who was in charge of a whole kindergarten class and ran into a busy street they finally recognized that she needed some aide support. That was several months into the year when she had already been endangered by their reckless policies. Then when school went to online only in March 2020 and my 6 year old child with special needs could not learn that way, admin just gave up and refused to educate her. They would not bring her in for tutoring or any services, nothing, even though her special ed teacher recognized that she could not learn online and wanted to teach her in person and felt she could do it safely, admin refused and completely abandoned her. The school has remained shuttered for an entire year now, 12 months, to students who desperately needed in person education, what a travesty, I feel terribly for any students stuck in TUSD who needed in person education and have list out on so much. I am so incredibly thankful we got our kids into CFSD, they are doing an excellent job educating all children safely even during a challenging year and are a much more welcoming and inclusive community!

The rating of Tucson High does not doo it justice and is not reflective of the amazing nature or offerings of this school! This is an inner city Arts and Science Magnet school with ample performing and visual arts opportunities, as well as opportunities for science overlap at the nearby U of A. I know mostly about the arts and my daughter participated in theater, dance, orchestra, photography, and digital design. There is also film, musical theater, steel drums, many kinds of dance including Folklorico, and art curating as well as other visual arts classes.

This school sets you up well for the future with a great counseling department and effective teachers. Yes, there is a hefty workload, but this is communicated to incoming students before they enroll. It has a good environment and a helpful staff. If a student can stick with it and get through their freshman year, I can guarantee they will be successful through their high-school career and beyond.

This program helps students who cannot attend classes for a variety of reasons. This helps students attain their education despite difficult circumstances.