Desert Bell Estates II

Kindergarten through fifth grade was pretty good. Not going to count it against the school for Covid procedures, even though that was extremely miserable. However, sixth grade is an absolute nightmare! This is the year where they try to get the students prepared for middle school. What does that mean? That means that the kids are responsible for carrying around all their schoolwork and their backpack all day every day in folders in our responsible for keeping everything organized and turned in on time. I definitely support this! However, the lack of transparency to the students and to the parents for knowing what assignments are being given out, and when they are due is non existent. My son has been struggling all year to keep his grades above an F, which is never like him throughout all the years he’s been attending the school. To get me wrong, I have held my son accountable for his lack of accountability, talking to friends, simply not staying on task, but when I’m trying to work very closely with the teachers, it’s like pulling teeth to get answers from them. It is literally becoming a second full-time job trying to stay on top of everything school related on top of my regular 9 to 5. My son is confused, frustrated, to the point where he is in tears almost every night, and I can’t get a straight answer from any of the sixth grade teachers to figure out what we need to do.

We moved to this neighborhood because of Boulder Creek. It's the end of our second year at this school, and we are so happy with it!A-rated, award-winning, and named #1 K-8 in AZ for two years in a row for both public AND charter!The community is vibrant and joyful. The school (and surrounding neighborhood!) is very safe for the floods of children walking home every day. The teachers are passionate and good at what they do. The gifted program is engaging. The SPED support is vast. The PTO is huge and super involved. The school/PTO/community events are enriching for the entire family, and there is so much school pride.Our new principal is a strong, dedicated, and warm leader, and she's "one of us"—born and raised in Phoenix, an ASU grad, and with almost 30 years of service to PVUSD as an educator. My husband and I are AZ natives and products of the PV district ourselves, so we love to see it.Go Bobcats!

The amount of fights I have heard about are unbelievable. The fact that this school brushes bullying off like it's some excuse is awful. I seen so many kids get harmed from just attending to this school. Ever since I seen my child go to this school, they have been less engaged and they are now having eating problems because they are too stressed about being perfect just so they could meet the level that the teachers want them to be. They treat them horribly. An another reason why this school is terrible, is that ever since my kid transferred here, they started throwing up almost daily from the lunches here.

I don't think I could ever say enough to convey how wonderful this school and its staff truly are. My son spent about 6 months transitioning from a school the genuinely did not care. He's now thriving and doing so well. All the staff have been a true wonder for me. Their intervention program is truly amazing. They always answer any questions I have and they answer them thoroughly. When his enrollment was in question due to us having to move out of district they helped make sure he could stay. All I have to do is provide transportation. Truly amazing.