Camelback High School

The school doesn't exist. It's a vacant lot.

My son is on the spectrum (high functioning). I made it clear to them of this prior to school starting, I asked to get an IEP meeting or at-least to meet/speak the team prior to school starting. That never happened. I did not meet the SPED teacher until 2 weeks after school starting (I met her by coincidence as she was at the gate greeting kids). I asked 2 times for a meeting after. Nothing has happened since school started. I have received several updates on my son’s behavior (which I understand) but when I question them what leads to my son behaving as such THEY NEVER KNOW! I can never get a straight forward answer to my questions. My son since starting school has started to urinte on himself again. He has not had an accident since getting potty trained. He has started to elope since starting school and has been attached to me more than usual. They got in contact with his preschool teacher to see if he had these behaviors in preschool, she stated he did not have these behaviors which is why he graduated from SPED PRE-K. They keep saying they don’t know why he is behaving this way.Fast fwd to today, I am bot sure what happened but he ended up “punching” a teacher. The teacher pulled me inside the classroom to tell me about the incident and tell me he was getting a referral for hitting the teacher (who is pregnant) & stated the teacher cannot be around my son anymore. I questioned what led to this incident and of course the led to ‘WE DON’T KNOW’. How can they do a referral w/o knowing what led to such behavior.The teacher he “punched” is the assistant for his home room teacher. So my question is if the teacher can’t be around him.. are they removing her from class or my son?I’d like to add that the FEW times I have had the chance to speak to the SPED teacher.. all she did was basically COMPLAIN and made it seem like my son was an inconvenience for her. Her tone of voice was always as though she was annoyed. I think she should reconsider her career. YOU ARE A SPED TEACHER AND YOU ARE GOING TO COME ACROSS SO MANY DIFFERENT KIDDOS WITH DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS AND NECESSITIES!! I am removing my kid from this school. I would steer clear from them if your kiddos are needing extra help. They do NOT help. They make everything worse.

Do not put your kids here!! I am currently a student and this school is terrible! Most teachers here can sometimes be very political. Some teachers talk about their own political opinions on newer topics about politics. Some teachers don't even care about safety, the principal does but some teachers absolutely don't. The kids here are terrible! Worst then the teachers, the kids there are very dirty minded, for example. They talk about stuff usely a over 18+ kid would say. Some even decide to throw punches at kids for know reason. People's personal life's get destroyed at this school, some kids here talk about (Sucking innapropriate things) and sometimes talk about p*rn. If you want your kids to live in a bad school like this then, your a bad parent.

This is an amazing school and community. Saint Thomas offers a challenging academic curriculum which prepared my children for Brophy, Xavier and beyond. The school community is warm and welcoming which was such a blessing for my family as we were new to Phoenix. The school leadership is top notch!

Be forewarned, in disputes or disagreements, administration always takes the side of staff or teachers over students and parents. There is zero space for discussion or questions. The tone is sit down, be quiet and do what you are told, because there is a long waiting list. You and your child are replaceable. In fact, during a leadership and National Junior Honor Society seminar last year, the Principal told the students that the least favorite part of his job is the parents. If you are working to create a collegial atmosphere between parents, students and staff; this is not the way to do it. And if you are trying to undermine parent relationships with their own children, job well done! As far as managing disputes between children and teachers, kids as young as ten are expected to resolve directly with teachers, despite the power inequity between adults and children. This creates an environment that is ripe for abuse and our child suffered from several gaslighting type events by teachers and administrators. When we brought up concerns, we were simply told we were wrong, period. This created an environment where our daughter never wanted to talk to teachers about issues, and neither did we. In summary, if you want to partner with a school on your child’s education and well being, this isn’t the school for you. Please note, I am incredibly sad to be writing this review, because there are several exceptional teachers at CLS and the Pastoral staff is loving and kind.