Imagine East Mesa Elementary School

I have 2 children at Imagine East Mesa. My oldest has been attending since Kindergarten and will be entering 6th grade next year. Imagine East Mesa has the most caring and dedicated staff I have ever encountered. They value academics but they also value and educate the "whole" child. Everyone at the school from the leadership, the teachers, the aides, EVERYONE is invested 100% to help my child not only be successful academically but to be successful as a kind and caring person. I recommend Imagine East Mesa to everyone I meet.
—Submitted by a parent

My children have attended Imagine East Mesa for the last 3 years starting in Pre-K. The Pre-K program was so awesome! My son was reading before he entered kindergarten. Now, just a few years later he is reading chapter books in his first grade class. My daughter just started this year in pre-k and loves learning sight words and addition and subtraction at her level. I love the family feel at Imagine. I would reccommend this school to any family.
—Submitted by a parent

We entered our son into the prek program this year at this school and are thrilled with the progress we've seen! Previous to this year we had our son in a prek program at another school and he was miserable. He was crying every day and was clinging to us. His previous program had many teachers in and out of the room throughout the day and none of them took the time to make a connection with my son. At Imagine East Mesa there is one teacher in the prek room and her face lights up every time my son and every other student walks into the room! It is very obvious that she loves her job and the students she teaches. My son has completely come out of his shell and is no longer shy in social situations. We are surprised every day by how much he is learning at this school. The teacher even has prek conferences to show us all of the amazing work he is doing in class and show us actual data and information about what he has learned! We are so happy that we decided to switch our son to this school and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for an amazing prek program with a teacher who truly cares for the students in her class!
—Submitted by a parent

2 years ago I would have given this school a five star rating.....over the past couple years though, the quality of leadership is lacking. 3 years and 3 principals, multiple turnover in teachers every year and throughout the year. A lot of behavior issues in classrooms and there is nothing done about these students. I chose this school for the "push" in learning. It was there, but the school has now become more worried about the numbers and not the students. These students are taking away learning time from the other students. Unfortunately, for a couple of the great teachers there, the front office is lacking in leadership and responsibility towards the staff and students and creating an odd stress throughout the school. If you value your child's education I suggest you ask the school, how long has there staff been there. I have found that to be very important.....there is no communication between grade levels and no consistency for the students due to high turnover!!!!! We will not be returning to this school next year!!!!!!!!!
—Submitted by a parent

We have been at this school for 5 years now and continue to love it here. The only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because there seems to be something going on that is causing teachers some stress, and many of them have left, and we have been through 4 principals in 5 years. That said, the first principal was promoted, the second principal was promoted, the third principal which neither my husband nor I ever felt very confident in (he just seemed immature) vanished with 3 weeks left of school, and the fourth principal is now the second principal returned, and we love to see her back. But in giving a school a grade, one cannot overlook that kind of frequent transition of leadership. Both our children who attend here are doing very well academically and there seems to be great concern about achieving grade level expectations, so I am surprised to see the latest test scores so low. We feel confident sending our children to school here everyday, and they feel confident attending every day. Its awesome to send happy children to school and get happy children back.
—Submitted by a parent

As a 2nd year parent - My children love this school and continue to excel in all areas.Both continue to make the A Honor Roll list and continually are challenged by their teachers. I also love that the school offers Imagination Station classes to help our children excel even more. They were not getting any of this attention from the public school we attended.
—Submitted by a parent

I came to Imagine Schools East Mesa after teaching in a public school for several years. I needed to find a way out of letting politics run my school and get to a place where I have the freedom to teach the way students really learn. I have found that in this school. I love the entire staff and most of all I love that we are growing leaders in our students. WE as teachers are free to make choices about a child's education and do what is appropriate for each child to learn. As much as one-size fits all education is convenient to fund and easy to train teachers on, it does not benefit the children that need so much more academically. Both to catch them up or equally importantly to advance the children further than expected. At Imagine East Mesa, I believe we are able to provide a different learning experience for each child and the kids thrive on that. I love teaching here and will never go back to district education again. It was the best move I ever made!
—Submitted by a teacher

Adjusting the learning programs to fit the child helps both gifted and challenged students. My child loves to school and continues to excel in all areas.
—Submitted by a parent

Most of the teachers are great. The bussing setup is the worst I've ever seen. My 9 yr old gets on the bus at 6:30 am and arrives back at home at 4:55 pm every day. Every year it is mass confusion about the bus schedules or if your child will still be able to ride the bus.
—Submitted by a parent

As a 1st year Imagine Parent with a 3rd grader, I was very pleased with how warm and welcoming the staff was/is. My child has some anxiety issues but the 3rd grade teacher made my child feel welcome and comfortable. My child was on honor all year long! A great Positive year! I am looking forward to this next year as my youngest will be in the Pre-K program. I am very pleased and love this school!!
—Submitted by a parent

Why do you love Imagine Charter Elementary School at East Mesa?the entre staff always shows caring and compassion to each and every student at this school. they make it a wonderful environment for learning.
—Submitted by a parent

Everyone school member knows my son's name. Teachers are excellent. A well run school.
—Submitted by a parent

My son is in Kindergarten and he loves going to school here. All of the teachers know his name, the communication is terrific, and the before and after school program is awesome.
—Submitted by a parent

I have all three of my kids going here. They went to Brinton Elementary last year. I won't blast them here or anything, but let me just say that my 4th grader (Mrs. Eastwood's class) now likes school like he used to and his grades are getting so much better, My first grader (Mrs. Cassidy's class) was almost held back in kindergarten last year at Brinton but we fought to get him into 1st grade, they accepted him here and his teacher is doing a wonderful job with him. He is going to make the honor roll this quarter. My kindergartner (Mrs Chance's class, yes she's also good, lol) has a speech problem and is working with the speech teacher, she is making awesome progress. I am going to keep them all here until they go to high school. Quality place with an awesome staff!!
—Submitted by a parent

This is an amazing school with only highly qualified teachers. They don't put up with any discpline children who come over from the public schools, as many do. The staff and leadership are outstanding. Imagine are up on the technology with students and the time. I highly recommend.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter attends Kindergarten at Imagine Charter School East Mesa. The pre-K program was excellent and I felt that it more than prepared my daughter for Kindergarten this year. The staff seem friendly, attentive, and I notice that they all seem to know my daughter's name. This makes me feel as if my child is not 'lost in the shuffle' so to speak, and that the staff takes an interest in each child. I also agree with one of the posts I read here...Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Mohler, is the best!
—Submitted by a parent

I think the school is great. My daughter is speech delay and they give her a hour a week of speech. She never would of got that at a regular public school. The teachers are great and really work with the child and student.
—Submitted by a parent

Five stars, all the way. Every one in this school knows my kids name. He is in kindergarten! All of them! Parents are involved in every thing & Mrs. Mohler is the best, we love her.
—Submitted by a parent

My child won't be going back to this school. There is a lot of turn over and many behavioral problems. You can't request the teacher for the next year, who knows if they'd even be there. My child has gone for two years and both years they were brand new teachers with no experience. The school doesn't supply much for these teachers. We were bombarded with requests for supplies all the time. My son didn't get any homework for the first three months because the teacher didn't know what was going on. I'm frustrated and tired of what the school promises and doesn't fulfill. They promise you the world and give you a substandard education. I was way better off at my neighborhood school.
—Submitted by a parent

My oldest son has been going to this school since pre-k.. He is now going into the first grade. I really like the staff they are very friendly and helpfull. Teachers are just amazing.
—Submitted by a parent