Cherokee Elementary School

Wonderful school, teachers and principal. We moved from a private school to Cherokee and I had high expectations - and Cherokee has exceeded them! The teachers really care about your kids, the principal cares just as much and every time I am at the school I see him in the kids classrooms, he responds to emails, listens and tries to fix concerns. My child is advanced and still finds enough challenges in the classroom. The APT works extremely hard on fundraising and on fun events to make the school better. The parents are out of this world involved and you can tell everyone here cares deeply about the kids. Highly recommend this school!
—Submitted by a parent

I have to say I am amazed at the experience my daughter and i have had at Cherokee. I pulled my daughter from Hopi in hopes that another school would not label her, but would observe and make suggestions for a way to break through her shell to enhance her learning ability. Her teacher immediately took action and made suggestions and got her in a reading and math program to fit her needs and level. She is now w excelling and loves reading and math. I do not know what I would have done if it weren't for the teachers and staff at Cherokee. We are so blessed.
—Submitted by a parent

My son attended the special education preschool here (PANDA). The school is amazing. The community is fantastic, the teachers are excellent and we could not be happier!
—Submitted by a parent

Cherokee Elementary School is one of the finest schools in the state! Our daughter receives special education and we could not be happier with Judy Crosby and her team. Walt Chantler is a 5 star principal. Well respected by all. Our daughter has been with 3 teachers now, all of which are first class.
—Submitted by a parent

The parent that wrote the autism classroom review is way off. First of all, both the autism teachers at Cherokee are certified and highly qualified special education teachers. I have worked, as a parent of a regular education student, with the primary special education teacher. I watched her included students throughout the day, even students who have limited language and had difficulties with academics because of cognitive delays. Her assistants are amazing and the students made leap and bounds of growth. This teacher was new to Cherokee last year (2011/2012), and she created a program that included all her students. Although I am a parent volunteer at Cherokee and not a teacher, I can tell you that this teacher was amazing. I have never seen children make so much growth. I feel sorry for the person that wrote this review as it is obviously unfounded, as to my knowledge ALL in the Scottsdale Unified School District teachers are highly qualified. I know parents who were begging to get into her program! How sad! It's parents like these that drive amazing teachers out of the classroom. Things should not be posted if a person does not have the correct information!
—Submitted by a parent

Many 'specialty' programs for autism here. When touring, aides were just sitting around chatting. I saw one teacher texting in class, aides that has little experience and not a lot of inclusion for children with autism. By and large, special kids are kept in self contained autism classrooms. Seldom taught on-grade in those classes, either. No 'highly qualified' SPED teacher designation, so I guess that means whomever takes the job. Sad. Administration is good, if you have typical children.
—Submitted by a parent

Cherokee is a wonderful school. The principal makes a point to be approachable and visible, and holds informational meetings a few times a year to update families on what's going on. The PTO is very active and has a strong base of support, raising funds and running many programs. The kindergarten teachers coordinated and mapped out the year together so that each class was covering the same materials, and several times in the year they collaborated to have events that all four classes participated in. A five-star school.
—Submitted by a parent

We have had our children at Cherokee for 2 years now and have been very happy with our selected move to this school. The principal is new to the school this year and we've had very positive first hand interactions with him this year. He has been very quick to find the facts and fix situations that have occurred. He listens to parents concerns and acts fairly to resolve the situation. So far I am impressed with the new leadership. The class sizes are growing like all public schools in this state, unfortunately. But, overall we have had good, caring teachers who have been able to challenge our kids to reach their potential and continue to enjoy learning. With open enrollment we were able to research a wide variety of potential schools and are very satisfied with our decision after two years now.
—Submitted by a parent

I found the teachers 1 step short of a total disaster. In particular the helpers/assistants. Ours was just down right terrible. Here is an assistant teacher that would send home notes with spelling mistakes! What? And this is a person I want to teach my child? This happened more than once. We also found the teachers inexperienced and uncaring when dealing with any issues beyond the academics.
—Submitted by a parent

My three children have attended Cherokee tha past few years. Two of my children have continued to middle school and are excelling in all of their classes and are at the top of their peers. I feel that the teachers, faculty, and staff of Cherokee have prepared my children academically and emotionally for this experience. The leadership has been more than welcoming and accommodating for a typically difficulty population, and I have been incredibly impressed with Cherokee's principal. However, this year the principal has changed and I have not been happy with his inconsistency and lack of leadership. He leaves Cherokee early and does not care about his faculty or parents. I fear the future for my youngest child who has a few more years left at Cherokee.
—Submitted by a parent

Cherokee is a good public school! Leadership is however lacking but this will be resolved from the 2010-2011 school year. Class sizes are on the large size. There are some very good teachers, others are just OK. Parents are very involved in this school and fund many extras i.e. classroom aides, supplies for classrooms, technology for the classrooms etc. There are also a lot of fun family events planned by the PTA during the school year.
—Submitted by a parent

I've moved one of my children from Cherokee and will consider moving the other two. Leadership is seriously lacking, student to teacher ratio is very high, no Spanish and no desire to have it, PE only one day a week if your child does band. Teachers are ok but languish without direction. There is a lot of parental involvement but they have lost many many families over the past couple of years.
—Submitted by a parent

This school has great parent involvement,agreat energy and a great principal,not to mention great techers and curriculim. Coming from MI we had high expectations to be met and cherokee is at the top of the list-great computer lab,love this school
—Submitted by Mindy, a parent

I believe the school has some great individual teachers. Coming from out-of-state, we were a bit surprised with the academic level. If this is the 'best of the best' that Arizona has to offer (as test scores have shown), we need to look into private schools.
—Submitted by an administrator

Great quality of academic programs always offering variety of extracurricular activities parent involvement is extremely high
—Submitted by a parent

Level of Parent-involvement-high P.E.-1 day/week hit and miss on teachers
—Submitted by a parent

A top-rated school with consistently high test scores. Some very good teachers here, although class sizes are high as they are throughout the district. Extrcurricular activities are present, but primarily outsourced to private companies.Parent group is ambitious and fairly homogenous in their outlook. School has recently taken a more proactive stance towards bullying.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a fabulous school, full of interesting, committed families, safe, great outdoor space.
—Submitted by a parent

Wonderful school with involved, committed parents and great teachers with experience.
—Submitted by a parent

The quality of the academic program is exemplary, but the teaching is to the test and the teachers are rigid, especially in 4th and 5th grades. There is a teacher culture not a student culture environment. Extracurricular activities are many and varied. Parent involvement is high, but somewhat exclusionary. Good administrators have left; the culture has stayed even with new administrators. I moved one of my children to a much more positive environment and will be moving my other.
—Submitted by a parent