Biltmore Preparatory Academy

We transferred our daughter to Biltmore Prep for the Foreign Language Immersion program. She learns half the day in Spanish, and the other half in English, and we are thrilled that she will be bilingual at such an early age. Her teachers are truly gifted you can tell there is a great bit of thought put into every minute of classroom time and every homework assignment (there is no busy work here). The administration and the parent community helped to make her transition very smooth, and we have been very pleased with our decision.
—Submitted by a parent

No other school has a happy office staff...need i say more. :) Band starts @ forth grade. English instruction before lunch and Spanish instruction after; starting in kindergarten. Breakfast in classroom. Parents have to invest 40 hrs a yr. My kindergartner wakes me up to take him to school almost every morning! and my 4th &2nd grader are right behind him. The only reason this school is not a 10 is because they are diverse and take every child and not just the high scoring ones, IMHO. This school is the one! -Brian
—Submitted by a parent

I love my child's first grade teachers! They inspire and motivate, and think of new, creative ways to make learning fun. They are challenging my child, all while being kind and nurturing. The level of parental involvement and support at the school is phenomenal.
—Submitted by a parent

Squaw Peak is truly an awesome school! With wonderful staff, lot's of electives, and excellerated cirruclium, I couldn't ask for more from this school. For my daughters 6th grade school, I moved her from Christ Lutheran to Squaw Peak because of problems with bullying, and although i was nervous at first, i couldn't be happier. Squaw Peak (or Biltmore Prep. Academy as of the 2011 school year) is an amazing school.
—Submitted by a parent

Well Kindergarten is over and it's on to first grade at Squaw Peak Traditional. What a great year. The teachers are true professionals who connected so well with our child and the rest of the class. Class size is small, and the school is a fun and loving community that feels like a second home. The Spanish immersion adds so much to the program and the kids just love it and think it's normal. I can't wait to see where this school goes over the next few years. We simply couldn't be more satisfied or feel more lucky to have such a great public school in our neighborhood.
—Submitted by a parent

My son just his first year in the Foreign Language Immersion program at this school. He knows so much Spanish I am amazed. His knowledge of English and sight words, as an emerging reader, is impressive as well. By the end of the school year they were working on math that my 2nd grader (at another school) did in the beginning of second grade. I think the advanced curriculum at this school is challenging without being overwhelming. I simply cannot say enough good things about the school, his teacher or the prinicpal. You all have my full support!
—Submitted by a parent

I find SPTA to be a place of warmth, growth and acceptance. The new principal, Mrs. Burtamekh has truly contributed to this very positive environment and has continued the positive change that the last principal and district started. Unfortunately, she does have her hands full. Our community is extremely demanding in many ways (and it should be.) Some of the teachers at the school are not happy and they contribute disharmony to the school and the administrators by being negative. Thankfully, the school is getting better at combatting these issues and once the unhappy, negative people start vacating this otherwise wonderful campus things can only improve! I look forward to meeting the new teachers and am excited about all we will accomplish in the future.
—Submitted by a parent

Our child has learned so much this year! She loves her teachers, is excited to go to school each day, and is doing challenging work well beyond her grade level. There are small classes, technology, music, art, after school chess, soccer & tennis programs, and on top of it all, she is learning Spanish every day as part of an immersion program. I was nervous about making the switch to this school, but I am so happy we did!
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great neighborhood school for my kids, we considered many other options when searching for a school. I was pleased to find out that we had a great school right in our neighborhood. We like the small class sizes, the experience of the teachers, the enthusiasm of the new principal, the Spanish Immersion program, the accelerated curriculum, as well as the extra curricular programs for the kids such as Jr. Ambassadors. If you live in the neighborhood make sure you check it out.
—Submitted by a parent

We could not be happier with our choice! Our kindergartener is loving school and the Spanish Immersion Program! The teachers are outstanding! The principal and the entire staff have created a welcoming environment that is evident to everytime we are on campus. We look forward to our child growing up in this great community!
—Submitted by a parent

Squaw Peak is an excellent neighborhood school. The Administrators and teachers show great concern for educational development and want kids to succeed. The teachers my child has had so far from K-2nd grade have been excellent and have done a great job of providing constant communication on my childs progress and been willing to meet with me and address my concerns. Through parent/teacher collaboration they have developed various programs to improve parent involvement and raise funds to update teaching tools and programs for the kids. The addition of the spanish immersion program is one more example of this school understanding the needs of the community and trying to prepare our kids with an value added life skill. Higher levels of parent involvement and assistance with fund raising will help this school to continue to elevate its ranking.
—Submitted by a parent

Just finished our parent/teacher conferences and I'm very pleased to see how much the teachers truly care about how my children are doing. It so apparent that our teachers will do everything in their power to help our kids succeed.
—Submitted by a parent

The Foreign language immersion is fantastic! Great principal and teachers ... A truly positive learning environment.
—Submitted by a parent

It is a school that is trying to meet the needs of the community it serves on a very limited budget. It is the first school in Phoenix to provide a language imersion program which is critical to our children's development. It is our responsibility to prepare our children to compete in the global economy. Squaw Peak is trying to respond to this need. I applaud them for that.
—Submitted by a parent

Very professional and kid caring teachers. Highly performing school
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter is a 6th grader at Squaw Peak Traditional, and she is what you would call a gifted student. The small class sizes, small campus siize, and the dvanced grading scale have finally provided her with the academic stimulation she wasn't recieving at Larry C Kennedy school. I am very happy with her attiitude and performance at SPTA, and I look forward to her fnishing middle school there!
—Submitted by a parent

They love their students and help each and every one of them to succeed!
—Submitted by a parent

I love the academic structure & that by child is in a language immersion program. My child is speaking spanish & loves it. The teachers are outstanding in both spanish & english core subjects. Squaw Peak has the foundation to prepare children for college and living in a world economy.
—Submitted by a parent

This school (Squaw peak traditional academy) offers a great foreign language program. Great teachers. Great Principal.
—Submitted by a parent

We are a new family to SPTA this year - with one son in the Kinder Spanish Foreign Language Immersion Program and one son in the 3rd grade class. We have really been impressed with the high academic standards, teacher and staff involvement, new principal enthusiasm, and overall community of the school. We had been in a Montessori school for the last 5 years (and liked it very much) and were concerned about the transition to a "traditional" school - but they have adjusted well and are very happy. We also like that the school provides Spanish for other grades as part of regular curriculum and the boys enjoy all the other specials: music, technology, art, P.E., and library. They also have Chess club. Lots of homework - but very happy - highly recommend SPTA!
—Submitted by a parent