Tonalea Elementary School

2 words for this school........ Downward spiral!!! I would of left it at that, but I needed at least 15 words.......
—Submitted by a parent

I brought my son to Tonalea from out of state and although academic levels in general in Arizona are behind, the teachers worked extremely well to keep him interested and challenged. The staff has always been polite and professional and made me feel welcomed as well. Parent involvement is poor at this school until it comes to complaining, then parents suddenly come out of the woodowork. Bullying is not tolerated and the bullying students and their parents are confronted when it is identified. Kudos to the staff!
—Submitted by a parent

Tonalea is the absolutely worst school in the Scottsdale school district! Being our "home" school, I kept my daughter at Tonalea hoping it would get better.. It didn't! The administrative staff is unprofessional and unattentive to the students or teachers needs. The staff is unmotivated and there is a obvious lack of parent participation at this school. The children are uneducated compared to other schools in the district and there are little to no extra curricular activities.
—Submitted by a parent

I see that the teachers and administration are absolutel focused on academics and learning. The classsrooms are happy, the children are learning, and the administration is welcoming to new families and students. The entries below indicate that someone is not getting what they want and does not spend enough time at the school to really know what an excellent job this school is doing. Keep up with the good work, Tonalea.

Tonalea is a wonderful school. The teachers are extremely qualified, the students are learning every day, and the parent involvement is outstanding. Look at the website to see the many activities that include parents or get involved to see for. This school even has parent exercise classes every week. This school has a strong focus on academics and has improved in ratings by the state. It is a "Highly Performing" school and is truly outstanding.

the pre k teacher was wonderful and i hated taking my son out of her class but i had to. the school is barely passing in all of its test scores the office staff is some of the rudest people i have met. and the teachers are terrible to the students. i have heard how the other teachers talk to the students when i pick up my son from class. maybe since they think i am not that childs parent that its ok to act that way infront of a parent. i am not sure why the staff acts this way it was worse then when i was a child there and now the school is lacking in all areas. this by far is the worst school in scottsdale and needs to have a reality check. there is no diversity rudeness and meaness seem to be pouring out of the staff and creates a horrible learning enviroment
—Submitted by a parent

My child has attended this school only since September 2010 and have found that this school has an extremely poor administration. The office staff is rude at times and the teachers can go either way. However, I am just tired of my child calling me crying because of yet another way the administrators or teachers have handle situations poorly. I have children in other schools and my child has attended other schools in this district and others, but so far, with my children academic careers, this has been the most awful experience. This school is not diverse, the administrations should be changed out, and the teachers need to keep in mind that they want students to stay in school, not get them so upset to the point that they hate school and don't ever want to go, especially when the student is a straight A student and has always loved to go to school before. My child will not return to this school to finish out my child's elementary career, we will be moving on to better school that are actually highly performing in Arizona. Good luck to all the parents that take their children here.
—Submitted by a parent

I went to this school as a kid and now my son loves attending the full-time kindergarten program. He started out struggling; it was even considered to hold him back. But with his teacher's diligent help, he is now excelling in all areas and will be passing on to 1st grade. Excellent teachers, awesome front desk employees, and terrific bus driver. I feel my son has a great learning environment that is backed by the safe feeling the staff provides.
—Submitted by a parent

My great grandson loves going to this school, he's in the 1st grade this year, and is excited to go everyday. That's a real plus when children want to go to school. The money would help many programs and keep the kids happy.

i am a big fan of this school n i give it four stars but the staff that work in the office r sort of mean to my kid who goes there n she does nothing wrong n bad diversity of the children at the school.
—Submitted by a parent

I think that the school was OK for my son. I must say that he was underchallenged and therefore, became quite bored with class and before long it became a struggle to get him to want to come to class. The staff was very friendly. It is an old school, but is kept up pretty well. I just would've liked to see him challenged a bit more.
—Submitted by a parent

I have 4 children who have or are now attending Tonalea. My oldest is now in Supai and doing very well. The school has a strong administration that is focused on one thing. Education. The principal is approachable. The teachers are dedicated and the environment is conducive to learning. The neighborhood is peaceful and the school environement pleasant.
—Submitted by a parent

I appreciate the hands on approach of the leadership and staff at Tonalea. It is refreshing to know that care and concern for our student's well-being still exists in our school system. It is wonderful to have a progress report from the teacher of our children's academic and behavior status bi-weekly so we can be well informed of what is going on in our child's class room. This way we are ahead of the game and can resolve any issues before it is too late. The communication is amazing. Thank you for striving for excellence for the sake of our children's future!
—Submitted by a parent

This school has done wonderful things to become actively involved with the community. It not only looks great, but the smiles around the school prove that great things are happening. The principal responds quickly to neighborhood isses that surface. Thanks.

After reading the previous comments, I need to write to confirm that since 2003, Tonalea has made huge improvements. The academic focus has improved and the scores of the students show it. Any parent of a middle school child should be proud to have their kids attend Tonalea right before attending Supai. Congratulations, Tonalea. You're doing a great job!

This school has changed for the better. But I still feel that the principal can still do better than what shes doing. But parents we all need to help and get involved.They can not do it by themselves. Get involved in the school P.T.O. Help you child's teachers out. We can make the school as good or as bad as we want it to be. Don't you all think that it looks better now than three years ago? I sure do.
—Submitted by a parent

High quality of school. Great communication with parents. Welcoming of special ed students. Very organized school and very diverse population.
—Submitted by a parent

All in all, I really have no complaints about Tonalea. My oldest has been going here 3 yrs now, and my youngest just started Kindergarten.My oldest is in the gifted program, and has been for 2 yrs now, and enjoys it very much, she's also in orchestra and plays the cello. She was one of 7 5th graders to be in honors orchestra this year. The school also offers PE and Art. I would recommend this school highly to anyone.
—Submitted by a parent

Teachers are great, but have some administrators that arent. Principal is fake and talks behind the backs of her teachers as well as the parents of the students that attend her school.
—Submitted by a parent

I think Tonalea has gone downhill over the past few years. I am afraid my child will not be prepared for middle school. I find the students to be disrespectful to each other and to adults. Hopefully, with a new principal, things will change for the better.
—Submitted by a parent