Desert Shadows Middle School

This is an amazing school for any child. We moved to Scottsdale from Portland, Oregon (Beaverton School District) and the difference between going to their schools is like night and day. The Academies are amazing and we had one daughter in Choir and the other in Art. They care about the Arts in Arizona, the community cares, and the teachers and the children are so involved. PV School District is amazing and I have heard Scottsdale is wonderful too. Our daughters are special needs and they are really supported at this school. They have extra time for all children to visit with their teachers each day in all classes and talk to them, catch up on whatever they are behind in...From the other parents I have talked to the other Academies - are wonderful too. If you have a child with high academic skills this school is great and leads into Horizon High and it is amazing too!! I love that there is open enrollment and you can make a choice as to what school you wish to have your child go to. The teachers have been here forever and they stay...athletics.. Mr. Clancy, Principal, Ms. Sardina, Mr. Goldblatt - they have amazing teachers!! We are so thankful we found DSMS!!
—Submitted by a parent

Did You Notice The Rating? It's the leadership. When you have a good leader that believes in team work... that believes no one is above the other, you get a very caring community. EVERYONE here REALLY cares! My daughter is open enrolled & I believe leaving our area for a fresh new start was the best thing I could have done for her. She knew (1) person at the start of school in admin. She is typically quite & on the shy side. With in a day her teachers made her feel so comfortable she was sharing answers, reading to the class and making friends. She even had a few kids (she never met) come up to her at lunch (day 3) and ask if she wanted to eat with them. REALLY! The caring community of the school is rubbing off on the kids. My own experience while waiting after school for my daughter... The media center is in the center of the main building. Lots of windows to see in. I noticed a boy working on a computer and we caught eye contact. He smiled and waved to me. REALLY! Bottom line... Principal Clancy & his staff are very caring & giving. They treat the kids as if they are their own. They want everyone to excel ... No matter the level. My daughter LOVES it here.
—Submitted by a parent

If you have an academically advanced or gifted child, this is NOT the school for you. My son attended K-6 gifted programs in this district, only to be "thrown to the wolves" at this school. No one in the administration, nor science, math, or language arts departments knew anything about educating a gifted child. I reached out to DSMS admin & teachers to try to find an appropriate academic plan for my son, to no avail. My son's assessment was: If you are in "honors" classes, you have 100 vocab words instead of 50! Precisely the point! The teachers are more interested in "playing high school", with their misguided departmentalization, than they are educating high-achieving children.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is fabulous. My family recently moved to Arizona from the Philadelphia, PA region. My daughters are have thrived, partly due to the sense of community at DSMS. The teachers and administration are readily accessible and genuinely care about their students. The only exception is the orchestra teacher. She was rude, unprofessional (with one of my daughters who is learning violin), to the degree that we had her removed from the class and placed into the band program. The band teacher is one of the most caring, genuine and professional teacher I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. He loves his students and treats them like family. Overall, both the elementary and middle school are wonderful for students to grow up in!
—Submitted by a parent

This school was amazing. The 7th Grade Social Studies programs (Gettysburg Reenactment, Tombstone, and White House Dinner) were amazing. My son was able to take advantage of the science trip to Costa Rica with Ms. Kendrick and in 8th grade both the Washington DC trip and the France Foreign Exchange. I am truely amazed this is a public school. They offer much more than any of the private schools around.
—Submitted by a parent

My 7th grade daughter is open enrolled at Desert Shadows Middle School and she is loving every minute of it. The teachers and administration have been very helpful in helping us find our way. There are many volunteer opportunities and there is a warm community feeling. I would recommend Desert Shadows to anyone!
—Submitted by a parent

My second child is in 8th grade at Desert Shadows Middle and I look forward to my 6th grader attending next year. Through the years with my older child and current student, I have found the teachers very approachable and communicative. We have experienced teachers who really try to challenge the students and bring out the best in them.. Middle school can be tough because of the social, emotional, and developmental issues for 7th and 8th graders, but the administration is very involved in getting the information and tools out to parents that help families not only get through the middle school years, but also prepare for high school. I would definitely take a tour and check out this school.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm very disappointed in this school and their politics. The most pressing issue is that my child worked extra hard to achieve academic success. Grades averaged a 98 for the entire school year, including all classes. They had an award ceremony and didn't acknowledge my child. When questioned about it, they had the most ign----- teacher told me that they only had two academic awards, the recipients were determined/selected by teacher's choice, not by who earned it. The children that were selected could not compare academically to my child. Needless to say how heartbreaking that was for my child. In light of their mess, they do have an awesome honors math teacher.
—Submitted by a parent

My son is going into 8th grade and we had a superb 7th grade year. The highlights of this school are the Social Studies program with Gettysburg and the White House Dinner. Also all his teachers seem to care and were good with communication, etc. I would recommend this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Our child is very unhappy with this school. Some of the staff simply want nothing to do with kids that have special needs. If your child is covered by an IEP, you should seriously consider anything other than DSMS.
—Submitted by a parent

I go to Desert Shadows and i love it so much. i have made so many new friends and gotten really good grades. i recommend Desert Shadows Middle School.
—Submitted by a student

I go here and I am in 7th grade and I love it! Our Principle and our Vice Principle are the coolest people ever! Desert Shadows also has awesome, funny teachers! They have regular and honors teachers as well. I love this school, and even though it doesn't show it on the outside, on the inside there is great teachers that really love what they do.
—Submitted by a student

My son is in his second year at DSMS and is thriving in this warm, friendly, yet academically challenging school. The administration and staff truly care about the well being of every student here. I hope all parents in the area who are approaching the middle school experience with their child will consider this 'Excelling' public school.
—Submitted by a parent

Academic quality surprisingly & disappointedly low - both my children were much more challenged in K-6. Seventh grade staff sets the basement standard. Greatest weakness overall in the math department. The 'departmental' philosophy of the staff indicates they want to be high school teachers, but can't cut it, and have no educational methodology teaching skills that the elementary teachers have. The longevity of teachers statistic at this school may at first sound like a positive attribute, but is actually indicative of a staff mentality of counting days until retirement instead of improving and updating instructional skills with current research on brain function in middle schoolers and teaching to different learning styles. Parents may be involved as long as their expectations do not attempt to raise the bar on what actually happens in the classroom. Adult cheerleaders are showcased. Parents who expect more from a public school system are ignored.
—Submitted by Margo Valentine, a parent

Our family has been extremely happy at DSMS. Dedicated, professional educators with many yrs of experience, yet open to continual revision and application of new goals/teacher strategies to meet all students' goals. Grouping of students into 'teams' has resulted in community building among both staff and and students. Focus is on core academics, and yet there is ample opportunity for students to explore diverse interests through foreign languages, technology, and video production. The music teacher is incredible, a variety of sports for boys and girls, several after school clubs and committees- there is something for every kid to get involved with at DSMS. Parent involvement quite active with a PTO, which also interfaces with student council. Site council has both community and parental input. My daughter has been able to mix 'academic rigor' with developing new relationships with friends and teachers. We were worried about middle school, but DSMS has exceeded our expectations!
—Submitted by Renee, a parent

We Chose DSMS for their high test scores and lower enrollment. We ar in District Transfers and are completely satisfied, overyjoyed with our choice. The teachers care about the student's education and are always willing to help. My daughter loves school and comes home with possitive things to say always!
—Submitted by Lynn Melotik, a parent

There is alot of parent involvment at DSMS. The current Music teacher, Mr. Brasen, is kind. I hate sports, so I didn't take any this year, but last year P.E. was decent. There are a few clubs, but there are pretty much pointless. Some of the teachers can be a little harsh, but they still teach very well. The important thing about DSMS is that if you try, you will do well. The only students that fail at DSMS are the ones that don't turn in their homework. Everyone else, even the students who would normally have trouble understanding certain things, does really well at this school. (Probably because all of are teachers are really good!)
—Submitted by Shannon (Current DSMS student), a student

My son is in his second year at DSMS and loves it. DSMS promotes and environment that enhances learning, socialization, drug awareness, and parent interaction. For such a short stay (by comparison to elementary and high schools) I feel that I'm familiar with so many of the staff and families from neighboring schools. Each year I grow to know more. I feel that my experience at DSMS is just as important as my child's. The #1 asset: strong leadership. The #1 complaint: camp aesthetics (but it improves every year.)
—Submitted by a parent

I found the teachers to be very child centered. They truly care about the students. The administration is very open to parent communication.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a former student of DSMS, and while most of my teachers were very good, there were a few who didn t really know how to teach us the material and relied on pointless projects and busywork to do their job for them. There was also too much teaching to the test (there was a mandatory class given to the honors students designed to raise their test scores), and the principal didn t seem to care about us at all; she seemed very insincere. Despite all of this, I still liked DSMS because I had several exceptional teachers who taught their material well and did their best to make the class interesting and fun.
—Submitted by a former student