Blenman Elementary School

I do NOT recommend Blenman to anyone. You know the saying of what rolls downhill?....It all starts with Ms. DeSalvo the Principal (by title). The School as a whole is very unorganized, and it seems that the majority of the teachers are clueless when it comes to dealing with children, from yelling at them in an unprofessional manner, to allowing them to run amuck. I have witnessed teachers grabbing other students by the arm to get their attention. When the final bell rings, it is a free for all with kids running out of their classrooms, and down the halls, zipping right past silent teachers who dont seem to care. As far as security, there is not much. Parents can roam the campus in the morning, and after 3pm. I do not feel safe with my child in the hallway, with who we assume are parents.How do we know who is a parent and who is there for other reasons? All in all, avoid Blenman. Run as fast as you can. (Dont worry, no one will stop you in the halls).
—Submitted by a parent

I attended Blenman when I was in kindergarten and I was unhappy with it then, they didnt teach me how to spell my last name. Now as a parent I was very aprehensive on sending my child there. She went for second grade and the very firs day they put her in the wrong grade, 1st grade, so i got the fixed the next day she was in a 2nd grade class where the teacher extremly over weight sat down on a chair, threw the luch cards all over the floor and made the children crawl around on the floor to find their cards, like animals, the thrid day was the same thing, needless to say, that was the last day at that school. I dont recommend Davidson elementary either.
—Submitted by a parent

Ms. Desalvo is a very unorganized principal. She should not be the principal next year. She organizes award assembly and then only awards the students she likes. You take her the data and as an unprofessional leader of our children she refuses to write my daughter an apology letter for her neglegence of being an organized principal. Yet, this is the leadership we want our children to follow. No wonder why this school has low grade levels. There leader cant even honor them in an assembly they invite them too.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm not happy with this school what so ever. And I went there as a kid and loved it. not so good for my daughter.
—Submitted by a parent

Sad to see the kids are never outside for recess or PE. Unacceptable.
—Submitted by a parent

I've never jet such hard-working teachers.They are totally dedicated to their students, going above and beyond the call of duty.
—Submitted by a teacher

Blenman Elementary is one of the most diverse school communities in Tucson. Blenman was built in the 1940's and was named after Judge Charles Blenman, an English attorney who sailed non-stop from Southampton around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 145 days; he settled in Tucson in 1893. His travels reflect the diversity of our school community. We have students and parents who speak over 17 languages and dialects! As a Structured English Immersion teacher, this can be challenging, but often I am the student. My students have so much to share and are so eager to learn about so much in the curriculum from rocks and minerals, to math story problems, and especially technology! We are extremely fortunate to have a Promethean Board in our classroom. However, our computer lab and the classroom have computers that are ten years old. How thrilling it would be to have a laptop with which to operate the Promethean Board, and have new computers that don't crash when my students are trying to write stories, do research, and play educational games with the latest plug-ins. Our Title One school does not always have the budget for such luxuries, but our principal has been very creative in trying to get the resources that our students need. I love Blenman, my nephew went here! We are such a unique place with very special people. The teachers care so much for our students. There is truly a sense of community in our school. Our global school should have an opportunity to learn with 21st century skills.
—Submitted by a parent

My son is a special needs student of Blenman. I am disapponted over the lack of aids or any willingness to modify learning. I notice a zealous attempt to conform individuality to achieve medioracty. I wish more focus was placed on guiding children through learning vs. memorizing for test readiness. So much emphasis is placed on attendance that I feel he is nothing more than a commodity.
—Submitted by a parent

We absolutely love Blenman. They have an excellent SFA (Success for All) reading program. Great treatment to GATE (Gifted and Talented Edu.) children, who often in other schools get left behind without additional challenges. Lovely community, gardening, music and lots of Art. We love it!
—Submitted by a parent

My son attended Blenman from Kindergarten through fourth grade. He had many good teachers and was able to get involved in library (they have their own!), art, and music programs. The teachers were experienced and were able to handle a diverse student body from a wide range of cultural, racial and economic background and stay focused on education. Parents are involved through the PTA, the fantastic Halloween carnival, and many programs throughout the year. I found it to be a good neighborhood school and wish my son could have stayed through fifth grade.
—Submitted by a parent

I attended a kindergarten open-house at Blenman as a prospective parent. It was sad to see a piano sitting in the hallway unused, while the room has 'listening stations' where kids listen to stories on tape. The 'art' activities were mostly 'coloring within the lines'. Even the paper for 'free drawing' had a border drawn around it, for the child to stay within the lines.I heard this was a good school, so I was disappointed.

I have one child that just finished 5 years at Blenman and another who is now in the 1st grade after completeing kindergarden there. I moved out of the district last year (for a brief time) and went out of my way to transport my children to Blenman, after reviewing and visiting other schools in the different district I had moved too, I was not impresses by them in the least.Blenman impresses me, It is an amazing school. Both my children have learned so much. I think the principal & vice principal(who is new) are both very aggressive in dealing with important issues regarding the quality of education the children recieve.I even moved back to that area so my kids could legaly go to school at Blenman. For a TUSD school, it is a fine one. Now the only thing I do not like is the lack of security regarding the playground gates. There needs to be more seperation between the playground and the busy street the school is on.Sometimes the gates are unlocked and the children can wander away or even possibly get abducted. That bothers me quite often. There is monitors out at all times but there are blind spots that need to be taken care of.

Blenman Elementary, overall, is a wonderful. My son has done well with the SFA (Succes For All) reading program. We are disappointed that the children receive PE class only once every two weeks though. Reading is definetly what this school focuses on. All other subjects and activities are taught around the SFA time. There are times that this doesn't seem right though. My child looses math time so that he can attend library, computers, music/art. The school does have an active PTA and like most PTA's and schools we are definetly in need of some more parent involvement. We have a great carnival every year that is a wonderful Family Fun night for all. As I said above, overall, the school is good, teachers are great, the principal is okay, my son is learning and is happy to go to school. That says a lot to me.