Sabino High School

I'm a current senior about to graduate high in my class. The best way to get a good education is to take as many honors or AP classes as possible, because they are the best teachers by far. However, if you don't push yourself, most of the teachers won't. If you take easy classes, you get good grades as easily as showing up. The extra curricular programs are great, and nearly every student is in at least one. However, you may not find a niche if your not in one. About 80% of the kids are the stereotypical "popular" kids that party and such, but oddly enough, they're not mean like you would expect. It's a decent place to go if you want your child to be well rounded.
—Submitted by a student

As a current junior at Sabino, I can honestly say that I could not have wished for a better high school. The academics are spot on, with teachers who really know what they're talking about and who enjoy teaching their students. The AP program is particularly solid, from history to English to foreign languages to science and math. Athletics are equally as prominent, with some of the best teams in the state. The foothills campus is gorgeous and safe. I don't know where these other reviews are getting an impression of danger! Students, staff, and visitors alike are required to display IDs at all times. As for the students, I've found Sabino to be downright NICE. Not only that, they are involved in the community and many of the myriad of clubs. My freshman year was spent at another "popular" high school, and, well, I prefer my Sabercats. Drugs are a non-issue, a rarity. So if you want four years spent learning in a friendly, driven atmosphere, come to Sabino. rawr.
—Submitted by a student

I have one child entering 11th grade and one having graduated 2 years ago who is now intering his junior year at Cal Tech. Most of the teachers at Sabino have prepared both my children extremely well for college. They have been rated as an excelling school since the inception of the rating system. They have recently been recognized by Intel as a school with excellent math and science programs. They also now have an excellent 3-year engineering program that my daughter finds both challenging and fun. She now wants to study engineering at Purdue University.
—Submitted by a parent

The "leaders" of this school should have all been fired a long time ago. There are horrible things that happen at this school and the administration just sweeps it under the rug, and they do not discipline accordingly. They seem to want their school to appear as a perfect paradise where nothing can go wrong. Do not send your child here. It is not a safe school, and if something bad happens, no one will help. Not even a little bit. The academics are also terrible. After graduating, my daughter and a lot of other Sabino students I know of did not pass the math placement test at the University of Arizona and had to go to a community college for their math classes.
—Submitted by a parent

The campus is beautiful, the sports programs are good as well as a few teachers. Mostly the administration tries to cover up anything they think is bad, and fail to actually deal with any situations. They do put on a good show with the smiles and earnest assurances, but thats as far as it gets. They seem to want to keep the parents away and appear to favor students who are good in sports, white, or have wealthy parents. Fortunately, my child falls into the 'good' criteria. But my child has friends who are not and I see what happens to them. I would not recommend this school to anyone and regret sending my child there. Discrimination is discrimination even if its wrapped in a pretty package.
—Submitted by a parent

I am outraged with the parents comments, of questioning safety at Sabino, when it is on the North East side of Tucson. How much safer can this high school get? My only complaing is the lack of diversity! My education was wonderful, as well as offered extra curricular events and sports! The teachers made an amazing effort, and now I am graduate from college with Summa Cum Laude!
—Submitted by a student

I have volunteered at this school quite a few times, and have found the staff that I have worked with to be very helpful. The students that I have worked with have been respectfull and exciting to work with. Both the academics and sports programs I feel have some great strengths and should be commended for.

I think that the school is to into sports and extra after school things and some of the teachers are rude and there's not alot of courses that you can choose from.
—Submitted by a student

Sure, this school had it's downs, but overall I would not have rather attended any other school in Tucson. The 'better' schools in town produced snobby, shallow college students who went to ASU and partied for 4 years while buying a Criminal Justice or Family Studies degree on their parent's dime. The best academic students at Sabino far surpassed those from any others in the city. But, like any other school, there were those that brought the school down, as well. You will have your drugs - in Tucson that's almost expected, you just have to make sure your child understands the difference between experimentation and overuse - that seemed to be the biggest problem with kids - not knowing when they've gone too far. The extracurriculars were good, too - there were a ton of dedicated students in the fine arts program.
—Submitted by a student

This school misses the mark in every important aspect of education. I attended Sabino for my last two years of high school, having come from an exceptional school in Ohio. The teachers are low-quality, the classes are stuffed with students (AP classes fill so quickly that students are turned away)and the administration is complacent and indifferent to its student population. I would strongly recommend that any parent wanting a real education for their child find a different school. I also second the comment that if your child wants to go to an ivy league college, or even just a good one, you'll want to send them elsewhere. If you want your child to have a good time partying and playing sports or cheerleading for four years, then this might be the place for your child.
—Submitted by a former student

Great school, wonderful teachers and great kids as well
—Submitted by a parent

The quality of the acedemic program is excellent and there is an array of programs open to a variety of students. The level of parent involvement is overwhelming. There is a lot of drug use, like any school, but the kids whose parents are involved do not seem to have any trouble.
—Submitted by a former student

I was not happy with sabino. They have a terrible administration which does not disipline students properly and tries to hide anything bad that happens that would make their school look bad. They seem to care more about their image than anything. They also seemed to care more about extracuricular activities and sports more than academics. Even though their sports programs were great, it would be a wise decision not to send your child to sabino. My daughter had fun there, but it did an awful job in preparing her for college. Plus it is not a safe school.
—Submitted by a parent

Sabino is a school that you should do some homework on before you send your child there. It used to be one of the top high schools in the city. It has great extracurricular programs and a very good sports program but the academics are average. Safety comes first in our book,so we couldn't consider this school. The parent involvement is dismal. Out of 1,500 students only 400 parents are in the parent group. Not a good enough school to recommend . Too many other good high schools in the area.
—Submitted by a parent

An overall above average school. Some excellent teachers have left Mr. LaFranze - a couple of low quality teachers - but most do a good job. Very Safe, excellent reputation, upper middle and upper class type of students/parents. A very beautiful campus set at the base of the Catalina Mts and excellent after school sports programs as well as others - (but no chess club?). Anyhow I would recommend this school to anyone! Only other major complaint is they have dropped German from their program! Does have a very low elite attitude unlike University High.
—Submitted by a parent

I found Sabino to be a school where learning took a back seat to just about everything.
—Submitted by a former student

I graduated in May of 2005. When I first started at Sabino, it was a great school with wonderful experienced teachers. A few years ago they had a senior-teacher retirement buyout program and all the great teachers that 'made' the school left and were replaced with fresh out of college teachers. What a disappointment. The administration will go to any length to maintain the allusion that there are no problems at Sabino, so they do not remove bad teachers or correct discipilne problems. Problems are just allowed to exist. While it is still better than Saguaro and others, Catalina Foothills and Salpointe offer much better educations. If you want your kid to go to an ivy, have them go to C.F. or Salpointe. Sabino's reputation as best of the worst just doesnt cut it out in the college world.
—Submitted by a former student

This is an awesome school, my first son is attending here now, it is awesome! Always wanting parents to be involved, great athletics, kids, and staff!
—Submitted by Jon Brindley, a staff