Sam Hughes Elementary School

I taught at Sam Hughes for several years. Your child WILL get a good education. Hughes has good to great teachers. The only problems with Sam Hughes are with parents and the administration. Most of the parents are wonderful, but some of the parents have selfish agendas. The principal(s) always give in to them. So, as long as you stay out of the Sam Hughes politics, the school will be a great choice for your child!

I rate this school above average for Tucson, but put against schools in states that actually care about education...well, I don't think it would rate so high. My daughter is going on to 4th grade and started in K at Sam Hughes. We live in the neighborhood. Mrs. Esparsa is by far the best teacher she's had yet. It's actually been a steady down-hill decline since. Huge classes, no teacher aides - I shutter to think what would happen if the parents didn't get involved. Fourth grade should be pretty awful as she's assigned to a teacher that should have retired 5 years ago. Sad.
--Submitted by a parent

I love this school! The new Principal somehow combines calmness and strength and is respectful of the school's strong history in the neighborhood while moving it forward. The PTA is made up of knowledgeable and passionate parents that include some of the states top education reform activists. Because of it's proximity to the university it has families from all over the world The school benefits from partnerships with the U of A in the arts and P.E. Oh, and Bambi in the front office is a dream - knows everything and is so kind and respectful to the students - as are all of the staff at Sam Hughes Elementary.
--Submitted by a parent

It's in a wonderful neighborhood, it has great parent teacher involvement, it's a beautiful, historic building and I attended way back in the early 70s

great involvement of faculty, kids, parents in the educational enterprise
--Submitted by a parent

Sam Hughes has had some ups and downs in the last 5 years that my boys have attended there. I agree with some parents that the last 2 years were pretty bad, especially for the 3rd and 4th grades. My sons 3rd grade teacher in 05/06, which I would complain to the principal all the time about, actually no longer works there; (my older son was with Mrs. Barry in 5th grade at this time and she is a really great teacher and person). I m pretty sure the principal had an earful from many other parents during this time, but she did take care of it. The school was also under construction during 06/07 to expand and provide more classrooms and it looks great; you can feel the tension and stress are gone. Things are back to normal now and overall I m very happy that my boys attended here.
--Submitted by a parent

Sam Hughes is a much-loved, historical school close to the university. Although it has a diverse population, many of its parents are highly educated with high scholastic expectations. Sam Hughes has the highest percentage of gifted-identified students of all elementaries within TUSD and has just recently been named a GATE Focus School. Teachers and parents alike are dedicated to this school, heart and soul. NCLB and district mandates have made teachers' jobs increasingly difficult. This impacts creativity and out-of-the-box teaching, even among the most talented teachers. Sam Hughes offers chess, PE, Opening Minds through the Arts nationally-recognized arts programming, and more. Parent involvement is strong at the school, partly due to higher than average expectations for opportunities for their children. I have two children that have attended Sam Hughes (one currently) and I would strongly recommend it to all.
--Submitted by a parent

Sam Hughes is an excellent school with great heart! We have many enrichment opportunities. Each grade has chess,P.E.,and Music.In past years we have had many Artists-in-Residence for dance,art and creative drama. The teachers are very caring and many teachers tutor beyond school hours for free. I have worked at many schools in my career and Sam Hughes is the best!
--Submitted by a teacher

I have taught at Sam Hughes for over 20 years. For most of those years our school has been excellent. Unfortunately, I no longer believe this to be true, and it has to do with increased class size, lack of teacher aides, a tremendous increase in the number of district assessments, and lack of teacher support from the principal. There is also an issue with discipline. We have had a few students with major discipline issues. These students have interrupted the learning of many children, and teachers were never given any support for dealing with these students. In my opinion, we need to get back to our ideal neighborhood school. We value the open-enrollment students, however, in recent years our principal has overloaded us by taking in too many open enrollment students. Now our classes are overcrowded! Teachers do their best, but their hands are tied in many ways!
--Submitted by a teacher

I started my 2nd grade son at Sam Hughes this past fall, but on a whole I have been disappointed and not at all impressed-- the only thing my son really looks forward to is chess, and he enjoyed after-school German club until it was cancelled this spring when they couldn't find a teacher. The GATE program sounds good in theory, but the teacher has no control and seems to lack basic organizational skills and innovation in terms of projects. Some things teachers cannot control, like large class size, lack of aids, and lack of basic music and art classes, but my son's teacher has also been unwilling/unable to provide him with challenging work. He always reports that he is 'bored' and isn't learning anything-- sadly, I agree. My son excels because he is gifted, but not because this school does anything for him academically-- we won't be returning.
--Submitted by a parent