Tully Elementary Accelerated Magnet School

Tully has always had excellent dedicated teachers, and until recently has had some of the highest scores in the district. The demise of Tully has occured due to very poor and unimaginative leadership. Run as fast as you can.
—Submitted by a teacher

Questionable leadership, low teacher morale, unusual staff domination over all fiscal aspects of fundraising & spending of PTO funds (without adequate bookkeeping) and a very undemocratic, adversarial past PTO (where the leaders resented anyone who questioned the way the PTO operated or when voting on matters was requested by its members during PTO meetings) were major reasons we didn't select Tully for our children's future educational experience. That and TUSD/Tully were unable to attract enough enough GATE children to the school's 1st and 2nd grade self-contained GATE classes (while other schools in area had adequate numbers to sustain their GATE programs for all grade levels). Tully's student population is comprised primarily of children from lower income, immigrant and refugee households that requires directing a lot of its resources towards the challenges of meeting their educational and social needs. I hope that TUSD leadership & the Principal will work to overcome some of these issues and make the school a more inviting place where kids (and parents who want to be involved) can have a rich educational, recreational and social experience while getting great AIMS results!
—Submitted by a parent

Self Contained Gifted and Talented (GATE) program at this school traditionally fairly strong. No GATE certified 1st Grade Teacher currently. School is fairly factioned leading to 3 principals in 2 years, and lagging parental support. This causes trouble in terms of staff turnover, loss of additional funding (grants) and falling test scores. No longer has a bilingual program in every grade. Band and orchestra is available in fourth and fifth grades. School does offer Art and P.E. - but nothing special that you could not get at an OMA (Opening Minds Through the Arts) school. Overall, school could turn around - if principal decides to utilize resources in a more effective manner (i.e. listen to his site council and staff instead of dictate, and let PTA operate without so much supervision).
—Submitted by a parent

Great community, dedicated staff. One bilingual class per grade. Self-contained GATE strand has very talented teachers and amazing kids. Art teacher's curriculum is very imaginative. Music program available starting 3rd grade.
—Submitted by a parent

The GATE program at Tully is very good. The teacher to student ratio is typically lower than most regular public schools. There is a strong math and writing program. The lack of musical and dramatic enrichment is a downside.
—Submitted by a parent