Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson

I have been at SSA for three years now with two kids. The first two years were great. Teachers very caring and administration very involved. This year has been a disaster. Homework comes back home once a month if that. Kids have finals without materials to study from or a notice of test dates. Kids grade their own papers . I have constantly complained to principal but no response at all. Very Very disorganized. I have realized that AIMS scores are high because my son has stopped Science curriculum since December to work on AIMS prep and nothing else. He has missed out on science this year. This school is called Sonoran Science Academy and there has been no science curriculum teaching since January 2012. Nothing is hands on at all. Kids at recess have hardly any supervision. Kids sit or squat on the floor after eating lunch. Teacher Aids make discipline policies. People walk around campus with pets not on leashes during school hours. Not the safest since the school has no gates and anyone can walk in to any classroom without being seen. All issues have been brought to principal but nothing ever gets accomplished. Very frustrating.
--Submitted by a parent

I have to say I am really diappointed and disturbed at how SSA tucson has changed over the years. I have been involved with SSA for 4 years. I have 2 kids attending. Just recently my 6year old was suppose to be in an afterschool club and was relesed without anyone from the school administration knowing where he was. He was returned to me by a parent that had no auhorization to bring him home. I am glad he made it home safe but it is worrying to know there is no control over how and who comes in and take the kids. The campus is open for anyone to just come in and walk away with a student. I thought I should make parents aware that your child could go missing while in the care or SSA Administration.
--Submitted by a parent

This School is amazing, they are doing great at science , last 3 years they are best in Tucson , they have been selected 27th Best High School in U.S. by Washington Post. I am happy with this school.
--Submitted by a parent

To the person who wrote the below coment I highly disagree. The children do not have to purchase the food afterschool. The clubs are run by the teachers ontop of everything they do and if you would like a new club start one your self!

I have attended this school for six years now. At first it was a good school and had good teacers, fundraisers, field trips, and a lot of extracaricullar activities. Now it is terrible. I only had ONE field trip in the last 3 years. We dont have a lot of PE equipment and we dotn have a track field. There arent many afterschool clubs. Half the teachers are Turkish. The two languages we can choose to learn are Turkish and Spanish. Why would anyone need to know Turkish in Arizona?! Why would anyone in the US need to know Turkish?! We dont have a cafeteria. For Drama, we dont even have a stage. We have these little tables we stand on or we just do the play on the ground. We have the same fundraiser every year and its not even a good one. This school rips u off. You have to pay $13.00 for one polo uniform shirt. After school the teachers sell snacks that rip the kids off. Little packs of gummi bears for $0.50, little bag of chips for $0.50, canned soda for $1.00. That is to much for those little snacks. We get way to much homweork. Some teachers punish students for nothing and make them stand in a corner or wait outside for the whole class.

I always thought there was a strange feeling about this school. Like not everything was on the up and up. So I went online and did some research. I don't understand how a school can threaten to fire teachers and cut programs while always begging for donations then to find out they tried to get a school in Hawaii and even put in 4 mil bid on another school. Also claiming not being able to find teachers who are qualified is not true. About 10% of public schools have closed in Az. There is nothing honest about this school.
--Submitted by a teacher

I feel excited and blessed to have SAA in Tucson for my son. I agree with some of the negative reviews. There is a few hours of home work every night! Its called working for an education. Yes there are teachers from other countries with costumes on! Its called diversity and cultural understanding. We are in a global economy from engineering to wallstreet.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is horrible. I have been going for 2 years and hate it! Some teachers are cool but a lot of them have some "custumes" in their country of origin that we don't know about and they discipline on those custumes. They give way too much homework for little things. I get soo much homework that I only get 2 hours a day to do other thing besides homework. I wouldn't really recommend it as the first choice of a school.

A great school for academically minded students. The school also offers many extracurricular activities and afterschool clubs.
--Submitted by a parent

Exellent school for advanced kids in math and science. Excellent teachers as well. Come to see fit for your self.
--Submitted by a parent