Hi all,

We may need to relocate to Phoenix/Scottsdale area for next school year. I found Sonoran Sky Elementary online which is a public school that offers self contained gifted for K-6th grade.

I haven't toured yet, but the program sounds just perfect for my DD's who will be in K and 2nd next year. Anyone have any info to share good or bad?

Thanks!

Hi Seeker!
I sent you a PM. We live in AZ so I have a little anecdotal information.

Thanks for the scoop. I will be sending a PM as well.

My child has not attended this particular school, however we know several kids in the program. They are highly gifted and it sounds like it was and is a good fit. They have a nice choir there.

I have no idea how people feel if they have a PG kid there.

My kids attend Sonoran Sky self contained program. We LOVE it. If your child has the numbers to get into the self-contained program at Sonoran Sky, do whatever it takes to get in (check with Dina Brulles, head of the PVUSD gifted department, to see). Class size is small, teachers are amazing, and what a luxury to be surrounded by kids who are at the same level intellectually. And if you're a reasonably bright parent, what a luxury to find similar parents!!! It's truly a private school experience. If you can't get into the self-contained program, Sonoran Sky has a pullout program, which is pretty good, too. If there is no room at Sonoran Sky and/or your child's scores don't qualify him/her, find a private school or another state. The schools in Scottsdale and Phoenix are generally terrible. From both personal experience and rumor, the other Paradise Valley schools are worse than you could imagine.

Thanks Scharlach33. Great to hear from someone who is there! We have scores to qualify for Davidson so I'm guessing we're ok.

Sorry to hear about the surrounding schools in Scottsdale/Phoenix. Why do you suppose that they're so terrible? I don't know much about AZ. Low taxes, older population?

I hate that there's a 2-tier educational system here -- good programs for the gifted and lousy ones for the other 97% of the kids. But we're glad there's a great option for us, and so we're taking advantage of it. We started in the AZ regular schools, not knowing of this special program, and my kids wasted 2 years learning very little.

There are many factors that contribute to the lousy schools in Arizona, not the least of which is inadequate funding. I also think the administration thinks the schools are OK, so they don't try and improve. Educational expectations are low, and the kids are happy to oblige.

Paradise Valley Unified School District (www.pvusd.edu, I think) has a page describing the gifted program and the qualifications. Not all gifted kids are eligible for the self-contained class, so be sure to check out the criteria. You'll also see that a new middle school opened this year for gifted kids; initial reviews are VERY positive. Scottsdale Unified School District also has a self-contained gifted program. I don't know much about it, but you should look into that one, too. I'm sure other cities in Arizona also have such programs, but you'll have to poke around to find them all.

Good luck!

Hi Scharlach33,

I just found this message board after "Googling" Sonoran Sky's self-contained gifted program, so just had a quick question or two for you.

We are planning to open-enroll our son at SS next year in the clustered kindergarten program and then the following year in self-contained (next year they will not have self-contained for kinder). I have already sent Dina his test scores and she called to confirm that he will be eligible for the program. I was wondering if your kids started the program as young as 1st grade and what the intensity level is? I know that's a vague question. I am just trying to get an idea of how much homework, for example, kids that age have each night, and if the kids all move at a similar pace or if it's really individualized for each child?

Also, how quickly does the program fill-up? Since it's a mixed age (1st/2nd) grade combination class I assume it will already be half filled or so before we even have the opportunity to register, as you may not register until one year in advance.

Thanks so much!

I know this is a really old post but had a question....we may have the opportunity for a year re-location to the Scottsdale area (Chandler) and I saw this post about Sonoran Sky - was curious about people's opinions about this school and their program??? My son would qualify on the scores they had posted on their website...can someone pass on any information???? We live in Florida so this would be a bit of a change for us and it is for just a temporary period - my husband would be working with Intel onsite through his company...so would love to hear any opinions...I am seeing that maybe the public school system is not exactly the best??? Thanks from a confused mom!

We are in AZ. Chandler has a self contained gifted program, but I don't know too much about it. Kyrene will also be moving to a self contained format next year. Our children have not entered the school system yet, but I know parents who have their children in the Kyrene gifted programs and they are very happy. We have researched all of the options (public & private) in the SE valley and we will be sending our kids to the Kyrene district.

Before we moved here I had also heard terrible things about the schools, but I never seem to meet anyone that is actually unhappy with the education their child is receiving. My co-workers, who are also very educated, do not seem to complain about the schools (they attend primarily SE valley schools). Most of my close friends have kids that are still too young for elementary school, so I don't have their input yet. Although, everyone seems to agree that AZ could spend more on education. Now...complaining about the weather is a whole different issue!

we live in chandler too. MyDS went to self contained gifted prgm in the chandler district for 1st grade, bad experience since had new teacher and all. next year he went to a charter school with gifted program, it was apull out but now they don't have that gifted teacher. he might get in the kyrene self contained prgm for 3rd grade . don't know if we should do chandler prep or wait for him to get in the self contained prgm at chandler and kyrene ? so confused and school begins next week. please help

Maybe you should give the Kyrene district a call and get some additional information on their self contained gifted program. It might help make your decision easier to start by determining if they have space available in the program.

Bumping to see if anyone has more recent experience with this school, or has an opinion on PVSD vs. Scottsdale or Kyrene or Chandler districts. Possibly moving to Phoenix area and need school for dd10/5th grade and dd4. Thanks for any info.!

Hi deacongirl,

It depends on what you are looking for. Some things to note about AZ.

1) AZ has open enrollment so you can attend any district regardless of where you live. You will have to drive.
2) There are very strong charter schools in the state that outperform district schools.
3) PVUSD and SUSD have a large range of quality between schools as these districts span different sections of the city. i.e., the schools in the north have better results due to the high SES in the area.

PVUSD and SUSD are in the central to the north part of the area. Chandler and Kyrene are in the south.

As I live in the northern part of town I can comment on PVUSD and SUSD. If you are looking for the schools with ther best academics these are the top schools in descending order.

BASIS Schools - Charter (in Chandler and Scottsdale)
GreatHearts Schools - Charter (See Scottsdale Prep and Chandler Prep)
Benchmark School - Charter
Cheyenne Traditional - SUSD magnet school
Grayhawk - PVUSD
Pinnacle Peak - PVUSD
Copper Ridge - SUSD

I would stay away from Kyrene and I know little about Chandler.

If you are looking for self contained gifted in a district setting, than Sonoran Sky is your best choice. The self contained gift schools in SUSD are not that great.

Bottom line, while AZ does rank low nationally of education, our state offers the most choice with open enrollment, charters, online schooling, vouchers, and homeschooling. You will not be stuck with your local district if you are unhappy or want a bigger challenge for your children.

Thanks for the info. Dh would be working in the Biltmore area. I was thinking Chandler would be a good option for us (not realizing how bad the traffic is) due to (relatively) more diversity for dd4 (born in Vietnam), more house for $ etc. Chandler also has self-contained gifted. But I am thinking the commute would rule out Chandler.

I did contact some professionals with expertise in this area, and it seems PVUSD's gifted program would be the best bet. Unfortunately I think Sonoran Sky's self-contained program is full for 2011-12, but there is another school that offers it in PVUSD. It is good to know about the open enrollment options--but if we could live in the neighborhood of the school the kids would go to it would be great. It might be ok for dd10 to be at Sonaran Sky in the regular class with daily content enrichment/replacement with the gifted specialist for the end of 5th, and then for 6th grade maybe be in the self-contained program.

It is difficult to figure this out from the East Coast, so I appreciate your sharing your experience! Thank you.

I live in the Biltmore area and the elementary/middle programs that come to mind which tend to attract HG+ kids, roughly in descending order of proximity, are REACH, Madison Traditional Academy, Biltmore Prep (Spanish immersion), Simis/Meadows, Benchmark, Archway/Veritas (a Great Hearts school), and SUSD which now has a self-contained program at Hopi Elementary.

My YS is in his second year at REACH and we're thrilled with the program. I'd be happy to chat more if you're interested.

I should also mention that I left out a few good local private schools, which IMO have nothing more to offer academically than the public/charter schools listed in this thread.

MAE,
Thank you so much for the feedback. It is so helpful! I will explore more but from what I can tell so far Biltmore would be out of our price range, and while it is the kind of neighborhood I would love, dh would rather have a bigger/newer house. And we need 4 bedrooms b/c dd10 would lose her mind sharing a room with dd4! So I think for now I will focus on PVSD and then SUSD.

Did you use a private tester? I was thrilled to see that Dr. Beljan was in Scottsdale--while dd10 is pretty straightforward I think his expertise will be very helpful with dd4 (and also with myself! if we have any $ left when we are done with the kids)

As far as private school--we are spending a fortune now for our 3 kids including our son with Down syndrome on private school because there isn't a viable public option here. We are trying very hard to make the public schools work wherever we end up next.

Thanks again for your response!

Hi, I know this is old. I am interested in information on Sonoran Sky, Reach or SUSD self contained gifted. My d5 has been tested HG and she is going to repeat K as she is really smart but delayed emotionally and slight fine & gross motor. I have her in a Montessori class right now and she is doing better as they are not pushing her beyond what she wants to do right now while we work on ways for her to cope with frustrations and they can actually pull in curriculum up to 1st grade next year if she needs more. I am trying to decide what to do in the 2014/2015 year when she is in 1st grade. Are these self contained programs really intense? Like hours of homework and reports? I think she needs to be challenged but not with tons of busy work. She is super visual spatial and with her fine motor delays she really hates writing but she is at a K level but she hates it and if you push her she has a very intense meltdown. I am not sure if she has any LD but right now we are considering her 2e due to her delays but there is a thought that she will catch up with therapy and other interventions we are working on. Thanks in advance!

Hi alir. I didn't see your post in a timely manner but I hope you've gotten some exposure to the programs you're interested in for your daughter. Madison REACH is in tour mode since they just changed locations for the 2014/2015 school year, contact Terrie Barnes, Administrator for Curriculum and Instruction tbarnes@msd38.org 602-664-7914. I'd be happy to chat more.