Santa Fe Elementary School

9880 North 77th Avenue

School District

Peoria Unified
Grade

PK, K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Peoria Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 11, 2024

My children have attended this school since kindergarten and we have been pleased. Kinder through 6 in the Spanish immersion program were wonderful! Jr high seems to change with teachers that lack empathy and black and white discipline practices that don’t support social emotional wellbeing. Overall it was a good experience for my children but I think due to the teacher shortage and increased disrespect from students it may be declining.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2023

Santa Fe is our neighborhood school and it has a wonderful sense of community. The class sizes are very small and my daughter has learned so much from her dedicated teachers this year. The PTSA really dedicates a lot of time to make events special for the kids and families.
Submitted by parent on September 22, 2022

Autistic children learn negative behaviors here because of lack of staff support and supervision. Then they offer The ACES as a way to move your child away from them... The ACES is definitely not a school for High Functioning Autistic children to grow.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2021

Unfortunately, you'll be dealing with their internal politics a lot.
Submitted by parent on June 28, 2021

Santa Fe Elementary School has been a positive learning environment for my daughter over the past 9 years. We are out of district and chose to enroll our daughter in Santa Fe because of the Spanish Immersion program. Mr. S and Senora Fort were amazing kindergarten teachers! Our daughter learned to read by the end of kindergarten and was excited to be learning Spanish. She continued to progress in academics and in learning Spanish, so much so that she was able to test out of first year Spanish class in high school. Our daughter really excelled in this school! She was very excited to attend school every day and always came home excited to share what she learned in social studies with her favorite teacher, Mr. Sanchez. Our daughter graduated from Santa Fe this year and will be moving on to high school. We will forever be grateful to Santa Fe and all the caring teachers that worked to provide her with the foundation to be successful in her future.
Submitted by parent on June 26, 2021

We have 3 kids who are/have attended Santa Fe, and we have been a part of the Santa Fe community for 10 years (and counting). Santa Fe was our school of choice...not our neighborhood school (our kids are there on a variance). We were drawn to Santa Fe due to the Spanish Immersion Program, but we have stayed at Santa Fe because of the sense of community, the good friends and the excellent teachers that my kids have been blessed with. We drive 20 minutes to school everyday (and there are many students who come from further distances than that)...so I think that it says a lot about a school when many of the students are there by choice (on variances), even when it takes effort and commitment to get them to school each day. The Spanish Immersion Program isn't perfect...my kids have learned a lot of Spanish some years, and less other years (all depending on the Spanish teacher they have had)....but I have always felt it was still worthwhile, because they were being exposed to another language on a daily basis. We are very encouraged by the fact that Santa Fe is currently revamping their Spanish Immersion Program to improve it...so we are looking forward to that! Over the 10 years that our kids have attended Santa Fe, they have had many excellent teachers. All 3 of my kids (who are 7 years apart) were blessed to have the same 2 kindergarten teachers....who are absolutely amazing...you will not find better kindergarten teachers anywhere! Many of the best teachers at Santa Fe have been there a number of years....also a testament to the quality of the community and school, as well as the dedication of the teachers. Of course there is always some teacher turnover (some years more than others)...but many of the teachers are devoted to Santa Fe and its students. I have always found the administration to be very positive, encouraging and engaging. They communicate well with the parents, and are always available to sit down with you when needed. From the welcome you receive in the front office, to the receptiveness and support that is shown by the teachers, staff and administration...our 10 years (and counting) at Santa Fe have been a great experience, and we don't regret our choice at all. Santa Fe is not a perfect school; the students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents who represent Santa Fe are not perfect people...so of course there will always be problems that pop up. But overall, we feel Santa Fe is a special place, and we would definitely recommend it.
Submitted by parent on June 24, 2021

We have been going to the school since 2015 and I now have three children attending here. We came to the school from outside the school block for their Spanish immersion program.We were here when Mr Miller was the principal and I felt like he did a good job of hearing concerns we had with our eldest child and their teacher. I appreciated his forward thinking and with coming up with a solution everyone could work with. Mr. Nitschke is now the principal and I truly appreciate the Friday afternoon calls to give updates on what's going on with the school, to address concerns but by parents and teachers, and to recognize students who have won awards. I feel he makes an effort to be a part of every classroom and to keep a connection between parents and the school.I cannot say it's enough and to emphasize how much I appreciate the kindergarten team, I'll put in all caps... THE KINDERGARTEN TEAM IS AWESOME!!! Since we are in the Spanish immersion, we had señora Fort and Mr. S, but during online learning we also had the pleasure of having Mrs Powers. I feel that they truly were meant to teach this age level and set up such a wonderful foundation for them to excel in school. It will be a sad day at Santa Fe whenever these kindergarten teachers are ready to retire. Also, while doing online learning, we had the pleasure of having Mrs Galloway (second grade teacher) as our teacher and I feel that if every teacher adopted her organization, her serenity, and her patience, Santa Fe would be the best school in the district. Every morning she would review what is going on in the day, what specials were planned, when meetings were, and what homework was due. I thought her communication was a brush of fresh air in an other wise stressful 2020 school year. The only reason why is the school was not five stars was what I feel is/was a deficit in the gifted program. My oldest is identified as gifted and I had not been impressed with how the gifted program was run until this past year. I hope they continue with how the program was and even expand to greater things. I read the comments from the teacher prior to my review and know that what goes on behind the scenes can be and usually is so much different than what we see as parents. But I have confidence in the administration to take the concerns and frustrations from previous employees and parents and tried to make things right. For any parent looking at the school, I would encourage you to get involved.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2021

I have three children currently attending Santa Fe Elementary School. I would highly recommend this school. All schools have highs and lows but I feel that Santa Fe does strive to serve their community the best they can. My children love their classmates and their teachers. They are excited to go to school each day.
Submitted by teacher on January 16, 2019

In all my years of teaching, this is by far the worst school. I understand it isn't all the school's fault as there are parents who are raising these kids. However, they were very ineffective in controlling the student behavior. When students' behavior isn't kept in check, the education itself suffers for all students. There were kids cussing out teachers, fights on the playground, students making sexual gestures in the middle of class right in front of teachers, kids being cruel to each other, etc. Instead of "excuse me" it was "get out of my way, retard". It isn't one thing. It's the school environment as a whole. We've created a self-entitled group of young people who seem to think they are the center of the world, and they can do whatever they want with no consequences. I've taught at other schools, and have seen students who cuss their parents out at home be very respectful at school. It's all about the expectations and what is tolerated by the administration. I think they have good intentions, but taking it easy on kids who have a rough home life only exacerbates the problems. Those kids need more structure and need to be held accountable for their actions. I come home some days and feel like I've been abused all day from the way the kids treat me and each other.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2018

Very typical for an Arizona school which you know is 48th in the nation for education... last I checked.
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2018

The teachers at this school are highly involved. Provide ways to help the parents and kids do homework in an effective way. Speech therapy is amazing. The tutoring is amazing.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2016

My daughter attend preschool for 2 years with Mrs. Rivera and Mrs. Trejo and my daughter loves them! They are pretty amazing, they really care about there students and my daughter has learned so much! I can't wait for Kindergarten I really hope the teachers are a lot like these two!
Submitted by parent on October 22, 2015

I just had my parent-teacher conference last week. The teacher gave me a lot of information about my son's grades and explained them. She answered all my questions and really showed that she knows what she's doing. It's her first year at Santa Fe and they are lucky to have her.
Submitted by parent on October 13, 2015

Most of the teachers are new this year. The Kindergarten teachers ( Mr. S and Senora Fort) are great, but the first-grade and second-grade teachers are terrible this year. This school was highly spoken about years ago, and it had gone down hill since. I'm looing for a new school for my children for next school year. The school changed their parent pick up just last week and it is a nightmare for pick up parents. I have overheard several parents talking and they also plan to change schools next year.
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2014

The one thing that makes this school special is their Spanish immersion program. It starts from K - 8th grade where every day children get 1/2 lessons in Spanish. We do not speak Spanish at home, but all studies show bi-lingual children out perform English only children by 3rd grade and beyond in English, and earlier in Math. Not all children are in the bilingual program, about 50% of the school. I have been concerned about the Math scores from this school in general, and this year the principle has allowed about 6 kids in 3rd grade bilingual studies to advance to the 4th grade math class taught in Spanish due to their advanced math abilities. The principal, Mr. Miller, is very proactive, and trying to make the school better anytime he can. This was an experiment that will likely continue now due to the success it has shown in my child, and the others. I plan to work with the school for next school year 2015-2016 to start an after-school math-Jr FLL Robotics program as a volunteer parent under the guidance of a school teacher. This could really start changing the game equation for this school!
Submitted by parent on July 27, 2013

Love this school! My daughter started last year in the Spanish Immersion program. My youngest gets to start this year. Mr. S and Senora Forte are fabulous! They are wonderful and encouraging teachers. The nurse and staff have been a tremendous support system with my daughters' recent diagnosis and associated lifestyle change as a type 1 diabetic. They are a great group of people. I look forward to my girls growing with this school. I appreciate the genuine concern and attention to care for the students. Thank you Santa Fe staff!!!