Fireside Elementary School

3725 East Lone Cactus Drive

School District

Paradise Valley Unified District
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Paradise Valley Unified 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 January 14, 2025

As a teacher myself in a different school district, I am so grateful for our Fireside Community. The school, families, and students all care for one another and they are a tight-knit group. Fireside provides my son the opportunity to be successful but also pushes him further into learning so he can one day decide what he wants to do with his future. Proud to be apart of Fireside Elementary School!
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2023

Being new to Fireside we are blessed to have found a truly amazing school! Both of my boys teachers have been so helpful in getting them acclimated. They communicate effectively and respond quickly to emails. The homework makes sense and is directly related to what they are doing in class or work they have not finished. My older son is in the Honors classes for reading and math. His Honors teacher is incredible! The class sizes are larger than I’d like, but that is true all over AZ. Very happy to join the Fireside Community!
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2021

This school caters to parents whose primary interest is that their kids not have to do any homework or studying outside of school. In-classroom lessons are very brief or delivered via computer-based training, and kids are left with large amounts of independent work time during the day that is spent socializing by most students. Very little meaningful learning goes on here. There has been a large exodus of students over the past 2-3 years as engaged parents seek out schools that offer more rigor.
Submitted by parent on January 28, 2020

The teachers are very effective and my child is happy here.
Submitted by other on December 11, 2018

Horrible. Only send your kids here if you yourself don’t have a job and have all the time in the world to volunteer
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2017

Great School, Great teachers great neighborhood. The gifted program is very effective.
Submitted by other on December 21, 2016

We have been at this school for 5 years. The worst 5 years of my child's life. I am ashamed we stayed this long. What a mistake! Gossip and tell personal information. Teachers are bullies and so is principal! Don't make the same mistake, RUN!
Submitted by other on August 26, 2016

We attended this school for the 3rd grade and part of 4th grade because after being in a private school, we had heard so many good things about it and thought it would be worth a try. Boy what a mistake. 3rd grade actually was pretty good because our child was in a cluster gifted class and could be challenged, allowed to think outside the box, but 4th grade was a disaster. Our child was put into a regular class, and completely lost interest in school. As long as you are not failing in the public school, they don't care if your kid is just barely making it (as it was clearly pointed out to us by the administration). There is nothing done to stimulate the love for learning and it is quite scary. The organization is terrible, the teachers make no effort to contact you when your child is struggling. We attempted to have multiple meetings with both the teachers and the administration which was futile. The Principal at the time was mostly concerned about her reputation on social media. We made every effort to make it work, even switching teachers which was a complete waste of time because by that point it was obvious we made ourselves a mark at that school. In all, parents should understand that likely due to prior administration the communication and organization of the school is dismal, which not only reflects in the performance of your child but it will clearly show in district test scores. I can't say if there would be improvement after the prior admin left and the damage was done. This school may come up as a 10 in reviews, but in my book it is a 1.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2016

This has been a pivotal year for my son. He is in third grade. He had wonderful teachers that helped him to excel especially in reading. I was involved in attending his classroom to help him remain organized ,help him with his weaknesses in order to help him feel successful. We had him in the check in check out program to help him remain on task and accountable. Homework completion was our biggest challenge this year. It truly takes a village to raise a child. I am so grateful for everyone involved in helping my son to become successful in this school year. Becoming more involved has made a huge difference for our family.
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2015

What a great community!! I love the feeling of family that the teachers, staff and principal encourage.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2015

This is our second year at this school after coming from a vigorous and challenging Scottsdale school. Last year we felt that our child had some great intellectual challenges with some other gifted students, but this year it has been terrible and the leadership at this school has been subpar, inside and outside of the classroom. This common core knowledge is for the birds! I don't feel our child has learned any new concepts in the last 2 years and is actually behind. I had heard so many good things about this school but we are sadly disappointed and will most likely be looking into charter schools next year with a more challenging curriculum.
Submitted by parent on September 08, 2015

This is an amazing school! The test scores speak to the high level of teaching that occurs at this school. I have two children that have attended this school for the past three years and all of the teachers have been amazing. This school has quite a few Nationally Board Certified teachers as well as the Arizona History Teacher of the Year! There is a good reason why it is so hard to get into this school! It is a GREAT place for students.
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2015

We've been in this school for 3 years since it's opening. Love all the teachers. Administration and principal are very involved, responsive and great with kids and parents. Great school overall!
Submitted by other on January 23, 2015

My niece attends first grade at Fireside. It's such a warm and welcoming school! She is placed in the first/second grade gifted classroom, her teacher being Mrs. Jones. I absolutely love the classroom environment. The students are in close community with one another. The open houses are a lot of fun and interesting to attend. The kids have such a great time working together, being creative, and learning! My niece adores Mrs. Jones and it's quite obvious that Mrs. Jones cares a lot about her students. I would definitely recommend Fireside to any family!
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2014

My children started Fireside in it's inaugural year. They were ideal students (did not get into trouble, were very respectful, on the Principal's List every year, etc). Being a stay at home mom, I volunteered on a regular basis. Both kids were at Fireside for a year & a half until we moved out of state. My kids were very sad to leave their friends & teachers behind as they had gotten attached to the school and everyone within it. We received the yearbooks that I had paid for only to find out that the school totally wiped my kids' existence from that school. There were no class photos (they took ANOTHER photo after my kids left), no choir photos (again, they took ANOTHER photo after my daughter left), no individual photo (they simply just didn't include them). The yearbook club simply did not include ANY of the photos taken of my kids before they left. My kids were so upset & heartbroken at the school for doing this to them. Fireside is full of pretentious parents, mostly women. The PTO is made up of parents who gossip way too much. Parents volunteer for a social gathering. Parents beware if education and school experiences are important! My kids are both thriving now!
Submitted by parent on September 07, 2014

We were at this school for one year in the regular classroom (gifted cluster). The school cannot claim they differentiate whatsoever. I have been in two fabulous differentiated classrooms, and the 2nd grade here is not it. My child came from another PV school known for rigor and a great cluster where I wish we would've stayed. The cluster at that school was amazing for K-1. At Fireside, it's almost as if we lost an ENTIRE year of academic progress. Now in 3rd grade at yet another new school, it's heartbreaking to see how far my child fell behind in the past year in every academic area. My child is now having to re-master areas that she had down cold in 1st grade. Her writing completely fell off last year. Hardly any writing homework whatsoever the whole year, no reports, no paragraphs... no thinking. NO reading assignments. NONE, ZERO. Math was laughable. In our old school, it was not ok to be a "minimizer" or to do the least possible work to get by.... but in Fireside there seemed to be no high expectations. It instilled some incredibly bad habits in the past year that I'm going to be spending the next year breaking. Even the "security" is a joke - no locked gates, no oversight.
Submitted by parent on August 24, 2014

This school has wonderful teachers and a new principal who has demonstrated a lot of enthusiasm and great ideas. We have been at the school since it opened, and we love the PTO, the energetic teachers, and the addition of the self-contained program into our school. Very safe environment and an efficient office staff make this an awesome school!
Submitted by parent on August 21, 2014

My family is one of a large group of families that moved to Fireside to follow the truly exceptional team of teachers leading the self-contained program. The teacher leading the 1/2-SC class is widely acknowledged as a national leader in the field of gifted education & as a model for the successful implementation of 21st century learning. She is passionate about enabling profoundly gifted children to reach their full potential, nurturing their academic, creative, and emotional needs. The proof is in the numbers: currently, one third of the students in the class have had an older sibling in her class. It IS a very rigorous program, yet this teacher manages to keep the children engaged & encourage their natural curiosity. Her personal desire to continuously learn with & from her students is contagious & motivational. More than teaching these highly motivated students what to learn, she teaches them how to learn, honoring every part of the child. Largely based on the firm foundation she provides, her students continue to excel throughout their academic careers, distinguishing themselves among their peer group in Arizona as well as on the national stage.
Submitted by parent on August 21, 2014

This is our second year at Fireside and the new principal has been a breath of fresh air. The PTO and front office have been helpful, and my child's teacher has been great. We have been a part of the self-contained program in 3 different schools, and are very impressed with all of the teachers and the rigorous work that my kids are challenged with. All of the teachers at Fireside are professional and caring, and my daughter can't wait to go to school everyday :-)
Submitted by parent on August 21, 2014

Fireside is a fantastic school and 1-2self-contained gifted is no exception. The teacher goes above and beyond each day to provide engaging experiences for her students every day. My child adores school because the experience in this program and at this school. Highly recommend to anyone seeking an exceptional education for their children. Truly world class.