Desert Sky Middle School

9850 East Rankin Loop

School District

Vail Unified District
Grade

6-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:19
Type

public

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 May 23, 2024

The front office staff of Desert Sky Middle School told me in the last few days that parents are not welcome on the campus.This statement came about after my son came to me, when I picked him up, tearful after a teacher reprimanded him. Due to his disability he was not able to articulate to me the situation. I then asked if I might speak with the teacher to clarify what had happened. Just a quick few words saying "Hey what's going on?" so that I could take the proper parental action. That's when those fateful words were spoken to me. Parents are not welcome on campus.Now, this is understandable to a minimum extent if this were to interfere with education, but it is three days from the end of the school year in which the children are watching movies and things of the like.The lady at the desk then presumed to know what I was thinking and decided to tell me with a large degree of inaccuracy. I then asked what happens if I wish to ensure the integrity of the curriculum? The reply was I would have to make an appointment so they could prepare. This left me reeling, livid, and confused. What would you need to prepare if there is nothing inherently wrong?I do not understand how the public school system has been given carte blanche over our children with total disregard of a parents authority and duty to ensure the safety of our children. Distrust sows the seeds of distrust. Now, I have no qualms with the teacher who reprimanded my son. My problem is with the policy makers and enforcers who treat parents like a delinquent second rate population. Enough is enough. I hope those who have experienced the same level of discontent with the public school system will speak up. I can not have been the only one. Those who assume authority have none and only wish to inflict their violence upon those personally deemed unworthy.
Submitted by other on May 15, 2024

Abby Jackson is an absolutely terrible teacher, she really should be fired.
Submitted by parent on February 20, 2023

desert sky needs better staff and less homework fr
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2023

This school is looks great on the outside but is bad on the inside.First off the people they hire to teach dont teach at all i am in 6th grade and alot of students have complained about this teacher yet they have done nothing about it.They dont care about your learning like a school should.PLEASE DO NOT enroll your child to this school.I am warning you
Submitted by other on September 14, 2021

My child is in an 8th grader at DSMS. The transition from elementary to middle school was a challenge at first which we worked through with the help of the school and staff. The classes and homework are challenging and at the level one would expect. The school has high expectations which I respect. The staff members have been kind and supportive over the years and truly want everyone to succeed. Communication is key. We have been very happy with DSMS, the staff and what our child has learned over the years in preparation to transition to high school.
Submitted by student on January 28, 2020

If you want your kid to be successful ,not do drug , not have depression anxiety stress or even be some what smart don’t send them to this school. It is very corrupt . Like there are two ok teachers
Submitted by teacher on January 29, 2018

I truly believe that Desert Sky makes decisions and implements curriculum based on what is best for students. I wish that Vail wasn't so focused on testing, but I do realize that testing is necessary in order to assess how well students are learning the curriculum. I am proud to say that all three of my children went through DSMS and all three are doing very well today in part because of the strong teachers and support they had through those troubling middle school years. My hat is off to you, DSMS!! Keep up the great work!
Submitted by other on April 10, 2017

I'm currently in desert sky and I'm in 7th grade and all i want to say is most of the teachers are very ignorant and don't know how to teach properly, plus they don't treat the students with respect.
Submitted by parent on February 02, 2017

My daughter is a seventh grader at Desert Sky, and I couldn't have asked for a better school. I love that this school has challenging classes, kind staff members, and lots of extra-curricular activities after school. Thanks DS!
Submitted by parent on January 04, 2017

I have seen a significant decline in both quality of teachers hired and overall quality of the school. Teachers and monitors raise voices and yell at kids all the time. Very few teachers actually seem to be involved and interested in quality of provided and taught material. Sad, used to be a great school.
Submitted by other on April 03, 2012

I went to Desert Sky last year and now am in high school. All in all, the school looks great on the outside. Good test scores, responsible, students exceed all of the state standards, but it all comes at a cost. The school is very strict and the teachers and principal crack down hard on the rules. If you forget a pencil, detention, your paper isn't long enough by one line, detention, you typed instead of wrote, detention. I was lucky enough not to get detention all three years but it is not easy. The monitors are also very biased. If there are a group of girls all in short shorts, the monitor will only call out maybe two of their least favorite people in the group. Again, this never happened to me (because I always wear jeans) but you get the point. The staff always said the discipline they gave would prepare us for high school when in reality, high school is much easier. (and I'm in all honors classes with some of the toughest teachers!) Desert Sky puts on a good face, but is way too strict!
Submitted by other on March 01, 2012

I give it a great school. Very awesome with benchmarks and homework. However, this school is struggling with social skills. I saw a 6th grade girl getting bullied. It made the 6th grade girl get really bossy and now everyone runs away from her or they be really mean. I am a student and when I was new everyone hated me. Now I made friends with most of them but I have a bully and he keeps telling me to shut up. So I give this school a 10/10 of learning but a 7/10 on social skills. Even though they have a room to teach you social skills. And if your lonely, There is this lunch group called, "Circle of Friends" that is hosted almost every Wednesday. Today me and my friends were fake fighting but we didn't hurt ourselves.
Submitted by parent on October 20, 2011

Desert Sky is a great school. My son is in his 3rd year at DSMS and we have to say that we are very fortuned to be at DSMS. Desert Sky is an A+ school. From the beautiful campus and great activities like WEB and Steel Drums, to a wonderful band, to the excellent teachers and staff! we have no complaints. We sure are blessed as parents to be able to feel at ease that we send our son to an excellent school.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2011

Vail is an excellent and amazing school district. They worked with us to find the right situation when we found that Desert Sky was a disastrous fit for our son. He struggled from the first moment he got to Desert Sky, and no one -- principal, teacher, or admin staff -- cared at all. When we spoke to the principal, it was painfully obvious that he had no interest in helping our son succeed. So we pulled him out of that school, and very sadly, he missed nothing about it. Not the students, not the teachers, not the staff. Desert Sky gets great ratings and I know some students love it, and it's the right school for probably most kids, but it is definitely not for every student. Our three kids have been to quite a few schools as Army Brats, and this is the only one where we had problems like this. I guess my son was a square peg in a very round hole here.
Submitted by other on December 14, 2010

Yes, this school has high expectations, so that the people who graduate are more prepared for college and high school. If you have a problem with high expectations then don't complain about it on here. Go to a different school. The faculty are friendly and helpful. They have a lot of motivating rewards for good students, but they also have consequences for the miss-behaving student. Yes, you can get in trouble over little things, but for those who complain,1) don't do things you shouldn't 2) what part of HIGH EXPECTATIONS don't you understand.