Sabino High School

5000 North Bowes Road

School District

Tucson Unified District
Grade

7-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:21
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 other on April 30, 2024

Long family history at Sabino. My wife graduated from Sabino (I attended Catholic schools in Michigan) as well as 4 of her siblings, 2 of our sons graduated from Sabino, and one now teaches at Sabino and both coach there. We have had very many perspectives of the school through the years.Bottom line is, like every school, it is what the Administration, Teachers, Staff, Students, and Parents put into it that makes a school successful.Involvement and interaction go far in making a school a great experience.
Submitted by student on December 09, 2022

Great school overall. I have a lot of family who graduated from Sabino. As a transgender individual I only somewhat recommend this school. I have multiple mental health issues, and combined with being transgenders, the students are not great at all. I have seen that maybe 1/5 of the students are supportive. The teachers (so far), though, are very supportive and respectful. I even engage in long conversations with some monitors.I highly recommend this school for its theatre program. Mr. Kissel and his Sabino Players (advanced drama) are extremely talented and successful. Mr. Kissel is an amazing person and he is extremely kind, playful, and welcoming. He offers an Improv Club that has maybe 4 or 5 shows a year and they are wonderfully hilarious. The first show had the club wear ties, the second was its Halloween show, and in February we are having a competition-type show. I am a part of Improv and I am highly excited to continue this through the rest of my time at Sabino!
Submitted by student on October 06, 2022

I'm currently a student at Sabino. I'm apart of the 2024 class and it's October 6th, 2022.Sabino is a pretty mediocre school. It doesn't seem to really excel at anything in particular. They do offer a variety of AP classes but all the electives are the run-of-the-mill ones you see at every high school like P.E, Band/Orchestra, Art, Spanish, computer science, etc. Sabino isn't the most safest school either. It's not uncommon to have a fight every 2-3 weeks, though, there isn't fights like everyday so that's good. From my experience in the 3 year I've been attending Sabino I have definitely seen racism among students and generally a not so welcoming community. It's not horribly toxic but the bad definitely out-shines the good. The teachers are a hit-or-miss. There's some really great ones that love to teach and make the lessons engaging and fun, then there's some who make it their mission to be as boring as possible. It's really just a gamble but I'd say that there is, fortunately, more teachers who are "good" at Sabino. The IEP accommodations are good when put into practice. One big problem I've noticed with the IEP accommodations (as a student with an IEP) is that some teachers simply won't follow your accommodations. A common example is if you have an IEP stating that you can turn in work late and get no credit docked off, some teachers will just blatantly ignore that and refuse to accept the work. Now this is mostly a staff problem but the principal's don't seem to actually address it fully. They usually crack down on it during the first 2 weeks of the school year then they just ignore all the problems.A good thing about Sabino is that they have a "safe room". Basically, if you are feeling stressed or simply wish to leave class because of mental health stuff, you can request to go to the "safe room". The safe room is just a room in the office that a chill-out spot to take a breather. It has snacks, books, and a nice chair to lounge in. It's a nice resourse to have. They also have trained therapists in-site, but there's only two who manage roughly ~900 kids so there's a sizeable waiting list if you want to have a meeting. Overall, not the best social-emotional support but it is something. There's a lot more I can say, but I'm reaching the word limit on this review but, to summarize, Sabino is a mediocre school with average/sub-par classes and accommodations. Overall, I'd recommend to just pick another school to attend, if possible.
Submitted by parent on August 28, 2022

Mediocre. Really Wish it was more inclusive.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2022

not a good school for poc. stay away.
Submitted by parent on August 18, 2021

Two weeks into our third year at Sabino. There’s entirely new leadership, not that the last group was great, but the new principal is AWFUL. Incredibly rude and condescending to EVERYONE. Students, staff, parents. It’s bad. TUSD sure does know how to pick them.
Submitted by parent on August 09, 2021

Very disorganized. Poor communication. Lack of programming. Very rude, disorganized activities coordinator that works against kids who want to play sports. But the worst part of the amount of mistakes the counselors make related to classes and graduation.
Submitted by parent on August 09, 2021

This school makes mistakes with students schedules all the time causing students to risk not graduating on time. Don’t expect to be able to get any of your questions answered. And if you do get a response, expect anything related to credits, graduation requirements or GPAs to be flat out wrong. There is absolutely no graduation support or college access support. The school is a disorganized mess and most of the faculty and staff you speak to there will be incredibly rude and dismissive. Don’t send your kid here if you want them to graduate on time or be treated with respect and dignity.
Submitted by parent on November 04, 2019

We are so happy that our daughter goes to Sabino. Every time there is a bully issue, it's taken care of. Teachers are great for the most part. So far in her three years here there only been one teacher that my daughter considered to be harsh, but she did say that the students in that class had a tendency to live on their phones and that is an issue. Even my daughter says that "Some of my friends think school, in general, is boring, but I keep telling them, sometimes in life we have to do things we don't want to get the things we do want." She also says "You get out of school what you put into it and if you're bored, but your friends aren't, maybe re-evaluate your position." Up until my daughter started going to Sabino, she was super shy and unsure of herself. After her first year, she came out of her shell and she is doing really well. I love the fact I can track her progress at any point online without having to wait for progress reports or emails from the teachers. The school does have open enrollment so there is kids from all over Tucson that come here which is awesome. There are plenty of clubs and activities for the kids, they just have to pick one to try. Any bully issues are handled immediately and students are encouraged to report bullying incidents and they do. If we had more children, we would defiantly send them to Sabino.
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2017

I have never written an online review of anything but after yet another negative experience I thought I would post. This is my family's 9th year with children at Sabino. Everything has been fine, kids have been successful, etc. But the office staff is horrendous. God help you if you ever have to call your child in absent or request to pick them up for an appointment. They range from acting inconvenienced to hostile.
Submitted by parent on September 09, 2017

Not a great school at all, especially for people of color. The administration let too many derogetory statments towards my son go without punishment and swept it under the rug.
Submitted by student on December 26, 2015

Sabino High School is a low quality school that does not take interest in their students needs. The teachers are not qualified enough for what they are teaching and simply do not care enough to do a good job. Very few of the teachers listen to their students needs in education. Some teachers do not create lesson plans. Other teachers leave the classrooms and don't come back for the rest of the period with no given explanation. One teacher almost got into a fight with a student! My family has contacted the administration and the principle several of times but they paid no attention. If you want a good education Sabino isn't the right school for you.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2015

Very happy with the school and it's academic focus. There is a reason why it is a blue ribbon school and nationally recognized.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2013

Sabino High School is an excellent school. It offers top notch, award-winning education consistently achieving high ratings and honors by state and national organizations. Selecting a high school should be based upon the academic offerings of the school, test scores and quality of teachers...not the skill level of JV football coaches. Sabino has always had an excellent football program overall as well as numerous outstanding clubs and organizations for students. Any parent who chooses to assess a school on a JV team coach is welcome to look elsewhere so that we Sabino parents can as a group remain committed to our childrens' education as the primary focus of High School.