Early Childhood Education
How to find and pay for Preschool and make the transition to Kindergarten Ensuring that your child’s needs are met is an essential component of
How to find and pay for Preschool and make the transition to Kindergarten Ensuring that your child’s needs are met is an essential component of
The Questions ALL Parents Should Ask Schools – But Rarely Do! A school tour may be the most important research tool a parent has in
Understand school application and enrollment deadlines and important dates. BE MINDFUL OF THESE THINGS: Schools have different deadlines and timelines.When considering your schools, always find
Resources for Parents of Students with Special Needs The services and quality of care for students with special needs can vary greatly from school to
Understand how schools in Arizona get rated, measured and compared. As you look into schools – you may notice different school ranking or rating systems.
We understand the importance of finding the right school, which is why we have made it our mission to help you make an informed decision.
We value your feedback and would love to hear from you. We are committed to building resources that meet the needs of Tucson families.
MySchoolsTucson.org will continue to flourish by earnestly listening to valuable feedback from its users, like you! This will help us make necessary improvements, introduce new features, and more. We greatly appreciate all responses.
Some good first steps are:
YES, Arizona state law allows students to apply for admission to any public school, based on available classroom space (A.R.S. § 15-816.01). Students in Arizona have the opportunity to apply for admission to ANY public school – regardless of whether you live within or outside the district/school boundaries. However, most districts have open enrollment applications and deadlines which can begin as early as November.
MANY schools DO require an application and may have a FALL application deadline. This is even true for some public district schools. We recommend that you check early in the Fall with the schools you are interested in applying to. Here are some “general guidelines”:
Public District Schools (Neighborhood School)
Public Schools VIA “Open Enrollment”
Public Charter Schools
Private Schools
YES, there are two primary programs within the State of Arizona that help families customize their child’s education. Families can drastically reduce the cost of tuition (or in some cases completely cover the cost of tuition) for private schools in the State of Arizona through:
Both programs are intended to expand educational opportunities outside of the public school system. The programs provide public funding for a wide range of personalized education expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring services, textbooks and more.
For more information about Arizona Tax Credit opportunities for your family click here.
For more information about the Arizona Universal ESA click here.
Click here for more detailed information on how to fund a private education.
School ratings are an attempt to help families evaluate and review schools. Each year, ALL Arizona public schools (district and charter) are measured and assigned an “A-F” letter grade. The Arizona Department of Education has established a set of metrics to determine the letter grade.
These letter grades give you a snapshot of the school, which allows you to compare schools in a more understandable way. However, the AZ Letter Grades may not give you the whole picture of a school. Many aspects of a school’s culture and climate may be left out. Ratings should be just one of many tools families use when researching schools!
For more information please visit How Arizona’s A-F letter grades for schools work
To access AZ public school report cards AZ Dept. of Ed. K-12 School Report Cards (State Letter Grades A-F)
Absolutely, positively, YES. School tours are perhaps the best tool you have to truly assess whether the school is a good fit for your child/family. You will gain a perspective that you simply cannot obtain from a website, email, or phone call.
WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR TOUR… be prepared to ask some good questions. Click Here for questions to ask on a school tour. We have broken them down for you by school type, grade level, and topic.
IF YOU CANNOT TAKE A TOUR… the next best thing is to attend any district or city-wide school fairs or events to talk with and meet schools. Please visit our School Enrollment Event Calendar and stay up to date with Tucson enrollment events.
For more tips like these visit www.mytucsonschools.org and download our Step-by-Step Family Guidebook.
We are here to help make this process easier! Email our Family and School Engagement Team at fse@cictucson.org.