The front office ladies have always been rude. Even when I graduated and 3 years later I get my transcripts and the same people were still there and not helpful. read more

Here's an example that drunken teacher they hired start with, the teachers rarely even TEACH. Instead, they rely on programs installed in the laptops to make the students teach themselves. They might as well do online school and not be required to deal with the school and staff itself.  It is obvious that they don't take care in hiring the teachers that YOUR students are with for the day. An example of this: a teacher rode in a taxi to school, because she drank that morning, then she continued to drink clear alcohol out of a water bottle and spent the day screaming and cussing at students. I heard students talking about how they had it on camera. This was before she was noticed by administrators. It took HOURS for any staff to recognized the drunk teacher. I believe it was about 4th hour (we only have 6 hours). read more

Poston Butte High School - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Tan Valley, Arizona

I called here several times for the past two weeks attempting to retrieve my transcripts from when I graduated and I have had 0 help. The receptionist never seems to answer, then when I do get ahold of her I get forwarded to another persons voicemail box in which I've left 2 messages and have never received a call back. Very sad that this is the school that I graduated from, it's embarrassing. read more

I started this school in my second semester of freshman year. My first impression was that, it's a dump. The definition of a prison. Grey and dull, doesn't motivate you at all. there are cobwebs and spiders every hall and staircase you go through, check it out yourself. I got bullied and harassed everyday my first year here because I'm black, no one cared. The first two years, they had scratcher cards where you can get a passing grade on a quiz and other academic quirks, literally everyone was failing because of the sad excuse for teachers and leadership. I had a history teacher Mr.Canfield, who was telling my class that we should have sympathy for slave owners because it was okay during the time, me and my mom bought it to the principals attention and he didn't do anything about except force the teacher to give us an apology. I had another teacher , Mr.Boren , who would make remarks about getting behind me and "whipping me". Another thing. This school only cares about money! We have to pay an insurance fee for laptops... but if we break it or cause any damage we still have to pay for the laptop on top of that. We have to pay to see our own talent show as well which is ridiculous! We even have to pay 50 bucks tIf you care the slightest bit about your kids and their journey into adulthood, don't send them here. read more

5 stars for the softball team. Pretty nice sports facilities. Don't hear great things about the education so giving it 3 stars.

My son has attended since this school opened. 1. They charge a 50 dollar a year insurance fee to use the mandatory laptops. These are netbooks, actually and there is a 100 dollar deductible on top of the 50/yr insurance charge. 2. A student failed to return a netbook at the end of the year and the school called the sheriff to try and file charges of stolen property. This is actually in Pinal County Sheriff logs and the school does not deny or apologize for this behavior. I asked them about it and was told it was like stealing a computer. I said, "Oh, ok, so if it were a few textbooks, would you call the police?" From my experience with Florence schools, they are simply in San Tan Valley to reap the financial benefits to their town using our resources. They charge children for parking and outrageous fees. I have never seen so many fundraisers and money making schemes as I have in Florence. You see, I am not ignorant. My children have attended Scottsdale, Higley, Gilbert, and Florence schools. A young man was suspended from school for cracking the security on his computer to change the background. Really? OMG. Someone call the Feds. That is crazy. He should have been given a grant or scholarship to pursue a Comp Sci degree. As far as scholarships after graduation: DO NOT expect any assistance from this school. Their big visitors on college day are the community colleges, CAC, and some other local schools. Counselors are not helpful with paperwork, they do not take the initiative to help your child. My son was in the top 5 and we had to do everything ourselves. So, if you do have the unfortunate circumstance of your child attending Poston Butte and he or she is graduating in 2013, take heed and start your scholarship search and admission paperwork for colleges prior to Dec. Also, try Questbridge. This year, in Mesa, a counselor who cared, assisted a young lady get 250K scholarship to Notre Dame. She was just going to go to ASU. In our case, we did get an offer from ASU - 9k/yr. However, since we used the Common Application and got our paperwork in by deadline, we also were offered 24k/YR from Worchester Poly and 37k/yr from USD. So, if your child or someone you know attends Poston Butte, know this - they are grooming cashiers instead of accountants, mechanics rather than engineers and you must initiate the search, waivers, paperwork, admissions paperwork, transcripts, and scholarships on your own. Don't expect anyone from this public school to help. read more

Poston Butte High School - Middle Schools & High Schools Near Me - San Tan Valley, Arizona

I went to this school my sophomore and junior. While attending here my grades dropped and I wasn't learning anything .most of the teachers here don't take the time to teach you. After having many credits missing due to the fact The teachers suck My counselor mrs Kuebler kicked me out of my Spanish class to do online classes and teach myself and told me if I didn't finish my online classes and pass that I would be kicked out of the school .I did end up getting kicked out cause I had trouble learning the subjects on my own. I did graduate senior year on time thanks to the Gilbert public schools read more

I have two daughters and a foster child that currently attend this school. I also have two stepsons that have attended this school in the past. The counslers and teachers at this school have been amazing to work with. Our foster child was more than a year behind in school when he came to stay with us. They worked with him to set up an attainable plan for graduation. It has been so awesome to see him succeed, and enjoy school for the first time! They were also really great to work with my stepson, who has a learning disability. They made sure to include him in all of his IEP meetings and listen to his input, in order to develop a plan that would work best for him. My two daughters are high achievers. I love the variety of honors and AP classes that they provide. They will both graduate with about a year and a half worth of college credits. The STEM program is nothing short of AMAZING! This school also advocates for community and extra curricular involvement. They have a wide range of clubs and sports - there is something for everyone. My kids have personally been involved in swim team, tennis team, track team, marching band, concert band, orchestra, National Honor Society, drama club, biotechnology club, Human Rights Club, gaming club, dance, and culinary. I know that there have been some issues with this school in the past, but honestly, my kids love it and have excelled here, so I can't complain. read more

Our experience with this school has been terrible. Our son was constantly harassed by a couple other students who would call him their girlfriend and grab him. The school did nothing other than talk to them. Our sons wallet was stolen with his ID, his backpack was vandalized, and his shoes were stolen. And this is all just in the first semester. He will not be returning for a second semester. They charge high fees, when you enroll (almost 250$) and it's worse if your child is into sports. The "laptops" they give you are more like netbooks and the one our son got seemed like it's on its last leg. The problems seem to be district wide regardless of the school but that's our experience for one night are semester at poston butte. read more

This school is amazing, amazingly bad. They have no concept of the real world. They are 100% inflexible on their policies across the board. Most businesses and schools give administrators and staff discretion to be flexible, they do not. This is the first school I have been required to pay money for mandates. In other districts there are fees for electives and things you choose to do but they charge you for core classes. If you miss a credit they charge you to recover the credit. This double dipping is insane. This is not a private school it is a state funded public school. You must attend or face the consequences of truancy. To attend you must pay. I think the term for this is extortion. Today my son was 2 minutes late it is raining and I have a baby. I call in to the office where they tell me I can bring my baby in the rain OR he can spend the hour in detention. Yup all those fees paid for him to stare at the wall because policies do not account for weather or real life. I got transferred to the principal and after 5 minutes he said they will see "if they can catch him and send him to class" but instead of ending the conversation he has to show that he has still won by getting snarky on the phone and stepping up the professionalism. It is nice that the administration is more concerned with winning and their policies than my child's education. In the real world things happen. I would love to live in this perfect nirvana where absolutes work but I do not. Now that I think about it they probably have these inflexible policies to encourage the kids to fail so they can collect their credit recovery fees. I just wonder who's pockets are getting filled from these fees. read more

I graduated from this school in 2014 and I have to say I'm not too surprised with these reviews. However, as a student that went there for 4 years, I actually had a pretty decent high school experience. I appreciated the lap tops over paper. Some of my favorite teachers still continue teaching at PBHS. I know there dance team is much better now. I really enjoyed the arts, like dance, drama, music. All their teachers are different from the ones I had. Their student counsel was always an still is phenomenal. My point is, I understand why PBHS can get a bad rep sometimes. But it really isn't a terrible school. There is a lot of culture, different backgrounds, and I really enjoyed it there. read more

I noticed in the previous reviews the main concerns were fees/administration. No one discussed or made cursory mention of the quality of education/teachers. Although I too am unhappy with all the fees, keep in mind this school opened in the worst of the recession. FUSD budget was woefully underfunded in part due to property taxes which had yet to catch up to values( i.e.address taxed $20-$100 for just land value until home value assessed, which can take up to 2 years.) All new enterprises, from schools to businesses, take awhile to "get up to speed." There are always a few bumps along the way. Parents taking an active role/voicing their concerns, help smooth out policy. Although I haven't had a lot of positive interaction with the counselors, many of the teachers are absolutely amazing! There are more MA.'s and PhD's at Poston Butte than any other school we have come in contact. The teachers themselves are well worth the additional fees! read more

If I could chose no stars, or better yet negative stars, I would in a heartbeat. I have gone to this school since freshman year, and I am currently a senior. I have seen it all. To start with, the teachers rarely even TEACH. Instead, they rely on programs installed in the laptops to make the students teach themselves. They might as well do online school and not be required to deal with the school and staff itself. It is obvious that they don't take care in hiring the teachers that YOUR students are with for the day. An example of this: a teacher rode in a taxi to school, because she drank that morning, then she continued to drink clear alcohol out of a water bottle and spent the day screaming and cussing at students. I heard students talking about how they had it on camera. This was before she was noticed by administrators. It took HOURS for any staff to recognized the drunk teacher. I believe it was about 4th hour (we only have 6 hours). Second, there are numerous fights on campus. There is a "Freshman Fight Week," in which all of the freshman fight each other randomly out of enjoyment. I will admit that it went away last year, however this year (2014-2015), it has returned with a vengeance. There have already been multiple fights, recorded or not, on campus. Dr. Richard may not record many of them, in fear of more negative media focusing on the school. Speaking of which, simply GOOGLE the school and you will be given pages upon pages of negative reviews and new on the school. Most of the good reviews by students (my newspaper teacher admitted to me, who is also a Freshman English Teacher), are assigned by their English teacher to review the school in a positive manner, especially after negative social media -- which there is a lot of. No one actually enjoys going there. Even Stuco (student council) hates the school, but is pressured to act as if it is the best in the state by admin. Even the teachers hate it. Many have admitted that they don't agree with most of the regulations and administration, but are forced to stay through a contract. Take it from someone that has been here for more than half of the time that the school has even been opened: ANY SCHOOL WOULD BE BETTER THAN THIS ONE! In fact, I am transferring out myself, 1/4 into my senior year. If that does not speak desperation, I do not know what is. read more

I believe Poston Butte High School is an outstanding learning environment, personally being a satisfied student there. I only have one issue with the school. Poston Butte's policy for 10 days of absences gets a student audited is outrageous. I shouldn't have to worry about missing 10 days and losing all my credits for that semester. If I am sick I am sick, I can't help that. I am doing my school a kindness by not getting others sick. I am not going to go to school when I am not at my full physical state. If my grades are good and I am caught up on my work I shouldn't need to be audited and have to pay for them in credit recovery. Other than this issue I believe Poston Butte is an excellent high school and I am happy to continue here in my remaining years. read more

A school is just as useful as you make it. It is a tool, not a baby-sitter. I am an actual student that attended this school. And though I am a senior now and no longer attend Poston, i am very appreciative of the time I spent there and it's resources. With Poston as an underclassman, I was introduced to sports which I am currently pursuing at a state level now and advanced mathematics that earned me college credit as a sophomore. I had a great counselor who; yes, after much persuasion, admitted me into some of the most challenging and rewarding classes of my high school career. I was introduced to a coach that transformed the way I saw athletics and society's perception of "the star athlete" and students that are so hard working and generous and down-to-earth and quirky and kind. Not to mention intelligent, charismatic, and devoted teachers such as Dr. Ploense or the inspiring librarian Ms. Weaver. As I said before, school is a facilitator, not a handout. As is your/ your child's education. For every hard-working and kind, intelligent, caring teacher I met there were 20-30 ungrateful, inappropriate, disrespectful mean "students" showing up to school in exposing clothing, wearing marijuana designs and yelling at security guards or staff for telling them their clothing is not allowed at the school, having sex in the bathrooms, getting high in the parking lot between classes, having fights during award ceremonies, captain's of sports teams mocking the coaches and skipping out on practices frequently, and just overall putting down others that are different. NOT excluding the special needs students considered "weird". So from the point of view of a student, I can say without a doubt that Poston is not the problem. It is the "bad apples", the parents that feed into their child's behavior then try to "cuss out" the administration for telling them that their child is "difficult", and most of all the environment of San Tan. I used the secluded town to work out and jog in circles throughout all the interwoven communities. Others, many others, use it to do their drugs, drink alcohol, steal, and just overall not try towards their future. Did Poston frustrate me at times? Yes! There were times that I felt ignored, put down. ostracized, mocked, LEFT OUT, rejected and just really unappreciated. But it wasn't just the school's fault. Every facility, be it a prison, or school, or fast food chain or any system in "the real world' has its bad apples. Not everyone can watch everything all the time. That's when it becomes up to the parents to say, "Hey, stop disrespecting your teachers. Pay attention in school. Carry around that embarrassing box over your computer because we can't afford the fees right now and see it as a gain in character. STOP putting down your fellow students, take pride in yourself, respect yourself, love yourself, and look out for opportunities and all that your environment has to offer." Just stop blaming the teachers and administration. Take responsibility for yourself and your child. No matter what school your child goes to, you should always be the one in the front looking out for scholarships or advantages. Negotiate with administration on what you can't afford. THEY WILL HELP IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD SOMETHING, I KNOW BECAUSE THEY HELPED ME. And just stop blaming others for your responsibilities. Stop making excuses. I lived 5 miles from that school and still walked to practice int he middle of winter at 4 in the morning so I wouldn't be late. There is always a way. And stop letting great minds like Jarred Jansen go unappreciated. He was just another soul lost to to trappings of a small town. Appreciate your neighbors and yourself and appreciate your school. read more

I am a student at Poston Butte High School, and I have to say, the school is not half bad. The school is very crowded, so if you don't like being in big classes, I wouldn't recommend this school. The teachers are nice and very helpful, I myself have only had a problem with one teacher, and my counselor helped me meet her on good terms. The fee's are outrageous, and kind of bizarre. For Example, you pay an insurance fee to use the laptop, but if the laptop breaks, you still have to pay for it, regardless of the insurance fee you payed ? If I'm not wrong, Insurance is supposed to be if the lap top breaks, you're covered, that's why you pay it, yet you still get charged if it breaks. The class options are great, they have a wide range of different classes. One thing I dislike though is the time school starts. As a student, I know that it gets stressful being crammed with all this work, and when school starts at 7:05 in the morning, it's hard to get a good night sleep, which makes it harder to focus during class. I personally like all my teachers now, they know how to get your attention and make it easier to learn the material. They're not boring, and they don't just lay back and let us work, they involve themselves, and make sure we know how to do it. I also like that we get a break every 2 hours. As I said before, school starts at 7:05 am, then at 9:10 am, we get a break to hang out until 9:35 . (You only get this break if you are passing all your classes, so it's like a reward, and a motive to pass each class) Then at 11:35 we go to lunch until 12:20 pm. Then school ends at 2:20 pm. So, we are in 2 class periods and then we get a break, and it really helps, because the attention span of a teenager is very short, I can only pay attention for about 30 minutes before I wander off in thought. So, to get a break, it's like a refresher for your brain, you get a break from all the stress. If you're thinking about attending this school, I would say you should. I like the school, and the people here, and I love the programs they provide. Overall, I think it is a good school, even with the early mornings, and the crazy fee's. read more

I am currently a student at Poston Butte High School. Poston Butte has a great learning environment, most staff and teachers are helpful, polite, and care for the students. Rules are enforced well and in a realistic manner, students are treated with respect and as adults. The only aspect of Poston Butte I would change is the fact that if a student is failing one or more class that student is forced to attend after school tutoring. I believe that if the student is failing it is their responsibility to improve that grade if they choose, or if they want to accept the grade they earned. A student who is serious about their education, would attend tutoring for their own benefit and on their own accord. But what's great about Poston is that Poston DOES offer scholarships, a student must acquire information if they want that scholarship. There are fees but that is to be expected, if one wants to attend our technology-based school you must expect to pay a small fee, in reality $50 for a laptop is not at all bad considering the advantages that can be taken with this technology, that cannot be taken advantage of with out-dated and expensive textbooks. Also this school offers Pre-AP and AP (advanced classes) to students which gives students a better chance to get into a better college. Overall, I would recommend Poston Butte High School to anyone who would like an encouraging, and spirited learning environment. read more

The school itself is a pretty good school. Although it's not very amazing in academics. The assistant principle even had came in to talk to us, saying that this school is not a A grade school. It's B. The school however is an amazing school to attend. They have security here to protect the students here. Although if you are in for academic I would say Florence is the better option. We don't have an IB program. We do have AP classes that will be able to take. So far there were about one fight so far. Last year there were over 10 in the first couple weeks. However pricing for classes and necessitates are over the extent. Laptops are $50 for insurance, sports are $100 each which is way to much. But that's because the over ride did not pass. The teachers are amazing teachers. Some not so much. There's ones that will stay after that extra hour after school to help. Some teachers think it's easier to grasp thing since they know how to do it they think others can get it as fast. Which is very frustrating. read more