Pueblo Elementary Honored With Prestigious Statewide Award

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — A bilingual Scottsdale school was awarded high honors by a statewide educational organization.

Pueblo Elementary School, part of the Scottsdale Unified School District, was given an A+ rating by the Arizona Educational Foundation, the organization announced Oct. 7. Another 44 Arizona schools were honored for their achievements, including four in Tucson.

“Pueblo is an amazing school that values second language acquisition and multiculturalism as the foundation for our program,” Principal Shelley Hummon said in a statement. “We are proud to be the start of the path for our students to become biliterate in Spanish and to earn the Arizona Department of Education’s Seal of Biliteracy when they graduate from high school.”

Pueblo Elementary opened in 1971 and is home to 400 students this school year. Students spend a portion of each school day learning in both Spanish and English. It joins several other Scottsdale Unified schools in earning an A+ rating — Cherokee, Laguna, Redfield and Tavan Elementary schools have all previously won.

The school applied for the A+ School of Excellence Award, which recognizes efforts in the areas of student focus and support, school culture, active teaching and learning, curriculum, leadership, community and parent involvement and assessment data. The award is valid for four years, after which the schools can re-apply.

To be considered eligible, schools must be a state accredited district or charter public school that serves Pre-K through 12th grade students.

Hummon said the application process was complicated this year due to the pandemic. Judges visited the campus virtually over several days instead of their usual in-person tours and interviews with parents, staff and students.

Pueblo Elementary will receive $500 and a banner designating it as an A+ School of Excellence winner. The school said a celebration for students is currently in the works.

“Despite the challenges we have faced as a school, I am very proud to share this distinction with the Pueblo staff family, our students and the Pueblo community of families,” Hummon said.