City: Tucson, AZ

Category: Education

Telephone: (520) 545-2000

Address: 2238 E. Ginter Rd.

Description: This district covers 96.3 square miles in the south part of Tucson, including 2 miles of the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. More than 17,000 students attend 22 schools pre-K through 12th grade. There are 13 elementary, 5 middle, and 3 high schools, plus 1 alternative school for grades 9 through 12 and an early childhood education center. It’s the second-largest district in Pima County, with a majority of Hispanic students. And like most districts in the booming Tucson area, its schools are overcrowded.Despite the strains, it operates many good educational and enrichment programs. They include an all-day kindergarten, ELL, special education, a gifted and talented program, and middle school intramural athletics. One of its elementary schools is not a neighborhood school but instead accepts students who want a more challenging and stringent educational environment (on a first-come basis). The district also has dropout prevention, a teenage parent program, and health services.Other unique offerings include family literacy programs. District headquarters on E. Ginter Road are north of Valencia Road and west of Tucson Boulevard. The school year runs from early August to late May.