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Sunset Elementary School
(305) 661-8527
5120 SW 72nd St
South Miami, FL 33143
Level: PK-5
District: Miami-Dade County Public Schools

Extended Information

In-depth school information including test scores, student stats, parent ratings and reviews for Sunset Elementary School, South Miami, FL.

Census Info	Value	Year
Percent Free and Reduced Price Lunch:	16.11%	(2008)
Student Teacher Ratio:	11.28%	(2008)
White, non-Hispanic:	36.99%	(2008)
Black, non-Hispanic:	6.2%	(2008)
Hispanic:	51.29%	(2008)
Asian/Pacific Islander:	1.05%	(2008)
Multiracial:	4.48%	(2008)
Native American or Native Alaskan:	0%	(2008)

Sunset Elementary School Ratings Summary

Average Quality Rating	4
Average Principals Rating	4
Average Teachers Rating	4
Average Activities Rating	4
Average Parents Rating	4
Average Safety Rating	4

Sunset Elementary School Reviews


Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2009-05-27 “My children have experienced a wonderful year at Sunset and their Spanish control of the language has grown tremendously. I recommend any parent that wants a quality education to send their children to this school.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2009-05-21 “It has been a challenging year with budget issues but the parents have made such an incredible job pushing to save the language program and have succeeded. My two sons been exposed to an incredible intellectual growth and the diversity of the student body.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 2 2009-03-23 “The school is facing some challenging times, as funding has been cut -- and might continue to be cut. There are many committed parents -- mostly supporters of the Magnet program. Sadly, IE (home school) parents face difficulty in having their concerns addressed by the administration. There is a definite 2 tier system in place here -- all efforts and interest are focused on the Magnet programs. Sunset could be a tremendous school if the the administration recognized and addressed the inequities.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2004-11-28 “this ia a great magnet elementary school.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2009-03-11 “This school is top in the nation! It has received the prestigious Goldman Sachs Award for Excellence in International Education in 2007, the only school in the nation among all public and private elementary and middle schools. An impressive honor. A gem that is open to all Miami Dade students through a lottery system, and that must be preserved and used as a model, especially in these times of budget cuts discussions. An example to follow!” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2008-09-26 “Execellent school, with lots of one on one time, the teachers don't aloow children to slack, they will contact you immediatly if they have a concern. I love the communication that they have with the parents.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2007-10-29 “Excellent school, excellent teachers. I have 3 kids there, one of them just graduated to another school. Very demanding homework requirements, especially for the language programs. But, I recommend the program highly!” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2007-05-28 “My son was in Pre-K in 2006-07. Sunset is a great school and he was very happy.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2007-05-28 “Outstanding academics quality; plenty of extracurricular activities (multicultural day, ambassador program, piano and strings ensembles, sports); the best offer for an International Studies program (probably in the US); great sense of community among children, parents and teachers. We've researched all private and public schools in the area (moving our son from a private school to Sunset), and we are really happy with having chosen Sunset.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2007-05-23 “This sadly will be our last year at Sunset, as we are moving to Mexico. I will truly miss Sunset Elementary. This had been a private school education for a public school price. Sunset is an exceptional school.The education for both of my children has been fantastic. They have had the opportunity to interact with children and families from all over the world. They hear different languages spoken in the hallways. In addition to an excellent curriculum the dedicated staff is amazing. Teachers will call you at home if your child is not meeting expectations. The teachers/staff know each student and family and truly care about them. We have truly been blessed to have had the opportunity to have our children attend Sunset. I will say if your child will be attending Sunset be prepared for lots of homework and late evenings, as it is a rigorous program.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2006-11-28 “Sunset is an superb school, its magnet programs are excellent, and the quality and dedication of its faculty, very impressive. Students are exposed to many real world experiences, and are offered a range of different opportunities where they can participate and excel in a multicultural and multilingual environment.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 2 2006-10-11 “Sadly, I have to report that this year the Administration at Sunset made an autonomous and unilaterally decision to make drastic changes to the organization of the school : mixing all students within each grade (International Studies program and home school)and having teachers teaching single subjects (as traditionally has been expected only at middle school level). Now all grade levels students have to move from room to room to get to their respective classes often up to five times per day. Beside the fact that this is clearly non productive academically, it appears also evident, after two months of trial, that the daily disruptions and lack of time for instruction and socialization is increasing the stress for both students and teachers. Many parents are making new arrangements for their children for January, and some 10 teachers have asked for a transfer.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 3 2006-05-10 “A wonderful sense of community amongst the children who attend. My son loved attending this school until his final year. He excelled while there both academically and socially.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2006-05-04 “This is an incredible school offering international education, Spanish instruction and amazing afterschool activities. I am thrilled with the teachers, administrators and students.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 1 2006-01-11 “Sad to say this but, unless your child is in the Magnet program, they are completely ignored. My son has attended for 4 years (in 3rd grade now) and at one time I am sure the school was a wonderful success. A typical day has 30 minutes of Spanish where, for the past 4 years, they have taught nothing. Occasionally, they will cover everyday words but grammar? Verbs? Nouns? Never. In third grade they teach division before multiplication (?) and don't focus on reading comprehension, just reading. Everything is focused on FCAT instead of subjects. How did we (parents) ever get so far? Better schooling I bet.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 4 2006-01-11 “I am satisfied with the quality of the education my children receive at Sunset. I had to bring the issue up to the school board though that they did not have recess. I am glad to see that restored this year. I do have an issue, though, with the way children are selected into the Magnet Program. Neither of my children made it in, and we were in a preferred area. I see other parents that have a more 'outgoing' or 'conflicting' attitude at PTA meetings or with school authorities somehow get their kids bumped up on the waiting lists and somehow managed to get in, even when they were further down on the list than my children. They still receive a good 'IE' education, lots of homework which I personally oversee, but I think its worth it. I am overall satisfied with the school.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2005-09-30 “It's a great school with an excellent academic level.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 4 2005-09-13 “The quality of the academic programs is excellent. What really makes the school is the teachers. They are superb!” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2005-09-04 “My daughter is in the International Magnet School Program for children of French Nationals. It is a magnificent school. She gets the opportunity to meet other children like her who are bilingual and fluent in more than one language. There is also a German, Spanish, and Portugese Program. She is very happy there.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 4 2005-08-23 “Great school, great language program” Posted By: parent Quality Score: decline 2005-07-04 “At this school it completely depends on who the teacher is. The amount of homework is often overwhelming. However the level of commitment and pride of the faculty is generally very high.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 4 2005-06-29 “The language program is fantastic.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 3 2005-06-05 “Under the current administration, namely the principal, Sunset has lost it's sense of community. No longer are parents made to feel welcome. There are no bake sales. The holiday shows were done away with this year. The drop off/pick up procedures are unsafe. In addition, anyone can walk into this school at any time without questions. It is a sad turn of events in only two years. The principal's hard-core attitude seems to say 'don't talk to me; I have an agenda'. Gone are the days when kids of all grades rushed into the arms of our previous principal. As a result, more than a few students & teachers have left. This is written by one of them.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2005-05-20 “Sunset is the best elementary school in Miami dade county. curricuam is excelent. academics has high priority. great school.” Posted By: other Quality Score: 5 2004-08-06 “I'm very excited with the changes taking place at Sunset next school year. The 'Home School' program will no longer be referred to by that name. It will be referred to as the International Education Program and the entire curriculum has been revamped to provide the students with a World Class education. Our students in the International Education Program will not be referred to as the Home School Kids or the Regular Ed Kids. Their new name will better reflect who they are. Sunset has amazing programs. The Int. Ed. Program will shine as the International Studies Magnet progam does. Both programs will share the new International Integrated Curriculum. Great things are happening here. :) Keep it up!” Posted By: parent Quality Score: decline 2004-07-23 “This school has an outstanding foreign language program to which parents all over Dade county are trying to register their children for. This school's focus is on academics, and the schedule demands more from the children, which I think is good, because in other public schools children only learn to be lazy. Unfortunately they don't offer school bus service to Miami Beach.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 1 2004-04-24 “If you're heading for one of the magnet programs at Sunset Elementary, then what you've heard about the school is probably true, because that's where Sunset's funding and quality teachers go, we discovered. If your child is entering the home school, however, beware that it is severely neglected in every respect. While our magnet school friends excelled and loved learning, our fellow home schoolers learned to 'just get by.' My child, after 4 ears in preschool (not Sunset), started out happy, well-adjusted, above-average performance, loved learning, loved attending school. Within 6 months in Sunset's home school, both interest and performance began to decline, and now, at end of first grade, he has regular tummy aches in morning, headaches during class, anxiety attacks at night, D's on report card -- and all my efforts to effect change, including the Principal, go ignored. Wish I'd known in advance.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 1 2004-04-23 “I was led to believe that Sunset Elementary was a 'great' school, so I thought I was getting 'the best.' My son (in pre-K from age 1) was eagerly anticipating an exciting and fun new experience. He's now at the end of 1st Grade and, boy, have we BOTH been sorely disappointed! From 38 five-year-olds in a tiny room; to a blan/boring environment lacking creativity; to tyranical teachers using fear/ridicule tactics, and administration with no interest in students' self-esteem; run-down campus; completely unavailable PTA; no communication, no teamwork among parents/teachers/staff; etc. My son quickly changed his opinion, and a long-thought-gifted child is now failing 1st grade due to his destroyed self-image. And my son's not alone. Apparently the description 'great' was meant for the magnet programs, not for the home school.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: 5 2004-04-20 “My son has been going to Sunset Elementary for Pre-K this past year. The teachers and assistants have provided a great learning and loving environment to my child. The parent participation is also excellent. I could not have had a better experience with the public school system.” Posted By: parent Quality Score: decline 2003-10-20 “My heart aches as I write this. Sunset has been a wonderful school for my kids until this year. We have a new principal who has put in place a procedure for drop off and pick up of our children which the majority of the parents and teachers are strongly opposed to. These procedures serve to alienate parents from their kids' classrooms and more importantly, jeopardizes the safety of our kids, the very thing which she claims it is designed to protect. I am thoroughly disappointed with this system and in the process of transferring my kids to other schools. It is simply unacceptable.”