McDowell Mountain
Elementary School
1
Amazing
Planetarium
391
School
Enrollment
21
Average
Class Size
3
Specials Offered
Our Story
Fountain Hills Elementary School (old Four Peaks building) opened in September of 1975. As the school year began, the school was not ready to open as it was still under construction. Since the agreement with sending students to Mesa Public Schools had ended, and the new building was not ready, temporary classrooms were used in an office building on Colony Drive. The school grew over time and in 1986, McDowell Mountain Elementary on Fayette Dr. opened to alleviate crowded classrooms.
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When McDowell Mountain Elementary opened its doors in 1986, the school was not yet complete as school started in the Fall. The new school addressed the growing enrollment in the community as Fountain Hills was becoming a top ranked place to raise a family. In fact, by 1993 the Fountain Hills Times reported, "On April 29, 1993, the Oprah Winfrey show did a feature based on a book that had been published called '50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family.' Fountain Hills was included and the show’s staff selected the community to be one of four to be showcased on the program". This recognition led to substantial growth and the community decided it was time to have their own high school. Fountain Hills High School opened its doors in 1992, with the first graduating class walking across the stage in 1994.
For decades, McDowell Mountain provided the students of Fountain Hills with an excellent experience under the leadership of longtime principal, Joanne Meehan. The school offered various programming and went through several changes to the grade levels offered. In its final years at the Fayette campus, the school served grades PK-3. In 2023, McDowell Mountain Elementary moved to the Fountain Hills Middle School campus on McDowell Mountain Road. With new playgrounds, an interactive Dark Skies themed library with the only permanent planetarium in the country, and several other upgrades, the school now serves grades K-5. The Fayette campus is now a standalone preschool, Little Falcons Preschool.
Under the leadership of longtime FHUSD teacher, Valerie Reichler, as principal, the school is continuing to offer educational excellence to the children of our town. MMES has been incredibly successful in its 39-year history. The school has earned several awards including the A+ School of Excellence award in 2019 under the leadership of previous principal, Dr. Val Dehombreaux.