Scottsdale schools ace state report cards
Nov. 8—Scottsdale parents who like to see all A's and B's would be happy with the new state "report card" — which graded every public school and charter in the state.
"Every one of our 29 brick-and-mortar schools earned an A or B state letter grade this year, including, for the third year in a row, all nine of our Title I schools," Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel noted.
Seven SUSD in-person schools received B's — the rest aced the state scores.
The one exception: Scottsdale Online Learning, which was slapped with a D.
In addition to grades, the Arizona Department of Education tabulated scores covering a variety of topics.
Four of the 10 highest-scoring high schools in the state are in Scottsdale.
Desert Mountain High School topped 234 Arizona high schools in total points earned, with 98.44.
Pinnacle High School — in north Phoenix, just outside Scottsdale — was a close second with 97.26 points.
Chaparral High was third in points, with 96.86.
Horizon High came in at sixth, with 95.34 points.
And Cactus Shadows High School — a Cave Creek Unified school in North Scottsdale — cracked the top 10 with 92.03 points.
Arcadia High was 13th with 91.44 points.
With 88.42 points Saguaro High came in 28th in the state.
All of those high schools received A grades.
Scottsdale Unified's lone B high school was Coronado High, which earned 74 points to rank 119th in the state.
Elementary stars
Several Scottsdale elementary schools also aced their scores.
Of 1,367 K-8 schools that were graded and scored, Pueblo Elementary, with 93.28 points, scored 34th.
Kiva Elementary, with 92.09 points, came in 42nd.
Seqoya Elementary was 14 spots below, with 91.39 points.
Cochise Elementary also cracked the 90 mark, ranking 68th in the state in total points.
Pueblo, Kiva, Seqoya and Cochise topped the list of 19 SUSD K-8 schools that received A's.
The other six SUSD elementary schools earned B's. Of SUSD elementary schools, Copper Ridge had the lowest total points with 70.13, coming in at 932nd in the state.
Reflecting on the overall scores, Menzel mused, "This reflects the hard work of our students and teachers, as well as our district-wide commitment to accelerate efforts that will further improve outcomes for students so we can reach new heights together."
The state system measures year-to-year student academic growth and proficiency in:
—English language arts, math and science;
—The proficiency and academic growth of English language learners;
—Indicators that elementary students are ready for success in high school and high school students are ready for success in a career or higher education;
—High school graduation rates.
Schools have until Nov. 15 to appeal their letter grades
Trumpeting good news
Districts were also scored by the state — and Scottsdale Unified School District was given an A.
Outside SUSD, Scottsdale Country Day School and Scottsdale Preparatory Academy also received A's.
BASIS Scottsdale also was given an A, earning a stellar 96.62% of points available.
Great Hearts Scottsdale Prep also scored an A, with 94.61%.
Sonoran Sky Elementary School, in the Paradise Valley Unified District, also earned an A.
Two days after the state released the scores, SUSD trumpeted the news with a press release.
In addition to noting the state grades, the SUSD release stated: "As schools across the country continue to grapple with the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning, Scottsdale Unified School District is emerging as a leader in that recovery."
Around Arizona, performance by third through eighth grade students on the 2024 Arizona Academic Standards Assessments "indicates continuing challenges for many school districts," the SUSD release states.
"English Language Arts (ELA) results held steady from 2023, with 40% of students passing; math performance across the state dipped slightly, with 32% of students passing, compared to last year's 34%.
"SUSD significantly outperformed those state averages: 61% of its students passed the ELA measurement and 55% passed the math assessment, making it a top performer in Maricopa County."
As for the D given Scottsdale Online Learning, district spokeswoman Kristine Harrington said "context is the key.
"While the full time Scottsdale Online Learning students are attending school entirely online, Arizona requires that they come into a physical testing site to take the state assessments in person with a school district proctor. For all online schools, a big struggle is getting students to come in for these tests, especially since the students cannot complete the assessments in a single day," according to the spokeswoman.
She noted Arizona schools are required to test 95% of their students in the tested grade levels or face a deduction in proficiency points.
"Last spring SOL tested 23% of their students and were assessed a steep penalty against their proficiency scores as a result."
But she added, changes may be coming:
"Recognizing that this issue impacts all online schools, Arizona is looking at allowing online school students to be able to take state assessments remotely starting in the Spring of 2027."
