The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 38% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Espiritu Community Development Corp. (4335)
Espiritu Community Development Corp. is a small, single-school charter district in Arizona serving grades seven through twelve. Its only campus is NFL YET College Prep Academy. The district has a small enrollment for its grade band, and its student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with very small numbers of white, Black, Asian, and Native American students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners were not available in the records reviewed, so a full picture of the student support context is not possible from the information at hand.
State testing results show proficiency rates that sit below the midpoint among Maricopa County’s districts. In math, roughly two out of five students met the proficiency bar in both seventh and eighth grades. In English language arts, the same pattern held: about two in five students reached proficiency in seventh grade, and a similar share in eighth grade. Science results for eighth graders were suppressed, likely because the testing group was too small to report publicly. The district has only two years of testing data, so a trend cannot be reliably described, but the most recent snapshot places overall academic performance on the lower end of the county’s range.
Perhaps the most significant soft spot in the available data is chronic absenteeism. Nearly two out of three students are chronically absent, a rate that lands in the bottom quartile compared with other districts in the county. That figure is high enough that a parent considering this district may want to ask the school directly about attendance patterns, the reasons behind them, and what steps are being taken to improve daily participation. The district’s per-pupil spending, on the other hand, falls in the upper range among county districts, suggesting that resources per student are relatively generous. Whether that spending translates into targeted interventions for attendance or academic support is not evident from the data on hand.
No graduation rate was reported for this district, which may reflect a data gap rather than an actual absence of graduates. The grade band includes a full high school, so the missing rate is worth noting as a point to clarify with the school. Program offerings, such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or dual enrollment, were not included in the available information, so the academic pathway beyond the core curriculum is not documented here.
The district’s locale brief was not provided, and a search for recent district-level changes — such as leadership shifts, boundary adjustments, or program launches — turned up no lasting parent-relevant developments in publicly available sources. This appears to be a stable, very small organization that has not generated widespread news coverage about its operations.
In sum, Espiritu Community Development Corp. offers a small, tightly knit school environment for grades seven through twelve, with a student body that is nearly entirely Hispanic. Academic proficiency on state tests is on the lower side relative to other Maricopa County districts, and chronic absenteeism is notably high. Per-pupil spending is above typical levels, but it is not clear how those funds are deployed. A family considering this district would be well served by visiting the campus, discussing attendance and academic support directly with staff, and asking about the college-prep focus implied by the school’s name.
See more original research from School Decision →