The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cicero Preparatory Academy (92316)
Cicero Preparatory Academy is a single-school charter district in Maricopa County serving grades six through twelve. The school’s enrollment skews heavily white, with a notable Hispanic minority and small shares of Asian, Black, multiracial, and American Indian students. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status were not reported, so families should ask the school directly about the share of students receiving support services and how those resources are allocated.
Academically, the school posts a mixed picture on state assessments. In math, results vary by grade level: sixth and eighth graders scored below the midpoint of the national proficiency peer set, while seventh graders posted a stronger result that sits above that midpoint. In English language arts, the pattern is steadier, with seventh and eighth graders performing above the midpoint and sixth graders below it. On the state science exam for eighth grade, the school landed around the middle of the range. The overall proficiency index across all tested grades and subjects places Cicero Preparatory Academy above the midpoint among Maricopa County’s districts, a cohort of nearly 250 districts. A graduation rate was not available in the data; the school does serve twelfth grade, so a family would want to ask the school for its most recent four-year graduation rate directly.
On the school environment front, the chronic absenteeism rate falls in the top quartile among the county’s districts, meaning a relatively low share of students are missing substantial school days compared to peers elsewhere in Maricopa County. Per-pupil current spending sits in the upper half of the middle range among the same comparison set, suggesting the school’s resources are not notably tight or lavish relative to its neighbors.
Cicero Preparatory Academy is a charter district, and a search for recent district-level changes that would matter to a parent turned up no publicly reported information meeting a lasting-impact bar. The school itself operates as Great Hearts Academies – Cicero Prep, part of a well-known Arizona charter network. A parent choosing this school should note that it is a single-site operation, so all of its students share one campus. The enrollment drops noticeably from eighth grade to ninth grade, then declines further through the upper grades, which is common for a charter school that does not automatically retain all its middle school graduates, but a family should confirm whether the high school program has full course offerings and sufficient enrollment to sustain electives, Advanced Placement, or special programs typical of a comprehensive secondary school.
With no locale brief or community economic context provided, there is no information about the surrounding housing market, town character, or commute times. The data that exists suggests a school with solid but not top-tier academic outcomes, a relatively low chronic absenteeism problem, and a student body that is predominantly white in a county with substantial diversity. It is worth a visit and a conversation with the principal to fill in the gaps the data leaves open.
See more original research from School Decision →