The reported proficiency rate for Science is 52%.
Original Research by School Decision on Painted Desert Montessori Llc (123733)
Painted Desert Montessori LLC was a small Arizona school district that operated a single Montessori charter school serving students in elementary and middle grades. Located in the Buckeye area of Maricopa County, the district provided a public school option with a Montessori approach. However, the district is no longer operating; it closed its doors a few years ago, removing that option from the local landscape.
What can be said about academic performance is limited. State testing data from the school year just before the pandemic offers the clearest picture: in science, about half of students in tested grades scored at the proficient level. For math and English language arts in the final year the district was active, results were suppressed, likely because the student group was too small to report. Participation rates for those tests were low, so even if numbers had been released they would have been difficult to interpret. The only available comparison metric, which draws on the science results, places the district’s overall proficiency above the midpoint among Maricopa County’s districts. That is a narrow basis for judgment, but it suggests that in the one subject and those grades, the district performed reasonably relative to its county peers.
Enrollment and student demographics were not available. No information on how many students attended, their racial or ethnic backgrounds, or how many qualified for support programs such as free or reduced-price meals, special education, or English learner services. Similarly, data on discipline, staffing, chronic absenteeism, and per-pupil spending was absent. A family researching the district today will encounter many gaps.
The district’s closure means it is no longer a choice for current families. For anyone looking at the history of schooling options in Buckeye, the key takeaway is that a Montessori charter served the community for a time but ceased operations. The reasons for closure are not in the data, so a parent may want to ask local officials or former families about what happened. What remains is a record of a small, academically average district that followed a Montessori pedagogy in a growing part of the Phoenix metro area. Its absence changes the array of public options in that part of Maricopa County.
See more original research from School Decision →