Original Research by School Decision on Somerset Academy Arizona Inc. (1000160)
Somerset Academy Arizona Inc. is a small K-8 district operating a single school, Somerset Academy Skyway Campus, in Maricopa County. With an enrollment that is modest for its grade band, the district serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade only, so there is no high school graduation rate to report. The student body is majority Hispanic, with roughly a quarter of students White and small shares of Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial students. Information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available.
State assessment results for the 2024-25 school year are largely suppressed at the individual grade level because the number of students tested in each grade was too small to report publicly. This is a common pattern in very small districts. However, the district-level average across all tested grades shows that about 40 percent of students met proficiency in English language arts and about a quarter did so in math. These figures represent a single-year snapshot; there is no prior year data to compare for a trend. Because the district does not serve high school grades, state testing covers only elementary and middle school subjects, including science at fifth and eighth grades, but those results are also suppressed.
A notable concern is chronic absenteeism. The district’s chronic absenteeism rate sits above the midpoint among Maricopa County’s districts, meaning students are missing enough school to be counted chronically absent at a higher rate than many neighboring districts. A parent may want to ask the school what supports are in place to address attendance and whether this pattern affects academic progress.
On the financial side, per-pupil current spending falls in the middle to lower range when compared with other districts in the county. According to publicly reported analysis, revenue per student has declined over a four-year period and is well below the state median. A decline of this magnitude could signal budget pressure that affects programming, staffing, or resources at the school. Families may find it useful to ask school leadership how recent budgets have shaped class sizes, elective offerings, or student support services.
The district operates within a single campus, which means a small and contained environment. It does not offer high school courses, Advanced Placement, or career and technical programs that serve older students, but those are not expected for a K-8 setting. No information was available about the school’s building locale, such as whether it is in an urban, suburban, or rural part of Maricopa County, nor about any special program offerings, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. The lack of a locale brief means a parent should verify the school’s physical location and consider commute as part of their decision.
Overall, Somerset Academy Arizona Inc. presents as a small elementary and middle school district with academic proficiency numbers that are a mix of reported and suppressed. The chronic absenteeism rate and the pattern of declining per-student revenue are two areas that warrant a closer look. For a family seeking a small K-8 setting and willing to investigate these conditions further, it may be a fit, but the data available here is thin.
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