The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Capps Elementary School
Capps Elementary School serves grades four through six in the Heber-Overgaard Unified School District, a small, regular public school in the mountain community of Heber, Arizona. The school sits within a rural, unincorporated area on the Mogollon Rim, where the economy blends tourism, retirement services, timber, and local government employment. The community is car-dependent, with commercial activity strung along the highways and no traditional downtown core. Homes in the immediate area have a value that sits near the statewide benchmark, and the housing stock includes a notable number of seasonal and second-home properties, reflecting the area’s role as a recreation and retirement destination.
Enrollment at Capps is small. The student body is predominantly white, with a significant Hispanic share and small numbers of students identifying as two or more races or American Indian or Alaska Native. Data on students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, on students with disabilities, and on English learners were not reported, so the school’s economic and support-need profile is not available from the data. This is a gap a parent may want to investigate directly with the school.
State assessment results for 2024-25 show a mixed picture. In English language arts, grade four posted a strong proficiency rate, grade five was in the middle range, and grade six was substantially lower. In math, only grade four had a reported proficiency rate, which was modest; results for grades five and six were suppressed, likely due to small testing group sizes. Science results for grade five, while available, showed a rate that was below half of students meeting the bar. Because only a single year of data was provided, no trend can be assessed.
When placed among districts across Navajo County, Capps Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits in the top quartile. That position is a clear strength and suggests the school performs relatively well within its regional context, even though individual grade-level results vary. The absence of a graduation rate is expected since the school does not serve high school grades. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, so the school’s attendance picture remains unknown.
Capps is one of several schools in the Heber-Overgaard district, which also includes a primary school for pre-K through grade three, a junior high, and a high school. No recent district-level changes, such as boundary shifts or program overhauls, were identified in publicly available sources. The district’s budget and strategic priorities were not part of the provided data and are not addressed here.
For a family considering this school, the key takeaway is a small elementary setting in a rural mountain community where academic performance is above the local county median but varies noticeably by grade and subject. The strongest evidence of success is in early middle-grade reading, while math and later reading show more ground to cover. A parent would want to check with the school about resources for students who struggle academically, particularly in the upper grades, and about support services not captured in the standard reporting fields.
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