Arizona School for the Arts, Phoenix AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Arizona School for the Arts

Arizona School For The Arts is a public charter school in downtown Phoenix serving students in fifth through twelfth grade. It operates as its own single-school district, a common arrangement for charter schools in Arizona. The school sits on North 3rd Street in a central urban setting, part of a large, fast-growing city with a grid street system and an economy built on technology, manufacturing, tourism, and services.

On state assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint relative to districts across Maricopa County, a broad field that includes several hundred entities. That puts it in a solid position compared with its regional peers. Looking more closely, English language arts results are the stronger leg: majorities of students met proficiency in each tested grade from fifth through eighth, with the strongest performance in the upper middle grades. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grades, show a notable gap between the two—eighth graders performed much stronger than fifth graders. Math results are more uneven. Proficiency rates in math are lower across all tested grades, with roughly a third to just under half of students meeting the bar, depending on the grade. That pattern is consistent with a school where literacy and language skills are a relative strength and math may be an area families would want to investigate further.

Only one year of assessment data was available, so there is no trend to report. The school does not have a reported graduation rate in the data, which is worth noting for a school that serves through twelfth grade—families should ask the school directly about its graduation outcomes. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent, and the school did not report whether it receives Title I funding. No information was available about special education or English learner populations, so the school’s approach to student support in those areas is not clear from the record.

The school enrolls several hundred students, a size that feels like a mid-sized community for a combined middle and high school. The student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black, Asian, multiracial, and American Indian students. Free or reduced-price meal data was not reported, so the income profile of the families is not directly observable in the data.

Arizona School For The Arts is located in a city that is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, with continued population increases and a car-oriented built environment. The school’s downtown address places it near civic and cultural anchors such as the state capitol, Chase Field, and the Phoenix Art Museum, though the school facility itself is not described in the data. As a charter school, it operates with its own governance, and no recent district-level changes affecting families were found in publicly available sources.

On the program side, the data did not include information about Advanced Placement courses, dual enrollment, career pathways, or arts offerings—despite the school’s name. Families interested in the school’s curriculum, especially in the arts, should look directly at the school’s website and speak with staff. The school’s academic results, particularly in English language arts, are a clear positive, while the math outcomes and missing outcome measures are areas that merit a closer look. For a family weighing options in central Phoenix, this school offers a charter alternative with a tested academic record above the county midpoint and a downtown location, but with several gaps in the public record that would require follow-up.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

90-94%Cohort of 82 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

512 schools plotted. 33 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 33% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 777%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 46%

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

This schoolArizona School For The Arts (4345), same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.