Stepping Stones Academy, Phoenix AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Stepping Stones Academy

Stepping Stones Academy is a K-8 charter school in northern Phoenix, operating as its own single-school district. This is a small school with enrollment in the low hundreds. The student body is overwhelmingly White, with a moderate share of Hispanic students, and very small numbers of Black, Native American, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available.

The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade, so there is no high school and no graduation rate. Academic performance on the state’s AASA assessments shows a pattern of strong results in math, with proficiency rates reaching very high levels in most tested grades. A clear majority of students scored proficient in third, fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade math. Results in English language arts are more uneven. Third and fifth graders posted very high proficiency rates, and the school's overall ELA proficiency across all tested grades landed well above the middle of the pack when compared to other districts in Maricopa County. That overall ELA figure was pulled down by fourth, sixth, and seventh grade, where proficiency rates were markedly lower. The school's proficiency index across all subjects and grades placed it in the top quartile of the county's districts, which reflects its strong math scores and the standout ELA scores in the lower elementary grades. Science results for fifth and eighth grade were not reported, likely due to small testing groups, so no picture of science performance is available from this data.

Because Stepping Stones Academy is a single-school charter district, there are no district-level strategic plans, curriculum overhauls, or recent tax referendums to report on. The district brief turned up nothing at all, which is common for small charter entities that operate without the public-facing committee structure of a traditional district.

Phoenix, as a city, is large, car-oriented, and fast-growing. The school sits in the northern part of the city, an area that has seen substantial residential development. The housing market in this zip code shows home values above the state average and rents that are climbing moderately, reflecting the broader pattern in metro Phoenix of rising costs. Families considering this school are looking at a commuter-oriented suburban stretch of a major urban center.

For a family weighing this school, the academic picture is one of a school that does math at a very high level across nearly every grade, while its English results show a clear split: strong early-literacy outcomes in kindergarten through third grade, followed by a drop in the middle years that a parent would want to understand by talking to the school about its reading and writing instruction in upper elementary and middle school. The school's small size means that each grade likely consists of a single classroom of around two dozen students, so a tight-knit, high-visibility environment is the day-to-day reality. That is a plain characteristic of small schools and not a judgment. Because this is a charter school, it draws from across a wide attendance boundary rather than a single neighborhood, so the peer group is self-selected by families who chose the school rather than assigned by a district map.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 387%

School 87% · District 87%

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 81%

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

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 796%

School 96% · District 96%

▲ 64 pts above state median · ▲ 63 pts above county median

Grade 888%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 56 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 596%

School 96% · District 96%

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 59%

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

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolStepping Stones Academy (10966), 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.