Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson, Tucson AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson

Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson is a charter school serving kindergarten through twelfth grade in a single building on the west side of Tucson. It operates as a regular public school under the Daisy Education Corporation charter network. Tucson itself is a large desert city, the second largest in Arizona, with an economy anchored by the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and a mix of optics, technology, and tourism. The school is located in a residential corridor of the city, and the surrounding area reflects the broader Tucson pattern of suburban-style development mixed with older commercial strips.

The school’s academic picture comes from state assessment results, which are reported for each tested grade. Proficiency varies notably across subjects and grade levels. In math, the early elementary grades show a stronger share of students meeting state standards, while the upper elementary and middle school grades have a smaller share reaching that benchmark. In English language arts, the pattern is less consistent, with some middle grades posting a higher proficiency rate and the early elementary grades showing a lower one. Science results, available for two grade levels, land in a similar range. When compared across all tested subjects and grades and placed against other districts in Pima County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint. That means its composite performance is a bit stronger than the typical district in the county, though individual grade-level results vary enough that a parent may want to look at how their child’s specific grade is doing.

No graduation rate is reported for this school, and no chronic absenteeism data is available, so those measures cannot be used to assess how well the school supports students through to completion or attendance. The data also does not include free or reduced-price meal eligibility, special education identification, or English learner counts, so the economic and support needs of the student body are not visible from the information on hand. The school’s population is composed mostly of students who identify as Hispanic and White, with smaller shares who are Asian, Black, multiracial, and American Indian. Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the grades from kindergarten through twelfth, with a typical total size for a K-12 campus.

The housing market around the school is near the state average for home values and rents, and the broader Tucson area has seen steady suburban growth, particularly to the northwest and south. The school is a charter, so families choose to enroll rather than being assigned by a residential boundary. No recent district-level changes were found in public reporting, and no program offerings such as Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, or career pathways were included in the data, so the depth of academic options beyond the core curriculum is not clear from this record.

For a parent or guardian considering Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson, the school offers a continuous K-12 pathway in a charter setting at a time when many charters focus on specific grade bands. Academic performance is uneven across grades and subjects, but the overall composite stands slightly above the typical Pima County district. The lack of data on graduation, attendance, and student support programs means that some key questions about how well the school serves its students through to completion cannot be answered from what is available here. A family would likely want to visit, ask about high school graduation rates, course offerings, and how the school addresses the weaker proficiency in certain grades. For those who value a single-site K-12 charter in a large city with a strong university and technology economy, this school is worth a closer look, but only with those additional questions answered.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 43 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 359%

School 59% · District 54% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 48% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 34% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 24% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 31% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 26% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 24% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 43% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 28% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 48% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 33% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolDaisy Education Corporation dba Sonoran Science Ac (79049), 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.