The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in Math. The lowest is 25% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Desert Willow Elementary School
Desert Willow Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Kingman, a city in northwestern Arizona that functions as a regional trade, service, and distribution center. The school is part of the Kingman Unified School District. Kingman sits at the intersection of Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 93, giving it a highway crossroads character, and its longest preserved stretch of Historic Route 66 runs through the city. The local economy is anchored by Kingman Regional Medical Center, Mohave County government, the school district itself, Mohave Community College, and a mix of manufacturers and distributors at the Kingman Airport Industrial Park. The city has a defined historic downtown along the Route 66 corridor, but the broader built environment is auto-dependent suburban and highway-commercial development, oriented around three interstate exits.
Desert Willow is a regular public school with an enrollment that places it at a moderate size for an elementary building. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of students who are American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or of two or more races. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available, so it is not possible to gauge the school’s economic or academic support needs from that lens.
On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Desert Willow’s proficiency rates in both math and English language arts were below the midpoint among districts in Mohave County. In math, proficiency rates declined gradually from third grade to fifth grade. In English language arts, the rates climbed slightly from third to fifth grade but remained in a similar range. Science results from the fifth-grade statewide test were in a comparable territory. Because this school serves only elementary grades, there are no graduation rate data to report, and the data on student attendance and discipline were not available, so it is not possible to describe those aspects of the school environment.
The school has no charter or magnet status, and its Title I status was not reported. The broader district appears to have seen no recent high-profile changes or restructuring that would alter a family’s understanding of the school’s stability. The city of Kingman has experienced steady growth over the postwar period, driven by employer relocations, and the planned replacement of U.S. Route 93 by Interstate 11 would upgrade the corridor to Las Vegas and may influence future development patterns. Housing values in the area are below the state benchmark, and the typical rent-to-income ratio suggests a somewhat affordable market relative to national norms.
A family considering Desert Willow should understand that its academic proficiency rates, as measured by the state tests, are lower than many of its peers within the county. The data offer a snapshot of student performance at a single point in time, so a parent may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks, what interventions are in place, and how the school tracks growth across the elementary years. The school serves a broad cross-section of Kingman’s population, and its setting in a highway-oriented, regionally significant town means that commuting patterns and the location of the school relative to home and work are practical considerations.
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