The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 53% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Destiny School
Destiny School is a charter school in Globe, Arizona, serving kindergarten through eighth grade. It operates as its own single-school district, Destiny School Inc., which means the school’s leadership is also the district leadership, with no separate central office overhead. The setting is a small, historic mining town set in the hills of Gila County, where copper mining, government functions as the county seat, and tourism form the economic base. Population has been slowly declining, and the town’s housing values sit below the statewide average. There is no public transit system; getting around requires a car.
The student body of roughly a few hundred is notably diverse. Nearly half of enrolled students are American Indian or Alaska Native, with most of the remainder split between white students and Hispanic students. Smaller shares identify as Asian, Black, or multiracial. Data on free or reduced-price meal eligibility and English learner status was not available in the records, which means a parent would want to ask the school directly about its proportion of students from low-income households and the level of language support available.
On state assessments, Destiny School’s results place it among the stronger performers compared with other districts in Gila County. In both math and English language arts, proficiency rates vary noticeably by grade. In reading, upper-elementary and middle-school grades typically show a majority of students meeting the bar, with a few grades where roughly six in ten or more students reach proficiency. The pattern is similar in math, though one fifth-grade cohort showed a lower share of students proficient. Science results for fifth and eighth grades were suppressed, which often happens when the tested group is small, so those outcomes are not reported. Only one year of assessment data was available, so there is no basis to describe a trend yet.
Because the school stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. There is also no information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios in the available data. A parent choosing Destiny School for middle school will need to plan for a transition to a high school; Globe is served by the Globe Unified School District, which operates the local high school, but Destiny School itself does not feed into any particular high school automatically since it is a charter.
The locale brief describes Globe’s downtown as walkable, with a historic commercial core along Broad Street anchored by the Gila County Courthouse, a public library, and small businesses. Residential neighborhoods spread into the hillsides, and the nearby town of Miami is closely linked. The regional economy has faced headwinds, with a focus in recent years on infrastructure recovery from flooding. The school sits within this small-town context, and its charter status gives families an alternative to the nearby district elementary and middle schools.
For a parent, Destiny School offers a K-8 pathway in a single campus with a diverse peer environment and academic results that are comparatively strong for the county. The missing pieces—economic data, special education and English learner counts, and any trend line—would be worth discussing with school staff to get a fuller picture of student support and school climate. The school’s small size and charter autonomy may appeal to families seeking a closer-knit setting in a town where school and civic life are closely tied.
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