The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 57% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Winifred Harelson Elementary School
Winifred Harelson Elementary School is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through sixth grade in the Amphitheater Unified District. It is located in a residential area of Tucson. The school is not a charter school, and no magnet or Title I designation was reported in the available data.
The school’s enrollment is moderate for its grade band, and the student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic population and small shares of students who are Asian, Black, multiracial, or Native American. Data on the proportion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals was not available. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was also missing from the records reviewed.
Academically, Winifred Harelson Elementary posts results that place its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades in the top quartile when compared with other districts in Pima County. In math, reported proficiency rates for third, fourth, and fifth graders all clustered near the upper half of the tested group, with sixth-grade math results suppressed in the data. In English language arts, the same three tested grades showed a rising pattern from third to fifth grade, with fifth graders reaching a notably strong level of proficiency. Science results for fifth graders were also solid, with more than half of test takers scoring proficient or above. Sixth-grade ELA results were suppressed. A parent considering this school can see a consistent pattern of above-average academic performance through the elementary years, particularly in literacy.
The school serves only through sixth grade and does not offer a high school program, so there is no graduation rate to report. The data included no chronic absenteeism information, and no course access, staffing, or discipline records were available for review. The district itself has seen little in the way of publicly reported major changes in recent years.
Housing in the area around the school carries a price tag above the national median. The typical home value in the zip code is higher than the state benchmark, and rents are similarly elevated. The estimated monthly mortgage payment for a median-priced home with a conventional down payment runs higher than the typical rent, making homeownership a meaningful step up in cost compared with renting in this market. The broader Tucson economy is anchored by the University of Arizona, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and a cluster of optics and technology firms, with a national unemployment rate that has been stable and a real median household income that has held steady in recent years.
Tucson itself is a large desert city with a historic downtown, a major university campus connected by a streetcar line, and an automobile-dependent layout outside the central core. The city has seen ongoing suburban expansion to the northwest and south, but the area around the school sits within the older, more developed portion of the metro area. The neighborhood character is residential, and the school’s location places it within the Amphitheater district, which covers parts of north-central Tucson and some unincorporated areas.
A family looking at Winifred Harelson Elementary should see a school with strong academic results relative to other elementary schools in the county, a solid foundation in literacy and math, and a student body that is majority white with a sizeable Hispanic population. The lack of data on economic disadvantage and special education enrollment is a gap that a parent may want to explore with the school directly. The school does not run through high school, so a family will need to consider the feeder middle and high school options in the Amphitheater district when thinking about the long-term path. The housing market in this part of Tucson is expensive relative to the state and nation, which will factor into any relocation decision.
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