The reported proficiency rate for Science is 47%.
Original Research by School Decision on Learning Foundation and Performing Arts Alta Mesa
The school listed here, Learning Foundation and Performing Arts Alta Mesa, is no longer active. Its record marks it as a regular charter school serving a single middle-school grade band, though the precise grade configuration is given only as "M through M." The school was part of a small charter network run by CAFA, Inc., which operates under the name Learning Foundation and Performing Arts. Because the school is inactive, current enrollment, demographic, and staffing data are missing, and state testing results are limited and largely suppressed.
The state test data on file comes from the 2020-21 school year, the first full pandemic year, and from earlier science results in 2018-19. For the 2020-21 math and English language arts assessments, Arizona's AzM2 test, proficiency rates for every tested grade from third through eighth were suppressed by the state, meaning too few students tested or too few met the threshold to report a reliable rate. The pattern of suppressed results across a small school in a pandemic year makes it impossible to draw a clear picture of academic performance from that data. The school's earlier science results, from 2018-19 on the AIMS Science test, give one usable data point: fourth graders scored at a level that placed the school above the midpoint among districts in Maricopa County on an overall proficiency index. The eighth-grade science result was also suppressed.
A parent looking at this school for a child today would find it is not operating. The data does not explain why the school became inactive. The charter network itself, CAFA Inc. dba Learning Foundation and Performing Arts, continues to exist in the state's records, and a parent interested in a similarly named school would need to verify which campuses are currently open.
Mesa, where the school was located, is a large suburban city that spreads across an extensive area east of Phoenix. It is auto-oriented, with wide arterial roads and strip commercial development defining most neighborhoods. Downtown offers a walkable cluster of arts venues, shops, and light rail access to Tempe and Phoenix, but daily life for most residents requires driving. The city has grown rapidly since World War II, with newer development pushing eastward toward the city's boundary. Major local employers include Boeing's helicopter manufacturing, Banner Health, and the public school system itself. The housing market in the area around the school's former address on Brown Road is modestly priced relative to the statewide benchmark, with home values near the state median and rents slightly below it.
The district brief for CAFA, Inc. turned up no recent changes that met the bar for lasting parent-relevant impact. A family considering this charter network should contact the organization directly to confirm which grade levels and locations are active and what their current academic standing is. For the Alta Mesa campus specifically, the available evidence says only that it served a middle-school population, took state tests during a disrupted year, and is now closed.
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