The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 43% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Great Hearts Academies - Cicero Prep
Great Hearts Academies – Cicero Prep is a public charter school in Scottsdale, Arizona, serving students in sixth through twelfth grade. It is a single-school charter district operating under the Great Hearts network, a well-known Arizona charter management organization that follows a classical liberal arts model. The school sits within the broader Scottsdale landscape, a large and geographically sprawling city that ranges from the walkable, tourist-driven Old Town district to far northern desert subdivisions and preserve land. Housing in the area is expensive, with home values and rents well above national and state averages, and the local economy is anchored by tourism, the Scottsdale Airpark employment hub, and major employers including Mayo Clinic.
Cicero Prep is a mid-sized school for its grade band, with an enrollment that skews toward the middle school years and tapers through high school. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and small shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to clarify with the school directly. The share of students receiving special education services was also not reported, and the data on English learners was absent; these are notable omissions for a family evaluating whether the school has the support infrastructure their child might need.
State assessment results from the most recent testing year show a mixed academic picture. Across the tested grades, English language arts proficiency rates were in the modest range, with the strongest performance in seventh grade and the weakest in sixth grade. Math proficiency rates were lower overall than English language arts, with seventh grade again the strongest of the three tested middle school grades. Science proficiency in eighth grade was also in the moderate range. When compared to other districts in Maricopa County, Cicero Prep’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint. That is a solid relative position, but the absolute rates suggest room for improvement, particularly in math. A parent considering the school may want to ask how the school supports students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks and how it prepares students for the transition to high school coursework.
The school does not serve the high school grade levels that would produce a four-year graduation rate, and discipline and attendance data were not available. Because the school covers grades six through twelve, high school outcomes are relevant, but the data provided does not include them. A family weighing the high school years should inquire directly about graduation rates, college matriculation, and Advanced Placement or dual enrollment offerings, which are common in Great Hearts high schools but were not confirmed in the available data for this profile.
Program offerings were not included in the data. Great Hearts schools are known for a classical curriculum with a strong emphasis on literature, history, Latin, and Socratic discussion, so a family drawn to that academic approach will find a natural fit here. However, without specific information on available electives, career and technical education pathways, or extracurriculars, a parent should seek that information from the school’s website or a campus visit.
The district itself is a single-school charter district with no recent major changes documented in available public sources. The absence of reported district-level developments is not unusual for a standalone charter, where administrative changes are often minor and do not generate broad press coverage. The school’s location in Scottsdale places it in a city known for high-end amenities, a strong tourism sector, and an active outdoor lifestyle centered on the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and the Scottsdale Greenbelt. The cost of living in the area is high, and the local housing market has been one of the fastest-growing in the country over the past two decades.
For a family, Cicero Prep offers a classical liberal arts education in an affluent, amenity-rich city, with academic proficiency that is above the middle of the pack among Maricopa County districts. The gaps in data on student support services, high school outcomes, and program specifics mean that a thorough conversation with the school is essential before making a decision. The school fits a family that values a structured, content-rich curriculum and is comfortable with a setting where the student body is not especially diverse. It may be less suitable for a family looking for extensive special education services, English learner supports, or a wide array of career-focused pathways, unless those are confirmed by the school.
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