Robert and Danell Tarwater Elementary, Chandler AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Robert and Danell Tarwater Elementary

Robert and Danell Tarwater Elementary serves students from preschool through sixth grade as a regular public school within the Chandler Unified School District, located in the southern Phoenix suburb of Chandler. Chandler is a large, fast-growing city that anchors a concentration of semiconductor and technology employers, including Intel and a cluster of corporate campuses along the Price Road Corridor. The everyday texture is suburban: master‑planned subdivisions, wide arterial roads, freeway interchanges, and strip retail, with a smaller historic downtown core. The school itself sits in a residential area of south Chandler, a part of the city that has seen considerable housing development.

Tarwater Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with substantial Asian and Hispanic populations and smaller shares of Black, multiracial, and Native American students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced‑price meals, as well as counts of students with disabilities or English learner status, were not available. Given that Chandler’s housing market commands high home values and rents, the school is likely set in a comparatively affluent attendance area, but families should confirm the specific economic profile with the district.

Academically, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint among all districts in Maricopa County, a solid standing for a suburban elementary. Yet the results vary by grade and subject. In English language arts, the share of students meeting state standards was at or above a majority in grades three through five, then dipped notably in sixth grade. Math proficiency followed a similar pattern: a majority met the bar in grade four, while in grades three, five, and six the share of students scoring proficient was below half. Science results, available only for fifth grade, showed roughly half of students reaching the proficient level. Because only one year of assessment data is available, there is no basis to describe a trend. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies.

The school environment and program data fields were also empty: no information on course access, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or availability of gifted, special education, or English learner supports was provided by the state or federal sources. A parent considering Tarwater Elementary would want to ask the school directly about those services and about how the school addresses the drop‑off in proficiency seen in sixth grade.

Tarwater Elementary is a mid‑sized suburban school in a growing tech‑oriented city. Its test results are generally in line with or slightly above the county median, though with clear grade‑level soft spots. For families whose top priority is a solid academic baseline in a well‑resourced, fast‑growing metro area, this school fits the bill. Those needing specific support programs or a deeper view of the school’s approach to instruction will want to follow up directly, as the available data leaves those questions unanswered.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 44% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 30% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 53% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 26% · ▲ 10 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 35% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 32% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 32% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 58% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Science

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolChandler Unified District #80 (4242), same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.