The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Chinle Elementary School
Chinle Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and is part of the Chinle Unified District. The school sits in the rural census-designated place of Chinle, Arizona, at the center of the Navajo Nation in Apache County. This is a deeply institutional setting, where the largest employers are the Indian Health Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service at Canyon de Chelly National Monument, and the school district itself. The community is low-density and spread along the highway corridor; there is no walkable downtown, and most residents rely on personal vehicles. The student body is overwhelmingly Native American, reflecting the larger population of the area, and the school is a regular public school, not a charter.
A parent looking at Chinle Elementary will want to understand its academic results, because they show a mixed picture. In reading, the share of students scoring at the proficient level on state assessments varied by grade, with some grades reaching a moderately strong result and others landing at a lower level. In math, the pattern was similar, with one grade showing a notably stronger result than the others, while several grades fell into a lower range. Science results for the tested grade were low. When placed relative to other schools and districts in Apache County, Chinle Elementary’s combined performance across all tested subjects and grades ranked in the top quartile; this sets it among the stronger performers in a county where overall proficiency levels are generally low. The bar for context matters here, and a parent should look closely at the absolute proficiency numbers for specific grade levels and subjects in the data section to see the actual range.
The available academic data covers a single year. The school has only two data points in its trend series, both from the same testing year, so there is no track record of improvement or decline to evaluate. The graduation rate is not reported because this school ends at sixth grade. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility data was missing, as were counts for students with individualized education programs and English learner status, which limits a full picture of the student supports or needs in the building. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these figures and how the school supports students who need additional help.
The district itself has no recent, publicly reported changes involving bonds, overrides, or facility upgrades that would be relevant to a parent. That may mean things are stable or that information was not easily available, but it is a gap worth noting if a family is weighing medium-term planning.
For a family considering Chinle Elementary, the key factors are straightforward. This is a school in a remote, car-dependent community on the Navajo Nation, serving a population that is almost entirely Native American. Academically, it performs above the county midpoint in overall proficiency, but the absolute rates are modest and vary notably by grade and subject. A parent should examine the per-grade results on the page and consider how those align with their child’s current performance and needs. The school covers early through middle elementary grades, so the peer environment will be young children from the immediate surrounding area. The absence of data on special populations and the lack of multi-year trends are soft spots a family will want to clarify with the school before enrolling.
See more original research from School Decision →