Sunset Hills Elementary, Surprise AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Sunset Hills Elementary

Sunset Hills Elementary is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Surprise, Arizona, part of the Dysart Unified District. The school sits in a fast-growing northwestern suburb of Phoenix, a city that has transformed from a small agricultural settlement into a sprawling residential hub anchored by master-planned retirement communities like Sun City Grand, spring training baseball at Surprise Stadium, and sprawling subdivisions that have drawn thousands of new residents over the past two decades. The built environment is car-dependent, with limited public transit, though the city’s recreation campus offers a walkable cluster of parks, a library, and sports facilities. For a family considering this school, the immediate question is what kind of academic pathway and peer environment Sunset Hills provides, and how the surrounding housing market and district context shape the experience.

Academically, Sunset Hills posts proficiency rates that place it above the midpoint among districts in Maricopa County when measured across all tested subjects and grades. Still, the numbers reveal a more nuanced picture. In math, proficiency is strongest in the early elementary grades, where roughly two-thirds of students meet the bar, but it declines steadily in middle school, with only about a third of seventh and eighth graders reaching proficiency. English language arts holds steadier across the grade span, with roughly half to three-fifths of students scoring proficient at each level. Science results are available for fifth and eighth graders: about half of fifth graders and roughly three-fifths of eighth graders are proficient. The downward drift in upper-grade math is a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school, particularly if their child is entering the middle school years. A multi-year trend series shows three years of data, but the available information is limited, so long-term trajectory is hard to assess.

The student body is sizable for a PK-8 campus, with a white plurality and a substantial Hispanic population, alongside smaller shares of Black, Asian, Native American, and multiracial students. The school does not report data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education services, or English learner status, so families seeking that context will need to ask the school directly. No information is available on discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios, which means a parent looking for a full picture of school climate or support systems will likely need to arrange a visit or speak with current families.

Surprise’s housing market has seen a modest pullback in values recently, though home prices remain elevated relative to national benchmarks. Rents have also edged downward slightly, and renting is currently a bit cheaper than buying a comparable home. The city’s explosive growth has spurred new amenities, including a recently opened aquatics center, and industrial development is occurring in a foreign trade zone. The Dysart district undertook a significant grade reconfiguration in the 2021-2022 school year, converting several elementary schools into middle schools and changing feeder patterns, which Sunset Hills families have already navigated. The district also rebranded to Dysart Schools in 2022. These changes may affect a new family’s understanding of where their child will attend school after eighth grade and how the district’s overall structure has evolved.

For a parent weighing Sunset Hills, the school offers the convenience of a single campus through eighth grade, above-average proficiency compared to many other schools in the county, but with a notable drop in math outcomes as students get older. The surrounding community is growing quickly, with a mix of retirees and younger families, and housing costs are high but softening. The lack of publicly available information on several key student support metrics means that a family with specific concerns about class size, special education services, or English learner supports will want to contact the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 46% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 30% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 30% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 33% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 27% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

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

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 41% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 40% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 33% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 46% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 51% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 42% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

This schoolDysart Unified District (4243), 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.