The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in Math. The lowest is 19% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Desert Garden Elementary School
Desert Garden Elementary School serves grades PK through 6 as a regular public school in the Glendale Elementary School District. The school sits in a large suburban city that borders Phoenix, a place defined by a mix of residential subdivisions, major retail centers like Arrowhead Towne Center, sports and entertainment venues such as State Farm Stadium, and industrial employers including Honeywell Aerospace. Luke Air Force Base and Midwestern University also anchor the community. Glendale is growing steadily, with development plans focused on the western Yucca district around the sports venues.
The student body is small for a school that serves through grade 6. Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by white students, with smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students, and very small numbers of Native American and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available.
State testing results are available for 3rd grade only, from a recent school year that brought a change in the state assessment, which complicates comparison to prior years. On that math test, roughly a fifth of 3rd graders scored at the proficient level or above. On the English language arts test, the share was slightly lower, also about a fifth. Participation rates were high for both tests, above the threshold that would raise concern about the completeness of the data. Science results were suppressed and could not be reported. When placed against other districts across Maricopa County, Desert Garden Elementary’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the bottom quartile. A parent exploring this school will want to discuss with the school how its approach to reading and math instruction supports students who are not yet meeting the standard and what recent or planned efforts are underway.
Because the school serves only through grade 6, it does not have a high school graduation rate to report, and no data on chronic absenteeism was available for this school. Information on course access, staffing ratios, and discipline was also absent in the data, so these areas remain open questions a prospective family would need to raise directly with the school.
Housing in the area around the school carries a moderate price tag relative to the state benchmark, with the typical home value slightly below the Arizona average. Rents in the area are near the national average as a share of household income. The school is part of the Glendale Elementary School District, and no specific district-level referendum or bond initiatives from recent years surfaced in the data reviewed. A parent considering this school will want to check directly with the district for any upcoming facility or program investments that could affect their child’s experience.
Desert Garden Elementary offers a traditional elementary program in a city with varied recreational and economic assets. The big picture is of a small school where early-grade state test results fall below the county midpoint, and where several dimensions of school operation and student support are not captured in the available public data.
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