The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Math. The lowest is 57% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Kyrene De Los Cerritos School
Kyrene de los Cerritos School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix. It is a regular public school and part of the Kyrene Elementary District. The student body is diverse, with a majority white population and a substantial share of Hispanic students along with smaller representations of students who are Asian, Black, or of two or more races, and a very small number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. The school’s enrollment is small enough that a family touring the campus can get a clear sense of the community and the daily environment. Federal data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, on students with disabilities, and on English learners was not available in the current reporting, so a family may want to ask the school directly about these dimensions of student support and programming.
On state assessments, Kyrene de los Cerritos posts results that are well above average for a Maricopa County school. The school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to districts across the county. In math, a strong majority of students in grades three, four, and five met the state’s proficiency standard. In English language arts, performance was mixed by grade, with fourth grade showing very strong results and third and fifth grades more moderate, though still solid. In science, which is tested only in fifth grade, just over half of students scored proficient, a figure that was lower than the school’s reading and math marks. A family whose child is approaching fifth grade may want to ask the school about science instruction and support, particularly if that subject is a priority. The assessment data comes from a single year and the school’s trend data covers only two points for the same year, so there is no multi-year trajectory to examine.
The school offers a typical elementary experience within a district that has made sustained investments in non-core programming. The Kyrene district passed a continuation of its existing override funding in a 2022 election, which maintained support for art, music, physical education, foreign languages, and smaller class sizes. This means that a student at Kyrene de los Cerritos has access to these enrichment offerings, and the district has preserved this budget line rather than cutting it. The school itself does not serve grades where high school outcomes like graduation rates or advanced coursework would apply, so those metrics are absent by design.
The housing context in the school’s immediate zip code shows home values and rents near the high end relative to national benchmarks, though both have seen a slight softening in the most recent period. The estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home, using a 20 percent down payment and a rate in the mid-six percent range, comes in well above the estimated rent for a similar property, making homeownership notably more expensive than renting in this pocket of Phoenix. The broader Phoenix economy is large and diversified, with a strong presence in technology, manufacturing, tourism, and services, and the city continues to grow in population, so the area is not a static one. The Ahwatukee neighborhood specifically sits south of South Mountain, giving it a slight separation from the denser core of the city.
For a parent or resident evaluating this school, the core takeaway is that Kyrene de los Cerritos is an elementary school with above-average academic outcomes, a moderate-sized and diverse student body, and district-funded enrichment offerings that are not at risk of being cut in the near term. The school’s proficiency numbers in math and most reading grades are strong, while science scores and some lower elementary reading scores may merit a closer conversation with the principal about instructional approaches and how the school supports students who are not yet meeting the bar. The neighborhood is expensive to buy into but somewhat more accessible for renters compared to the national mortgage-versus-rent gap. Families looking for a school with solid baseline academics and a reliably funded enrichment program will find a fit here, while those focused on science programming or on understanding the school’s special education and English learner supports should seek those details directly from the school office.
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