Westar Elementary School, Goodyear AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Westar Elementary School

Westar Elementary School is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade within the Liberty Elementary District in Goodyear, Arizona. Goodyear is a rapidly growing suburban city about seventeen miles west of downtown Phoenix, dominated by large master-planned communities such as Estrella, Palm Valley, and the active-adult community PebbleCreek. The city’s population has increased substantially in recent years, and its built environment is car-dependent, with schools, civic buildings, and commercial centers spread across separated campuses rather than a traditional walkable downtown. The new City Hall complex, opened in recent years, represents an effort to create a civic core, but the overall character remains auto-oriented.

Westar Elementary enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students and smaller representations of Black, multiracial, American Indian, and Asian students. The school draws from the surrounding residential neighborhoods, which are part of the city’s expanding suburban footprint. Data on the share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and English learners were not available in the records reviewed, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about these supports.

Academically, Westar Elementary shows a clear pattern in its state assessment results. In English language arts, the school has a strength: a majority of students in most tested grades met the proficiency standard, with particularly strong results in fourth grade and seventh grade, where a large majority scored proficient. Fifth grade and eighth grade ELA proficiency was lower, though still a solid share. In math, the picture is more varied. Third graders posted a high proficiency rate, but rates declined in the middle grades, with fifth and sixth grade showing a smaller share of students meeting the bar. Seventh and eighth grade math rebounded somewhat. Science results, available for fifth and eighth grade, show that a minority of students reached the proficient level. Overall, when combining all tested subjects and grades, Westar Elementary’s proficiency index sits above the midpoint relative to districts across Maricopa County, meaning it performs better than a typical district in the county.

Because the school serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. That is expected for a school of this grade span. Chronic absenteeism data, course access information, and staffing details were also not present in the available data, so a parent looking into those areas would need to follow up with the school or district.

The housing market in the area where Westar is located shows home values that are above the national average and roughly in line with the state average. Rent prices are also above the national median. Both home values and rents have seen a slight decline in the most recent period, which may offer some affordability relief for families moving into the area. The broader economic context includes a moderate unemployment rate and a median household income that is above the national figure.

For families considering Westar Elementary, the school offers a full preK-8 pathway in a fast-growing suburban setting. The academic picture is strongest in English language arts in the upper elementary and early middle school grades, while math and science proficiency show room for improvement, particularly in the middle grades. The school’s location in a master-planned community means that most students likely live within a short drive, and the surrounding area continues to see new residential development, which may affect enrollment and school resources in the coming years. The district’s recent changes were not documented in the available records, so it is unclear whether any major shifts in programming or leadership are underway.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 39% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 42% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 31% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 21% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 25% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 25% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 38% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 46% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 36% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 36% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 770%

School 70% · District 46% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 38% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 31% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 26% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

This schoolLiberty Elementary District (4266), 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.