Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary, Tucson AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary

Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary sits in the northwestern reach of Tucson, within the Marana Unified School District, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school occupies a spot in an area of newer suburban development, where the landscape opens toward the Tortolita Mountains and the community feels a step removed from Tucson’s denser central core. Families living here tend to find a quieter, more spread-out environment compared to the city’s older neighborhoods.

The school is one of the larger elementary campuses in the district by enrollment for its grade band, drawing from a surrounding area where housing values, as measured in the immediate zip code, land above the national median for a single-family home. Renters face a market that is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks, though the gap between monthly rent and a mortgage payment suggests that buying a home here is a notably larger financial commitment than renting. The local housing market has shown a slight softening in values recently, a shift that may affect families’ relocation timing or equity calculations.

Academically, Rattlesnake Ridge produces results that place it among the stronger elementary schools when measured against other schools in Pima County. This is a school where a clear majority of students meet state proficiency standards in math across grades three through six, and the performance in English language arts is similarly solid, though with more variation by grade level. Fourth graders turn in the strongest reading and writing scores, while third graders show a softer spot that a parent may want to look into further with the school, as it suggests some students need more time to build foundational literacy. Fifth-grade science results land right around the midpoint of proficiency, a typical profile for a school that performs well overall without being at the very top of the county’s distribution.

The student body is diverse, with no single group dominating. White students make up the largest share, followed closely by Hispanic students, and the remainder draws from multiracial, Black, Asian, and Native American backgrounds. This mix gives the school a genuinely integrated peer environment, one where children interact across a range of backgrounds from the early grades onward. Data on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are learning English as a second language was not reported in the data available, so families should ask the school directly about the level of support for these populations.

Marana Unified District offers free full-day kindergarten district-wide, a concrete benefit that matters for any family with a young child entering school. The district also maintains an online distance learning option, a parallel path that some families may want to keep open as a backup or primary choice depending on their circumstances.

The school’s location in Tucson’s northwest suburbs means that daily life is car-dependent for most errands and activities. The central city, with the University of Arizona campus and downtown civic institutions, is a drive away. For families who value a suburban setting with strong academic consistency through the elementary years, Rattlesnake Ridge presents a straightforward option. The school does not serve high school grades, so the transition to a district middle and high school will come after sixth grade, a point for parents to factor into their longer view of the educational path.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 44% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 43% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 46% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 652%

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

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

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 37% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 47% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 41% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 44% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 43% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

This schoolMarana Unified District (4404), 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.