Franklin Accelerated Academy - Downtown Campus, Mesa AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Accelerated Academy - Downtown Campus

Franklin Accelerated Academy - Downtown Campus is a public, non-charter elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in Mesa, part of the Mesa Unified District. The school sits within a large, sprawling suburban city that is overwhelmingly auto-oriented and dominated by wide arterial roads and single-family residential tracts, though it has a modest downtown core with the Mesa Arts Center, local shops, and restaurants. The city has experienced sustained rapid growth over decades, particularly expanding eastward, and the school is located in the older part of Mesa. No recent district-level changes of lasting impact were found in publicly available reporting.

The student body is diverse. The two largest racial and ethnic groups are Hispanic students and white students, each making up a substantial portion of the enrollment, followed by students who identify with two or more races, Black students, American Indian or Alaska Native students, Asian students, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students. The school serves a sizeable enrollment for its grade band. 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 in the provided records.

Academically, state testing results from the most recent year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, proficiency rates in grades three through five were solid, with a majority of students meeting the bar each year. Fourth and fifth graders performed particularly well. However, sixth grade saw a notable drop, where only about half of students scored proficient, a weaker result that a parent may want to look into further with the school. In math, the pattern was similar but more pronounced. Grades four and five posted strong proficiency rates, with a clear majority of students meeting the standard. Third grade was also solid. Sixth grade again represented a significant step down, with fewer than half of students proficient. In science, the only tested grade, fifth grade, showed about half of students proficient. Overall, when combining all tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among schools in districts across Maricopa County, indicating that its general academic performance is above the midpoint of its county peers. Multi-year trend data was limited to a single year of available information, so no trend can be assessed.

As a pre-kindergarten through sixth grade school, Franklin Accelerated Academy - Downtown Campus does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate is reported. No information on program offerings, course access, or staffing was provided. The school’s title I status was not specified in the data.

For a family, this school offers a diverse, mid-sized elementary environment in a large suburban city within a major metropolitan area. The academic data shows strong performance across several elementary grades in both reading and math, with a notable dip in sixth grade that is worth understanding. The surrounding community is car-dependent, with a downtown area offering some cultural amenities and light rail access to other parts of the metro. Housing values and rents in the area have seen a modest decline in the most recent period measured.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 19% · ▲ 42 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 24% · ▲ 47 pts above district

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

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 15% · ▲ 60 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 13% · ▲ 35 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 17% · ▲ 37 pts above district

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 27% · ▲ 46 pts above district

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

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 19% · ▲ 55 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 43% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 33% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

This schoolMesa Unified District (4235), 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.