Grayhawk Elementary School, Scottsdale AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Grayhawk Elementary School

Grayhawk Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the northern part of Scottsdale, operating as a regular public school within the Paradise Valley Unified District. The school sits in a part of the city defined by larger-lot residential development and desert terrain, an area where walkability is limited and a car is the primary means of getting around. Scottsdale itself spans a large area, from South Scottsdale and Old Town at its southern edge to North Scottsdale at its northern reaches, and Grayhawk is positioned in the northern segment, near the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

State testing results for the most recent school year show solid performance overall, with the school landing in the top quartile among elementary schools across Maricopa County when looking at proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, strong majorities of students in grades three through six met the state’s proficiency standard, and the same is true for mathematics in most grade levels, though the fifth-grade math results dipped below the majority threshold. Science performance for fifth graders was lower, with roughly half of students reaching proficiency. A parent may want to ask the school about support for those subjects, particularly as students approach the upper elementary grades.

The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable Hispanic minority and small numbers of students who are Black, Asian, or of two or more races. The school enrolls about 380 students, making it a mid-sized elementary school for the region. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, students with disabilities, and English learners were not reported, so a family interested in those support structures would need to inquire directly with the school or district.

Housing in the area around Grayhawk is expensive. Home values and rents sit well above national benchmarks, consistent with Scottsdale’s reputation as a high-cost market that has seen rapid growth over the past two decades. The typical home in the zip code would require a substantial mortgage payment relative to national averages, and rents are also elevated. This points to a community where most enrolled students likely come from families with above-average economic resources, though without free-lunch data it is not possible to confirm the full picture.

Scottsdale’s economy is driven heavily by tourism, with Old Town as the urban center and the Scottsdale Airpark area near the airport functioning as a major employment hub. The city has added population steadily, and new condominiums and hotels continue to be built in the downtown area. The district itself—Paradise Valley Unified—did not have any recent parent-relevant changes publicly reported at the time of research.

Grayhawk Elementary School offers a strong academic record in the early and middle elementary grades, set in a high-cost, suburban part of Scottsdale. It fits families who can afford the area’s housing market and who value a school where most students meet state standards in reading and math. The absence of tested grades beyond sixth means there is no graduation rate or high school program data to evaluate. Parents considering the school should look into the district’s middle and high school options separately, as those will shape the full academic pathway.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 33% · ▲ 42 pts above district

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

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 56% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 45% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 25% · ▲ 58 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 60% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 48% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 57% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 42% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

This schoolParadise Valley Unified District (4241), 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.