Fireside Elementary School, Phoenix AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Fireside Elementary School

Fireside Elementary School, located in the Phoenix portion of the Paradise Valley Unified District, serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade. It is a regular public school that draws from a residential area within a large, sprawling urban city that has grown rapidly and now functions as a major commercial and transportation hub for the Mountain West. The school’s academic performance stands out as a clear strength. On the most recent state assessments, the overall proficiency rate across tested subjects and grades placed Fireside in the top quarter of all schools within Maricopa County, a large and diverse county. This is a strong showing even before looking at grade-level detail.

A closer look at individual grades reveals some variation. Fourth graders posted exceptionally high results, with nearly all students scoring proficient in both math and English language arts. Fifth and third graders also performed well, though their proficiency rates were lower than the fourth-grade peak, particularly in science, where a solid majority of fifth graders met the standard. Sixth graders returned a strong majority proficient in both subjects. The school’s best performance is clearly in the middle elementary years, and a family considering the school may want to ask how the school supports the transition into upper elementary and middle school, especially in the subjects where the rates, while still above county averages, show a dip.

The student body is predominantly white, with a sizable Asian population and smaller shares of Hispanic and multiracial students; Black and Native American enrollment is very low. The school does not have a charter or magnet designation, and data on whether it receives Title I funding was not available. Information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, those with Individualized Education Programs, and English learners was also not reported in the data we reviewed. A parent may want to follow up with the school directly on these points, as they can affect the resources and supports available.

Fireside is part of the Paradise Valley Unified District, and the district’s recent parent-relevant changes were not found in publicly available sources, so we cannot speak to any recent shifts in curriculum, boundaries, or programming. The housing context for this school’s attendance area shows home values and rents that are notably above national benchmarks, reflecting an affluent suburban pocket within Phoenix’s larger urban fabric. Mortgage rates and rental costs have been trending upward, consistent with broader national patterns. This suggests that families living in this area likely have above-average household resources, which aligns with the strong academic outcomes.

In terms of what this school offers, the academic data is the clearest signal. For a family seeking an elementary school with consistently high test scores and a peer group that is largely white and relatively well-off, Fireside is a strong match. The school’s performance is not uniform across every grade, but the overall pattern is one of solid proficiency with standout years. Because it serves only through sixth grade, families will need to plan for a middle school transition. The absence of data on special populations and discipline means that a family with a child who needs extra support or who is an English learner should seek more information from the school. Overall, Fireside presents itself as a high-performing elementary school in a high-cost, established Phoenix neighborhood, with academic results that clearly exceed county averages.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 33% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 497%

School 97% · District 56% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 53 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 50% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 45% · ▲ 34 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 25% · ▲ 45 pts above district

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

Grade 494%

School 94% · District 60% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 48% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 682%

School 82% · District 57% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Science

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 42% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 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.