The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 55%.
Original Research by School Decision on Pearce Elementary School
Pearce Elementary School serves its community in a very particular way, and understanding that community is essential to understanding the school. The town of Pearce is a historic mining settlement that peaked in population before the Commonwealth Mine closed in the 1940s, and it has long since become a quiet, sparsely populated place. It is often grouped with the adjoining planned retirement community of Sunsites, and together they form a rural area in Cochise County. The local economy is built around retirees, tourism, small businesses in a few historic buildings, and nearby vineyards and wineries in the Sulphur Springs Valley. This is not a place of dense suburban growth or new development; the area has experienced population decline over many decades and remains a low-density rural landscape.
The school itself is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Its enrollment is small, which is typical for a school in a community of this size. The student body is composed of a substantial share of students who are Hispanic, a slightly smaller share who are white, and a very small number of students who are Black or of two or more races. There is no data available on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, or on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support, which makes it harder to gauge the level of economic need at the school.
State testing data is limited for Pearce Elementary. Across most tested grades and subjects in math, English language arts, and science, proficiency rates were suppressed by the state, likely due to the small number of students tested. In a school this small, suppression of results is common. The one grade level where data was reported, seventh-grade English language arts, showed a proficiency rate that placed the school above the midpoint for the county. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades, which combines the available data, lands in the top quartile relative to the other districts in Cochise County. This suggests that where results are reportable, the school's academic performance is comparatively strong within the county. However, a parent should be aware that the small size makes year-to-year comparisons difficult and that the available data points are limited.
The school has no graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades. Students who finish eighth grade here move on to a high school outside the district, and since the district is an elementary district only, a parent will need to investigate which high schools serve this area and what those options look like.
The community context is important for a family to consider. Walkability is essentially nonexistent; Pearce is car-dependent, with no sidewalks or dense street grid. The historic core, where the school sits near the junction of Ghost Town Trail and Pearce Road, includes a few landmarks like the old jail and the general store, but there is no downtown or commercial strip. Civic life centers on the historic Pearce Cemetery, a church on the National Register of Historic Places, and the nearby Chiricahua National Monument and Cochise Stronghold. The nearest cities with significant services are approximately thirty miles north in Willcox or about forty-five miles south in Sierra Vista. There is no public transit.
Housing values in the area are notably lower than the national median, and prices have declined recently, which may make the area more affordable to some buyers. The national unemployment rate at the time of this data was moderate.
Pearce Elementary is a small, rural school in a quiet, declining community. Its academic results, where they can be seen, place it competitively within the county. For a family that values a very small school in a historic, low-density rural setting and is prepared for the isolation and limited local services, it may be a good fit. For a family looking for a range of programs, a busy community, or a clear picture of state testing results across all grades, the gaps in the data and the area's limitations are worth considering further.
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