Canyon Elementary School, Glendale AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Canyon Elementary School

Canyon Elementary School is a regular public school in Glendale, part of the Peoria Unified School District. It serves students from preschool through eighth grade, making it a single-campus option for a family's entire elementary and middle school years. The school sits in a large suburban city on the western edge of the Phoenix metro area, a place with a mix of residential neighborhoods, major retail corridors, sports and entertainment venues, and industrial employers like Honeywell Aerospace and Luke Air Force Base. Glendale is growing steadily, and the district has maintained a stable footprint of schools, providing continuity for families.

The school’s enrollment is relatively small for a PK-8 campus. The student body is predominantly white and Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are English learners was not available.

Academically, Canyon Elementary presents a mixed picture that parents will want to examine closely by grade level. On the state’s English language arts assessments, proficiency rates showed an upward trajectory from the lower elementary grades through middle school. Students in third grade met the proficiency bar at a rate below half, while fourth and fifth graders were around the midpoint. A clear lift appeared in the upper grades: seventh and eighth graders posted proficiency rates well above half, the strongest results in the school. Math scores followed a somewhat different pattern. Third graders performed above half, a solid showing, but sixth grade dropped to just over a third. Seventh and eighth graders recovered, each reaching nearly half. Science results were available only for eighth graders, who posted a proficiency rate above half.

When compared across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among schools in Maricopa County. This is a useful signal, but the variation by grade and subject means that a student’s experience could depend heavily on their year and teacher. The district does not post a high school graduation rate for this school, as Canyon Elementary does not serve high school grades.

Because this is a regular public school within a larger unified district, students will transition to a district high school after eighth grade. The district covers parts of several cities, so the specific high school a student attends will depend on the family’s address. A parent should confirm the feeder pattern before committing to a home purchase or rental.

The housing market in the school’s ZIP code is moderately priced relative to the Phoenix region. Home values have seen a modest decline recently, while rents have increased slightly. Buying a home requires a substantial income relative to the national median, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment is higher than the typical rent, a factor worth weighing for families deciding whether to rent or buy in the area.

The community offers extensive regional parks, historic downtown Glendale, and the Westgate Entertainment District. The city’s built environment is largely auto-oriented, with walkable pockets concentrated in a few areas. Families looking for a single school that covers elementary and middle grades in a stable, suburban district with a middle-of-the-pack academic profile should consider Canyon Elementary, though they should follow up with the school about the variability in grade-level results and the absence of key demographic data that might affect their child’s peer group.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 27% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 33% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 31% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 34% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 41% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 52% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 40% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 43% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 765%

School 65% · District 25% · ▲ 40 pts above district

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

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 45% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 33% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

This schoolPeoria Unified School District (4237), 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.