The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 27%.
Original Research by School Decision on Garfield School
Garfield School serves students from preschool through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Phoenix Elementary District. The school is located in central Phoenix, a large, sprawling urban center whose economy has long shifted from its agricultural origins into services, technology, tourism, and manufacturing, particularly in electronics, transportation, and aerospace. The city is among the fastest-growing in the nation, with a car-oriented built environment and a precise street grid. Student enrollment is moderate for a school serving this grade band. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of Black students, and very small shares of white, two-or-more-races, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian students. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available in the source data, nor were counts of students with an Individualized Education Program or English learners, so a family looking for that context may want to discuss it directly with the school.
State testing data for the school is limited. For the most recent assessment year, the state suppressed proficiency results for most grade levels and subjects, meaning the figures did not meet minimum reporting thresholds, often because of small group sizes. Only one set of results was reported without suppression: fourth-grade English language arts, where about a quarter of students scored proficient. The combined multi-year trend data, which aggregates across tested grades, places the school’s overall proficiency in both math and English language arts at a share well below the common benchmark. In a comparison of overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, Garfield sits below the midpoint among schools in Maricopa County. A parent should be aware that the proficiency picture is drawn from limited reporting, and given the pattern of suppressed data, it may be difficult to see full academic performance by grade level without speaking to the school directly. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider.
The school is a regular public school, not a charter, and its designation does not indicate magnet status. Information on discipline rates, course access, and staffing was not available in the source data. The Phoenix Elementary District, as researched publicly, did not show recent major changes such as bond or override elections, curriculum shifts, or policy overhauls that would meet a lasting-impact bar, so the district appears to have operated without a high-profile recent disruption.
Housing in the area, measured by a zip-code-level index, shows home values and rents both slightly below the statewide benchmark. For context, the national median household income is modestly above the midpoint, and the unemployment rate sits in a typical range. The zip code itself is an urban part of Phoenix, a city with notable civic anchors like Papago Park, South Mountain, the Phoenix Art Museum, and Chase Field. Garfield School sits within this established urban fabric, serving a neighborhood that is home to a large and diverse student population.
For a family considering the school, the essential picture is of an urban elementary and middle school with a high share of Hispanic students, a moderate enrollment, and very limited publicly reported test data. Academic proficiency, based on what is reportable, appears to be low relative to other schools in Maricopa County, and parents may want to investigate what academic supports are in place and how the school tracks progress for its students. Because the school does not serve high schoolers, the feeder pattern into high school within the district will be a separate consideration. The surrounding Phoenix housing market is somewhat more affordable than the Arizona average, which could factor into a family's decision about where to live, though the urban environment is heavily car-dependent, and walkability information specific to the school's immediate area was not found.
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