Sunset Ridge School, Phoenix AZ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Sunset Ridge School

Sunset Ridge School serves students from preschool through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Deer Valley Unified School District in northern Phoenix. The school sits in a part of the city that feels more suburban than the dense urban core, with wide streets and a grid layout typical of the area’s car-oriented design. Enrollment is large enough to provide grade-level sections across each year, and the student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of Hispanic students and smaller proportions of Black, Asian, Native American, and multiracial students. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status were not available, so a family looking for that information would need to ask the school directly.

On state assessments, Sunset Ridge’s results vary by subject and grade level, but overall proficiency across tested subjects lands above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Maricopa County as a group. In English language arts, the school posts stronger results in the middle grades, particularly in sixth and seventh grade, where more than half of students meet the state’s proficiency bar. The upper elementary grades and eighth grade show a mix, with third and eighth grade ELA falling near the halfway mark. Math results follow a similar pattern: sixth graders turn in the highest proficiency rate, while fourth grade shows a softer performance. Science testing, which occurs in fifth and eighth grades, also lands in a middle range, with a modest share of students scoring proficient or above. The school has only a couple of years of trend data available, so it is difficult to say whether performance is improving or declining over time; a parent may want to follow up with the school about its recent trajectory.

Because Sunset Ridge stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to consider. Students move on to high school elsewhere in the Deer Valley district, and families likely factor in the available high school options when choosing this elementary and middle school. The school is not a charter or magnet, and no information about Title I status, disciplinary rates, or course access was provided in the data.

The housing market around the school carries a price tag well above the statewide typical home value, and rents have been climbing recently. Monthly mortgage costs on a median-priced home would be steep, and renting appears more affordable than buying at current rates. Phoenix itself continues to grow fast, with a large urban economy centered on services, technology, manufacturing, and tourism, and the city’s northern suburbs have drawn many families for their relative space and newer development. No recent parent-relevant changes were publicly reported for the Deer Valley district, so there is no indication of major upcoming bond measures, curriculum shifts, or boundary adjustments to weigh.

For a family considering Sunset Ridge, the academic picture is one of mixed but generally solid performance within its county context, with some grades showing clear strength and others suggesting room for improvement. The school’s size and grade span mean it could serve as a stable, single-campus experience from preschool through middle school, but the lack of publicly available data on student support programs, discipline, and staff qualifications leaves gaps that a visit and conversation with the principal would help fill.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 56% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 37% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 55% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 26% · ▲ 34 pts above district

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

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 21% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 846%

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

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 23% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 38% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 52% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 58% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 38% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 56% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 51% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 51% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

This schoolDeer Valley Unified District (4246), 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.