The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Duffy Elementary School
Duffy Elementary School, located in Tucson, Arizona, is a regular public school within the Tucson Unified District (TUSD). The school’s status is listed as inactive. This is the single most important fact for a parent or resident to know: the school does not appear to be currently operating. It served a grade band described as “M through M,” which may indicate an unusual configuration or a special program, but the exact grade span is not clearly defined in the available data.
Because the school is inactive, the information available is limited and largely historical. The most recent academic performance data comes from the 2009-10 school year, when state testing was conducted using the AIMS assessment. In that year, math proficiency rates varied considerably by grade level, with the lowest performance seen in grade four and the highest in grade five. In reading and language arts, results also spanned a wide range; a strong majority of fifth graders met proficiency, while the rate for fourth graders was notably lower. Science results were reported only for grade four and showed that about three in ten students were proficient. These figures are more than a decade and a half old and reflect a school that likely looked very different from any potential future incarnation.
The data that families typically rely on to evaluate a school is almost entirely absent. There is no current enrollment count, no demographic breakdown of the student body, no information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, and no data on students with disabilities or English learners. Graduation rate is not applicable given the school’s grade span. Chronic absenteeism and discipline data are also missing. A comparison of proficiency rates across tested subjects placed Duffy Elementary above the midpoint among districts in Pima County for that 2009-10 snapshot, but again, this information is so dated that it offers little to no value for a current decision.
The school is part of TUSD, a large, urban district that operates under a federal desegregation order known as the Unitary Status Plan, which shapes magnet programs, student assignment, and transportation. The district has been experiencing a prolonged enrollment decline, which has prompted ongoing discussions about school utilization and potential closures. In 2024, voters approved the renewal of an operational override that supports teacher salaries, art, music, physical education, and class-size reduction, providing a stable, though modest, budget supplement.
Tucson itself is a major desert city, the second-largest in Arizona, with an economy anchored by the University of Arizona and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The local housing market has seen a recent dip in home values, while rents have continued to climb. The greater metropolitan area continues to grow, particularly in suburban areas to the northwest and south, but the city’s core and older eastern neighborhoods—where Duffy is located—have experienced a slower pace of change.
For a parent or resident, the primary takeaway is that Duffy Elementary appears to have ceased operations. Anyone seeking information about the school’s potential reopening or its prior role within the district would need to contact TUSD directly. The historical test scores, while present, are too old to support any meaningful assessment of what the school offered. The school’s inactive status, combined with the district’s broader enrollment trends and ongoing facility discussions, suggests that the property may have been repurposed or closed permanently. There is simply not enough current data to provide a picture of what this school is or was for a prospective family.
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