Robins Elementary School, Tucson AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Robins Elementary School

Robins Elementary School is a regular public school in Tucson, part of the Tucson Unified District. It serves students from preschool through eighth grade, making it a one-stop campus for a family whose children span a wide age range. The school is located in a residential area near the western edge of the city, within driving distance of the suburban development that characterizes much of greater Tucson.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of White students and those from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. This reflects the overall demographics of the Tucson Unified District, which operates under a federal desegregation order that shapes school assignments and program access. Free and reduced-price lunch data was not available, so that measure of economic need cannot be assessed here.

Academically, the picture is mixed and warrants a parent's careful attention. In mathematics, proficiency rates ranged from above a third of students in third grade to just over half of fourth graders, with the sixth-grade and seventh-grade results being suppressed in the available data and thus not providing a clear read. In English language arts, the numbers show a noticeable dip as students move up the grades. Fourth graders posted a rate well above half, but by fifth grade the rate dropped to roughly a third, and by eighth grade it was under a quarter. This pattern of declining proficiency in the upper grades is a soft spot that a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand what support is available for older students.

Science results were reported for fifth and eighth grades. In fifth grade, about a third of students met the proficiency standard. In eighth grade, the rate was below a fifth. The overall proficiency index, which averages across all tested subjects and grades, placed the school above the midpoint among the many districts in Pima County. That is a middle-of-the-pack position, not a standout, but also not at the bottom.

Because the school serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Similarly, state testing data for some grade levels was either suppressed or missing, so a full academic picture is incomplete. This is a common situation in a school of this size; the gaps do not necessarily signal a problem, but they do limit what a family can know from the data alone.

The school offers a steady, year-after-year learning environment within a district that is undergoing significant change. Tucson Unified has been losing enrollment for years, a trend that has prompted discussions about school closures and consolidation. At the same time, voters recently renewed a district funding override that supports teacher salaries and programs in art, music, physical education, and full-day kindergarten. That stable local funding may help buffer classroom resources, even as the broader district faces tough decisions about which buildings to keep open.

Housing in the area around the school carries a price that is typical for the Tucson market, and rents have been relatively stable. Tucson itself is a sprawling desert city with a strong university presence, a growing tech and optics industry, and a downtown that has seen revitalization. For a family living in the western neighborhoods or looking to move there, Robins Elementary offers the convenience of a PK–8 campus within a district that, despite its challenges, has a long track record and committed local funding. The academic data suggests a school where early grades perform reasonably well but where the middle grades may need more attention from both the school and the families it serves.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 28% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 27% · ▲ 15 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 34% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 28% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 26% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 26% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 24% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 17% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

This schoolTucson Unified District (4403), 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.