The top reported proficiency rate is 74% in Math. The lowest is 49% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School
Carrillo Intermediate Magnet School, part of the Tucson Unified District, serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade at a location on South Main Avenue, just south of downtown Tucson. The school is one of the district's magnet programs, which operate under the Tucson Unified District's federal desegregation order known as the Unitary Status Plan. This means magnet placement and student assignment are directly shaped by the district's long-standing mandate to maintain integration and diversity across its schools. Families choosing Carrillo are opting into a school where the student body draws largely from the surrounding central Tucson area, with a composition that is predominantly Hispanic.
The school itself is regular in type, not a charter, and it serves a relatively small enrollment for its grade band. The student population is heavily Hispanic, with smaller shares of White students, and even smaller groups of American Indian or Alaska Native, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are classified as English learners was not available in the source materials, leaving a gap for a family trying to understand the level of support or economic context at the school. A parent seeking that information may wish to ask the school directly.
Academically, Carrillo shows notably strong results. On the state’s AASA assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, proficiency rates in math were high across all tested grades, with the fourth grade in particular performing at a very high level. English language arts proficiency was also solid, with the school overall posting a composite proficiency index that placed it in the top quartile among all districts in Pima County. This is a significant finding: Carrillo’s overall academic performance on these measures ranks well above the midpoint relative to its county peers. Science proficiency, measured in fifth grade on the state’s AzSci assessment, was lower than the math and English results, something a prospective parent may want to explore further with the school to understand curriculum or support in that subject area.
Because Carrillo is an elementary school serving only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school environment data, including discipline rates, chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, and attendance, were not present in the source records, so there is no publicly available picture of those aspects from this data set.
Tucson itself is a major desert city with a historic downtown core that has seen renewed investment, including the Sun Link streetcar connecting downtown to the University of Arizona campus. The school sits within this central area, which is the most walkable part of a city that otherwise sprawls across a large geographic footprint. Housing values in the ZIP code covering this area are slightly below the statewide benchmark for Arizona, and a bit above the national median, with rents reflecting similar positioning. The economic context for families moving into the area includes a stable but not booming housing market; home values have edged slightly downward year over year, while rents have inched up modestly.
A district-level factor that directly affects Carrillo is the Tucson Unified District’s ongoing enrollment decline, which has prompted public discussion about school utilization and potential closures. The district’s maintenance and operations override was renewed by voters in late 2024, securing continued funding for teacher salaries, art, music, physical education, magnet programs, and class-size reduction. That override is a substantial portion of the district’s budget, and its renewal signals local support for the programs that schools like Carrillo rely on. However, the broader enrollment trend means families should be aware that the district’s long-term facility planning could eventually lead to changes in school assignments or closures, even if no specific plan affecting Carrillo was reported in the source materials.
For a family considering Carrillo, the picture is of a small, central-city magnet elementary school with strong academic performance relative to the county, set within a large urban district that is managing enrollment decline while maintaining a voter-backed investment in programs. The school’s location in downtown Tucson places it near the university and civic core, in a walkable neighborhood that contrasts with the city’s more auto-dependent outer areas. The missing details on student support populations and school environment metrics are gaps worth following up on directly with the school.
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