Sycamore Elementary School, Corona De Tucson AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Sycamore Elementary School

Sycamore Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Corona de Tucson, a fast-growing residential community in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson. It is part of the Vail Unified District, which has been expanding to keep pace with the area’s growth. The school opened its doors as part of a district that opened its 22nd school in 2025, a reflection of the rapid suburban development happening across this stretch of Pima County. Corona de Tucson itself has seen explosive population growth over the past two decades and remains a bedroom community, with most residents commuting elsewhere for work. The area has no traditional downtown, limited retail, and a built environment dominated by single-family homes. Families who choose this school are generally looking for a suburban foothill setting with a long drive to Tucson’s employment centers.

The student body is large for an elementary school, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the grade levels. Just under half of the students are White, and a substantial share identify as Hispanic. Smaller shares identify as two or more races, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status were not available, which limits the full picture of student needs. Because the school serves only elementary grades, it has no graduation rate to report, and state testing data applies only to the grades tested. That data, from the most recent year available, shows a mixed picture. In math, proficiency rates decline from third to fifth grade, with the strongest results at the earlier grade level and about half of students meeting the bar by fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern is somewhat different, with the highest proficiency in fourth grade and a lower share in fifth. Fifth-grade science results show that just over half of students reached proficiency. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places Sycamore in the top quartile among schools in districts across Pima County. That is a strong signal relative to the countywide field. However, the downward trend in math as students advance through the grades is something a parent may want to look into further with the school.

The school is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet. It does not appear to have Title I status, though that information was not confirmed. Discipline, staffing, course access, and attendance data were not provided, so there is no basis to assess those dimensions of school environment. What is clear is that this is a school in a district that is actively building to accommodate growth, located in a community that has transformed from a rural outpost into a fast-growing suburban enclave. For a family considering this area, the school’s academic standing relative to other Pima County schools is a clear strength, while the gaps in contextual data on student support programs and the trajectory of math proficiency are areas where the school’s own staff would be the best source of current information.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 65% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 451%

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

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 39% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 66% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 52% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 59% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

This schoolVail Unified District (4413), 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.