Acacia Elementary School, Phoenix AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Acacia Elementary School

Acacia Elementary School is a regular public school in Phoenix that serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the Washington Elementary School District. The school’s enrollment is large for an elementary building, drawing from a neighborhood in the sprawling, car-oriented urban matrix of Phoenix, a city that has grown rapidly and continues to function as a major transportation, technology, and services hub for the Mountain West. The housing market in the immediate area reflects a moderate price point relative to much of Phoenix, though home values have softened somewhat recently, and rents have also dipped, which may factor into a family’s calculation of stability and long-term commitment to the area.

The student body is diverse. Hispanic students make up a majority of the enrollment, with White students as the next largest group, followed by smaller shares of Black, multiracial, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. The data does not indicate how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, how many receive special education services, or how many are English learners, so a family cannot assess the level of economic or academic support needs from this profile alone. That is a notable gap, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about these figures to understand the full picture of the student population.

Acacia’s academic performance on the state assessments in the most recent testing year is a mixed story. In English language arts, the share of students meeting proficiency benchmarks was above the midpoint when compared with other schools in Maricopa County. However, the results within the school show some variation by grade. In math, proficiency rates were highest at the lower grades and declined steadily through the upper elementary grades, with the sixth-grade result falling well behind the school’s own third-grade performance. In science, which is tested only at fifth grade, the proficiency rate was modest. These patterns suggest that the school’s academic strength is strongest in the primary years, particularly in math, and that students may face more difficulty as the material becomes more advanced, especially in math. A parent with a child entering the upper grades might want to investigate how the school supports students who are not yet meeting benchmarks and what interventions are available.

The district profile shows no recent major changes, such as bond measures, curriculum shifts, or budget adjustments, that would alter the basic operating context of the school. That stability may be unremarkable, but it also means there is no publicly reported upheaval or new initiative to weigh. The school itself does not appear to offer magnet or charter programs, and no information was provided about course access, before- or after-school offerings, or staffing ratios, so the core academic program is the primary lens for evaluation.

For a family considering this school, the central takeaway is that Acacia serves a large, diverse elementary population with a proficiency record that is middle-of-the-pack for the county, with a noticeable drop-off in math performance in the upper elementary years. The school does not have data on discipline, attendance, or chronic absenteeism, so it is hard to assess the learning environment beyond test scores. A parent should visit the school, talk to teachers and current families, and ask specifically about how the school addresses the downward trend in math proficiency as students move through the grades. The school fits a family looking for a standard, neighborhood-based elementary option in a fast-growing, urban Sun Belt setting, but the academic trajectory suggests that close monitoring of student progress, especially in math, would be warranted.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 31% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 32% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 27% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 627%

School 27% · District 26% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 23% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 32% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 542%

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

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 32% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 25% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolWashington Elementary School District (4260), 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.