The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in Math. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Shaw Butte School
Shaw Butte School serves students from preschool through sixth grade as part of the Washington Elementary School District in Phoenix. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school enrolls a large student body for an elementary school, and the demographic profile shows that the majority of students are Hispanic, with smaller shares of White, Black, multiracial, and Native American students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, receive special education services, or are classified as English learners was not available in the records reviewed.
On state assessments administered in the most recent school year, proficiency rates at Shaw Butte fell well below the midpoint of elementary schools across Maricopa County, placing the school in the bottom quarter of the comparison set. In math, proficiency rates by grade level ranged from about a sixth of students scoring proficient in third grade to roughly three in ten in fourth and fifth grade; sixth-grade math results were suppressed in the data and could not be reported. In English language arts, between about a sixth and three-tenths of students scored proficient across grades three through six. In fifth-grade science, about one in eight students met the proficiency bar. A multi-year view shows only a single year of assessment data was available for comparison, so no trend line could be established.
Because Shaw Butte does not serve grades beyond sixth, there is no graduation rate to report. That is not a performance gap but simply a function of the grade span the school covers. The data did not include information on chronic absenteeism, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about attendance patterns and how the school supports students who miss class time.
The district brief found little publicly reported about recent changes to the Washington Elementary School District, including bond measures, budget shifts, or curriculum updates. The records searched did not surface significant developments in the last few years.
Phoenix, where Shaw Butte is located, is a large, sprawling urban center with a car-oriented grid of wide streets. The city is a major hub for finance, communications, and transportation in the Mountain West, and its economy concentrates on high-technology, manufacturing, tourism, and services. Sky Harbor International Airport is a key regional facility. The city continues to grow in population, one of the fastest-growing in the nation, though the search results did not name specific new housing developments near the school. Downtown Phoenix serves as the civic and commercial core, but the school itself is situated in a residential area of the city.
Housing in the school's ZIP code sits at a value modestly below the statewide median, and rents in that area also run lower than the state average. For a family considering moving into the attendance zone, the affordability of the immediate neighborhood is a practical consideration, though the data did not provide a direct comparison of home values in this ZIP code relative to the broader Phoenix metro.
The school's academic results are the most salient feature for a parent weighing options. Proficiency levels are low relative to county peers across all tested subjects and grade levels. A family considering Shaw Butte would want to understand what academic supports and intervention programs are in place, and how the school works to move students toward proficiency. Because the data does not include information on programs such as gifted education, arts offerings, or before- and after-school care, a parent should ask the school directly about enrichment opportunities and the breadth of the curriculum beyond tested subjects.
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