Sunset School, Glendale AZ - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Sunset School

Sunset School serves students from preschool through sixth grade in Glendale, a large suburban city that borders Phoenix. It is a regular public school within the Washington Elementary School District. Glendale itself is a sprawling place, covering a mix of residential neighborhoods, major retail corridors, sports and entertainment venues like State Farm Stadium, and industrial employers such as Honeywell Aerospace and Conair. Luke Air Force Base and Midwestern University are also significant presences in the city. The area has been growing steadily, with development focused partly on the Sports and Entertainment District in the western part of the city. Housing in the neighborhood near Sunset School is moderately priced compared to the national market, though recent data suggests a slight softening in both home values and rents.

Sunset School enrolls a few hundred students. The student body is diverse: the largest group is Hispanic, followed by White students, with smaller shares of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Information on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available in the data, nor were counts of students with disabilities or English learners. These are gaps a parent may want to follow up with the school or district directly, as they affect the kind of support and resources available.

Academically, the school’s performance on Arizona’s state assessments (the AASA for math and reading, and AzSci for science) shows that proficiency rates across tested grades are below the midpoint when compared with districts across Maricopa County. In math, the share of students meeting or exceeding standards declines notably from fourth through sixth grade. In reading, the pattern is somewhat uneven: third-grade proficiency is low, but fourth and fifth grades show somewhat higher rates before dropping back in sixth grade. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade, is at a similar level to the stronger reading results. Overall, the composite proficiency index places the school in a lower position relative to the county’s districts. A family considering Sunset School would want to understand what academic support is in place, especially for students who are not yet at grade level.

The school offers only elementary grades through sixth, so there is no graduation rate to consider. No information was available on course access, staffing ratios, or discipline data. The district brief for Washington Elementary School District turned up little in the way of recent changes such as bonds, overrides, or curriculum shifts that would be of immediate interest to parents.

In short, Sunset School sits in a well-established part of Glendale, drawing from a diverse student population. Its academic results lag the county median, and the data does not provide a clear picture of the support structures for students who may be struggling. The lack of information on special populations and staffing makes it difficult to assess the full learning environment. A parent would be well served by visiting the school to observe instruction and ask directly about intervention programs, class sizes, and how the school serves its English learners and students with special needs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 32% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 27% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 26% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 23% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 444%

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

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

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 27% · ▲ 14 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 32% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 25% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above 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.