The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in Science. The lowest is 31% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Willcox Elementary School
Willcox Elementary School serves students from preschool through fourth grade in the town of Willcox, a small rural city in Cochise County that functions as a trade and service center for agriculture and tourism in the Sulphur Springs Valley. Agriculture, wine production, and tourism drive the local economy, with the surrounding area producing a large share of Arizona’s wine grapes. Interstate 10 runs just north of town, providing the main transportation link. The school sits within the Willcox Unified District, and the district is a major local employer alongside operations like a large dairy and farming operation, a greenhouse, a regional hospital, and other agricultural businesses. Housing in the area is relatively inexpensive compared to state benchmarks, and home values have seen modest movement recently.
The elementary school serves a student body of roughly the size one would expect for a small-town early elementary program serving these grades. The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial white minority and small numbers of Black, Asian, and Native American 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 data provided.
On state assessments administered during the 2024-25 school year, proficiency rates varied by grade and subject. In third-grade math, roughly half of students met the state’s proficiency standard. In third-grade English language arts, about a quarter of students were proficient. Fourth-grade math proficiency was at a similar lower level to third-grade ELA, while fourth-grade English language arts came in around a third proficient. Science results from the 2018-19 school year, the most recent available, showed roughly half of fourth graders scoring proficient or above. When viewed in the aggregate across tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint relative to other districts in Cochise County. This positions the school in the middle of the pack among county peers, though there is a notable spread between the stronger math performance in third grade and the weaker results in other tested areas. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the variation across grades and subjects.
Because this is a school serving only through fourth grade, there are no graduation rate data to report. The data also did not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing ratios, so a full picture of the school environment and student support is not available from this source.
The district did not yield any publicly reported recent changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property-tax adjustments that would directly affect a family’s experience. The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its small size and rural setting will suit families who want an elementary school where their children can attend close to home in a community with an agricultural and tourism-driven economy and a low-density, auto-dependent layout.
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