Original Research by School Decision on Phoenix-talent Rising Academy
Phoenix-Talent Rising Academy sits in the small Rogue Valley city of Phoenix, about three miles southeast of Medford along Interstate 5. The city itself is compact, with development concentrated along Highway 99 near the interstate. The Bear Creek Greenway, a multi-use trail connecting Ashland, Talent, Medford, and Central Point, runs through town. Phoenix was hit hard by the Almeda Drive fire in 2020, which destroyed many homes and commercial buildings, and the city is now in a rebuilding phase. The housing market, measured at the ZIP level, reflects a value above the national benchmark but below the Oregon state benchmark, with the price-to-income ratio suggesting a relatively expensive market for home buying. Rents, according to the data, consume about a quarter of median income.
The academy itself serves kindergarten through eighth grade and is a regular public school, not a charter, in the Phoenix-Talent School District. The enrollment count is small. For context, a school of this size for this grade band is one of the smallest in the area. Student demographics show a majority white population, with Hispanic students the next largest group, followed by Black students and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available.
State assessment results are present in the data but largely suppressed for the most recent school year, which means the state has not released proficiency rates for individual grade levels. The multi-year trend data does provide an overall school-level proficiency figure for English language arts, math, and science, all from a single year. That figure is far below the midpoint when placed among other schools in Jackson County. A parent should look into this further with the school. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate is reported. No chronic absenteeism data was available.
Program offerings and course access were not provided in the data, so it is not possible to describe what electives, music, art, or advanced coursework might be available. Staffing information was also absent. The school’s status regarding Title I funding was not reported. The district brief turned up no recent notable changes to report.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of very limited public data to go on. The academic performance measures that are available are weak, and the school is quite small. The city of Phoenix is in a rebuild phase following a major fire, and the housing market is on the pricier side for the region. The school grounds are within the city footprint rather than on a separated campus. Without more information on programming, staffing, and day-to-day environment, a family would likely want to schedule a visit and ask directly about instruction, class size, and enrichment to understand what kind of experience a student would have here.
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