Best Public Schools in Chinle, AZ

Chinle, Arizona, has seven schools—four elementary, one middle, one high and one alternative—with 2,711 students enrolled, from 123 at Cottonwood Day School to 956 at Chinle High School. The clearest area-wide strength in the reported results is elementary math: across available elementary-grade results, proficiency averaged 44%, compared with 37% for Arizona at those grades; elementary ELA was essentially level with the state, at 41% in both. Results vary considerably from school to school, so families should look beyond a single community-wide average.

Chinle Elementary School stands out at the top of the all-grade AASA results, with 48% proficient in ELA and 46% in math—the highest among the five schools with scores. Those results are 7 percentage points above the state in ELA and 13 points above it in math. At the other end, Chinle High School reports 18% in each subject, 23 points below the state in ELA and 15 points below in math. Canyon De Chelly Elementary School offers a notable exception to its lower all-grade results: 60% of fourth graders were proficient in math, versus 40% statewide. All-grade summaries cover different grade spans, and no test scores are supplied for Rough Rock Community School or Cottonwood Day School.

SchoolDigger rankings have risen for the three schools with results in both 2023–24 and 2025–26: Chinle Junior High School climbed from the 16th to the 46th percentile, Chinle Elementary from the 53rd to the 62nd, and Chinle High from the 11th to the 18th. In the latest rankings, Chinle Elementary has 3 stars and Chinle High 1; Canyon De Chelly is at the 50th percentile, while Mesa View Elementary is at the 44th. Ratios vary too: Chinle Elementary reports 17.4 students per teacher, compared with 12.0 at Mesa View and 12.6 at Canyon De Chelly, but those figures do not sort neatly with results. Science was below the state at all three reported grades; Chinle High’s graduation rate was 80%, matching the state’s 80%, while its dropout rate was 8%, versus 5% statewide. The only reported free- or reduced-price lunch rates are 99% at Rough Rock and 98% at Cottonwood Day.