Best Public Schools in Pima, AZ

Pima has six schools: two elementary schools, one junior high, two high schools and one alternative school. The reported results vary substantially by school and grade: for example, Pima Elementary School is below the state in grade 3 and 4 ELA, but nearly matches it in grade 5, while Pima Junior High School is below state results in grade 7 but above the state in grade 8 math. The clearest school-to-school difference is in shared elementary grades: Discovery Plus Academy leads Pima Elementary in ELA by 40 to 45 percentage points in grades 3–5 and in math by 36 and 41 points in grades 4 and 5.

Discovery Plus Academy is the strongest academic standout in the comparable grades: its ELA proficiency is 65%, 76% and 82% across grades 3–5, versus 25%, 36% and 37% at Pima Elementary. SchoolDigger ranks Discovery Plus 58th of 900 Arizona elementary schools, at the 94th percentile with five stars; Pima Elementary is 682nd of 900, at the 24th percentile with one star. Results at Pima High School are mixed: grade 11 math matches the state at 31%, while ELA is 32% versus 38% statewide. SchoolDigger ranks it 138th of 256 high schools, at the 46th percentile with two stars. Pima Junior High ranks 333rd of 536, at the 38th percentile with two stars.

SchoolDigger’s three-year ranking history shows gains for Discovery Plus, up 5 percentile points to the 94th, and Pima Junior High, up 5 points to the 38th; Pima Elementary and Pima High each fell 13 points, to the 24th and 46th percentiles. These are changes in relative rankings, not test-score trends. Grade 8 math at Pima Junior High is a useful exception to its weaker overall results: 32% are proficient, compared with 30% statewide, while grade 7 math is 16% versus 27%. Discovery Plus has 119 students and a 14.8 student-teacher ratio, compared with 500 students and a 16.4 ratio at Pima Elementary; the figures do not show that size or staffing explains achievement. Science results are below state rates at all three schools with results, by 2 to 6 points. Dan Hinton has no scores listed, Gila Valley’s results are suppressed, and free/reduced-lunch rates are unavailable.