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Pendergast Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-8
751st
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 909 Arizona Elementary Schools
Better than 17% of Arizona elementary schools
Summary

Pendergast Elementary School in Phoenix, AZ, serves 665 students from Pre-K through 8th grade within the Pendergast Elementary District, a high-needs community where over 76% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

While the school's overall academic performance ranks in the bottom 17th percentile statewide, it shows remarkable strengths in specific areas. Most notably, Pendergast ranks in the 73rd percentile for serving Special Education students, earning a 4-star rating—a stark contrast to its overall 1-star rating and a clear differentiator from nearby schools. The school also demonstrates inconsistent but occasionally strong math performance, with 6th graders scoring 31% proficient in 2023-2024, significantly higher than the district average of 15% and even the state average of 30%. In the most recent school year, 8th-grade English Language Arts proficiency reached 33%, outperforming the district average of 31% for the first time in recent years. This variability by grade and subject suggests that student success may depend heavily on specific teachers or instructional approaches rather than systemic issues.

Compared to nearby options, Pendergast operates with notable financial efficiency, spending $6,122 per student—roughly half of what Starlight Park College Preparatory ($12,636) and Desert Oasis Elementary ($10,552) spend—yet achieving comparable or better overall rankings. However, families seeking higher academic performance may consider Legacy Traditional School - Phoenix, a charter school that consistently scores 10-20 percentage points higher in nearly every subject and grade. Pendergast's student-teacher ratio of 19.5:1 is higher than district peers like Rio Vista Elementary (16.9) but lower than Legacy Traditional - North Phoenix (51.5), a factor that likely impacts individualized attention in this high-needs environment.

665
Students ?
19.5
Student/teacher ratio ?
$6,122
Per pupil spending ?
76.7%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 3802 N 91st Ave
       Phoenix, AZ  85037-2368

(623) 772-2400

District: Pendergast Elementary District


Students who attend Pendergast Elementary School usually attend:

High:    Copper Canyon High School
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
87.2%
African American:
5.0%
White:
3.6%
more
 See top rated Arizona elementary schools

 Compare Pendergast Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Holding steady — 16th percentile in 2015 → 17th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Arizona average (23% vs 36% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (17th percentile)
!English Language Arts scores 16 pts below the Arizona average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school23%
District avg24%
Arizona avg36%
Elementary school
751st of 909
Arizona public elementary schools ?
Bottom 17%▲ up 1 pts since 2015
See the entire ranking list of Arizona Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
461st of 552
Arizona public middle schools ?
Bottom 16%▼ down 12 pts since 2015
From bottom 29% (2015) to bottom 16% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Arizona Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
6th of 9Elementary Schools in the Pendergast Elementary District
232nd of 289Pendergast Elementary District among Arizona districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202516.8751 of 90917.4%★☆☆☆☆
202415.3778 of 91214.7%★☆☆☆☆
202320.01004 of 124519.4%★☆☆☆☆
202217.8800 of 100020.0%★☆☆☆☆
202116.91065 of 122613.1%★☆☆☆☆
201912.0956 of 10398.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201820.3904 of 110918.5%★☆☆☆☆
201724.9824 of 110625.5%★☆☆☆☆
201621.2866 of 107919.7%★☆☆☆☆
201518.2802 of 95516.0%★☆☆☆☆
201423.8865 of 107919.8%★☆☆☆☆
201325.5963 of 115816.8%★☆☆☆☆
201229.1902 of 114120.9%★☆☆☆☆
201125.4861 of 107519.9%★☆☆☆☆
201034.9738 of 109032.3%★★☆☆☆
200927.0831 of 106221.8%★☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202321.8516 of 60715.0%★☆☆☆☆
202256.4161 of 28944.3%★★☆☆☆
202141.2470 of 89547.5%★★☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202110.2584 of 6205.8%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202321.4376 of 45116.6%★☆☆☆☆
202139.3545 of 97544.1%★★☆☆☆
201851.248 of 15569.0%★★★★☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202320.9983 of 121919.4%★☆☆☆☆
202117.51071 of 121912.1%★☆☆☆☆
20198.2825 of 8624.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201822.0825 of 102319.4%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202518.9420 of 49615.3%★☆☆☆☆
202416.2430 of 48611.5%★☆☆☆☆
202323.4949 of 117018.9%★☆☆☆☆
202219.5611 of 71614.7%★☆☆☆☆
202122.8999 of 119816.6%★☆☆☆☆
201915.8647 of 7098.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201828.7671 of 91126.3%★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202130.7408 of 4233.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202522.0448 of 54918.4%★☆☆☆☆
202427.8402 of 55627.7%★☆☆☆☆
202329.7818 of 111626.7%★☆☆☆☆
202231.1452 of 61826.9%★☆☆☆☆
201830.2601 of 82026.7%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202410.6584 of 6287.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202321.5975 of 121619.8%★☆☆☆☆
202119.41031 of 122015.5%★☆☆☆☆
20199.0805 of 8505.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201821.8827 of 103219.9%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202128.2800 of 102722.1%★☆☆☆☆

Pacific Islander

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202138.5102 of 17140.4%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202360.5221 of 82073.0%★★★★☆
202129.7926 of 120122.9%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202326.1804 of 102421.5%★☆☆☆☆
202215.2735 of 8008.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.31113 of 11614.1%☆☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202516.7461 of 55216.5%★☆☆☆☆
202420.0425 of 55022.7%★☆☆☆☆
202316.4751 of 85412.1%★☆☆☆☆
202212.0558 of 6057.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202120.4692 of 83216.8%★☆☆☆☆
201915.2525 of 60513.2%★☆☆☆☆
201817.7593 of 71116.6%★☆☆☆☆
201727.8480 of 69530.9%★★☆☆☆
201628.6464 of 67731.5%★★☆☆☆
201526.3372 of 52128.6%★☆☆☆☆
201423.9549 of 69020.4%★☆☆☆☆
201335.1550 of 78730.1%★★☆☆☆
201230.6585 of 77224.2%★☆☆☆☆
201133.2475 of 68530.7%★★☆☆☆
201056.9276 of 69260.1%★★★☆☆
200946.3349 of 66347.4%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202122.3551 of 5733.8%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202141.7298 of 60650.8%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202315.3734 of 8068.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202119.7708 of 82013.7%★☆☆☆☆
201915.6396 of 46615.0%★☆☆☆☆
201824.8464 of 62425.6%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202523.3257 of 34525.5%★☆☆☆☆
202424.3241 of 32926.7%★☆☆☆☆
202319.9650 of 76014.5%★☆☆☆☆
202130.1564 of 80229.7%★☆☆☆☆
201918.1337 of 38712.9%★☆☆☆☆
201821.7446 of 54317.9%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202528.5228 of 34433.7%★★☆☆☆
202443.0142 of 32055.6%★★★☆☆
202323.3577 of 71719.5%★☆☆☆☆
202219.2317 of 36914.1%★☆☆☆☆
201825.5387 of 50323.1%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202318.7685 of 81015.4%★☆☆☆☆
202124.0636 of 81822.2%★☆☆☆☆
201910.1405 of 4356.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201815.3556 of 6179.9%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202115.7623 of 6504.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202128.1644 of 78918.4%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202111.2738 of 7805.4%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Elementary school
Special Education (2023)73rd percentile+54 vs school
Pacific Islander (2021)40th percentile+27 vs school
Multi-racial (2021)22nd percentile+9 vs school
White (2023)21st percentile~ school
Female (2023)19th percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)18th percentile~ school
English Language Learner (2023)17th percentile-3 vs school
Hispanic (2025)15th percentile~ school
African American (2023)15th percentile-4 vs school
Male (2024)7th percentile-8 vs school
Asian (2021)6th percentile-7 vs school
Homeless (2021)4th percentile-10 vs school
Middle school
English Language Learner (2021)51st percentile+34 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)34th percentile+17 vs school
Hispanic (2025)26th percentile+9 vs school
Special Education (2021)18th percentile~ school
Male (2023)15th percentile+3 vs school
Female (2023)9th percentile-3 vs school
White (2021)5th percentile-11 vs school
Multi-racial (2021)4th percentile-13 vs school
African American (2021)4th percentile-13 vs school
By subject vs Arizona (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts26%-16 vs state
Mathematics20%-8 vs state
Science15%-15 vs state

1.0
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What people are saying
by a parent
Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Open Quote Pick up and drop off is very poorly set up it takes 20 min to pick up your kids and they don’t have a place indoors or even a shade covered area for the kids to wait in.
20 min in Arizona’s hottest time of the day they will be lucky if they don’t end up with kids getting heat strokes. Close Quote


by a teacher
Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Open Quote As a teacher, working at this school was one of the worst experiences I have ever faced. Disrespectful students with entitled attitudes, mocking and talking back to teachers. Parents who care less about their kids lack of discipline or respect. The co workers are nice and the administration tries to do what they can but the principal has to deal with a lot of politics because losing students means losing money.
The school is beautiful, I had all materials needed... But I wasn't happy there Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Pendergast Elementary School

Students at Pendergast Elementary School are 87% Hispanic, 5% African American, 4% White, 2% Two or more races, 1% Asian, 1% American Indian.

In the 2024-25 school year, 665 students attended Pendergast Elementary School.

Students who attend Pendergast Elementary School usually go on to attend:

High : Copper Canyon High School

Pendergast Elementary School ranks in the bottom 17.4% of Arizona elementary schools.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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