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Harold Steele Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-6
Summary

Harold Steele Elementary School is a public elementary school in Tucson, Arizona, serving students from pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. With a diverse student population, the school has consistently performed below state and district averages in academic assessments, ranking in the bottom quarter of Arizona elementary schools.

The school's student body is composed of a higher percentage of Hispanic (42.63%) and African American (18.73%) students compared to the state average. While African American students at Harold Steele perform better than their Hispanic and White peers on standardized tests, the school's overall academic performance remains a concern, with only 13% of 5th-grade students proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to the state average of 37%. Additionally, the school has a high percentage of students (over 70%) receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage among the student population.

When compared to nearby schools within the Tucson Unified District, Harold Steele Elementary School generally performs worse academically. For example, Gale Elementary School, located just 0.9 miles away, outperforms Harold Steele in English Language Arts and Mathematics proficiency by a significant margin. Despite these challenges, the data suggests that there may be opportunities for improvement, as the school's ranking and rating have remained relatively stable over the past several years.

245
Students ?
11.3
Student/teacher ratio ?
71.7%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 700 S Sarnoff Dr
       Tucson, AZ  85710-4248

(520) 731-6800

District: Tucson Unified District


Students who attend Harold Steele Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Gridley Middle School
High:    Sahuaro High School
    University High School
Alternative:    Tucson Unified Virtual Academy
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
52.2%
White:
27.3%
African American:
11.4%
more
 See top rated Arizona public schools

 Compare Harold Steele Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 42nd percentile in 2012 → 11th in 2023
Strengths
Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Arizona average (16% vs 39% meeting standards)
!Ranking has slipped — down 31 percentile points since 2012
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2022-2023) ?
This school16%
District avg28%
Arizona avg39%
Not ranked this year
Harold Steele Elementary School did not have enough recent test-score data to be ranked. Check the trend below for past years.
208th of 289Tucson Unified 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)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202315.11107 of 124511.1%★☆☆☆☆
202120.8975 of 122620.5%★☆☆☆☆
201913.1942 of 10399.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201822.4863 of 110922.2%★☆☆☆☆
201723.4843 of 110623.8%★☆☆☆☆
201625.4806 of 107925.3%★☆☆☆☆
201514.9855 of 95510.5%★☆☆☆☆
201424.5860 of 107920.3%★☆☆☆☆
201338.2767 of 115833.8%★★☆☆☆
201245.2664 of 114141.8%★★☆☆☆
201130.2790 of 107526.5%★☆☆☆☆
201045.4589 of 109046.0%★★☆☆☆
200945.3598 of 106243.7%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202329.8462 of 60723.9%★☆☆☆☆
202148.2349 of 89561.0%★★★☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202126.9521 of 62016.0%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202138.9826 of 97515.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202313.21145 of 12196.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202124.0933 of 121923.5%★☆☆☆☆
201825.2777 of 102324.0%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202113.41177 of 11981.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201833.4612 of 91132.8%★★☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202145.0171 of 42359.6%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202320.3968 of 111613.3%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202317.91039 of 121614.6%★☆☆☆☆
202119.01042 of 122014.6%★☆☆☆☆
201822.5816 of 103220.9%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202114.0995 of 10273.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202132.9822 of 120131.6%★★☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202314.6948 of 10247.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20221.1799 of 8000.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202136.2779 of 116132.9%★★☆☆☆
201813.5663 of 7207.9%☆☆☆☆☆
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)
Homeless (2021)60th percentile+39 vs school
Special Education (2021)32nd percentile+11 vs school
African American (2023)24th percentile+13 vs school
Asian (2021)16th percentile-5 vs school
English Language Learner (2021)15th percentile-5 vs school
Male (2023)15th percentile+3 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2023)13th percentile~ school
White (2023)7th percentile-4 vs school
Female (2023)6th percentile-5 vs school
Multi-racial (2021)3rd percentile-17 vs school
Hispanic (2021)2nd percentile-19 vs school
By subject vs Arizona (2022-2023) ?
Science22%-12 vs state
English Language Arts17%-24 vs state
Mathematics10%-29 vs state

2.5
2 ratings · 1 written review
50
41
30
20
11
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What people are saying
by a parent
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Open Quote My child has been attending this school for 2 years now she is a special needs student when I enrolled her in school to get her the help she needed to test into kindergarten after 2 years she has made little to no progress she still hasent tested into kindergarten her teacher is extremely lazy she sends home other students work home with my daughter an wrights my daughters name on the paper I work with my daughter weekly I know what her had wrighting looks like an none of the papers sent home were hers when I confronted the teacher about it she said "she didnt want to send my child home with nothing cuz it's hard to get her to do assignments sometimes" I replied in not such a nice way an asked her "so you would much rather take away work from other students to give me the false impression that my child achieving more in the class room than what she actually is" when I asked her that she just stared at me like I was in the wrong for confronting her I was so up set I cried a couple days later I opened my daughters back pack to clean out her lunch box there was a form in there from pitcher day which was in the beginning of September an it is now the middle of November my daughters pitcher was terrable so I wanted to reschedule for her to take another pitcher when I took the form to the front office to reschedule they informed me that pitcher retake was the last week of September now it all reality it wasent a big deal bit it just shows this teachers lack or responsibility an her great level of laziness it has been one issue after another with this school I requested a meeting with the principal on several occasions an the teacher which has yet to happen almost 3 month later I have been looking forward to experiencing school days with my daughter since the day she was born an this school completely ruined this experience for us if I had the option to home school I deffently would but with my dad getting ready for a lung transplant an with my mother in law needing care for her Parkinson's disease that leaves very little time to give my child the help she needs an deserves I came to tusd for help with my daughter that needs the help I am not able to provide an honestly this school is unbelievable I hate walking in there every day to get nothing but dirty looks from the staff members I feel completely unwelcome at my child's school an extremely judged I'm not looking forward to the future with this school an it has gotten to the point that my family an I will be moveing to insure our children wont attend TUSD this next year in 2019 or any year after that if I could give a 0 star I deffently would deffently do your research before enrolling your child at Steel Elementary it is a 2 star school an it deffently shows between that an the fact that this school an its students are performing at a below average level for arizona state requirements I'm curious as to why tusd allows schools with below average scores with below average improvements is allowed to continue to teach students at "a below average level" Sorry Not Sorry ... but these "Below Average Teachers teaching at a below level all want rases???? 🤣 Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Harold Steele Elementary School

In the 2024-25 school year, 245 students attended Harold Steele Elementary School.

Students who attend Harold Steele Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Gridley Middle School
High : Sahuaro High School
High : University High School
Alternative : Tucson Unified Virtual Academy

Students at Harold Steele Elementary School are 52% Hispanic, 27% White, 11% African American, 7% Two or more races, 1% American Indian.


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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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