South Pima News

In the 2023-24 school year, 61% of 7,633 Vail Unified District students passed their AASA/ACT Language Arts test, according to the Arizona Department of Education.

The students who took the AASA/ACT were assessed at four proficiency levels in each subject. Those at proficiency level one and two failed the test, while students who reached the third and fourth proficiency level passed the test.

Of those who passed, most achieved proficiency level three.

Callie Tippett Governing Board President | Vail Unified District website

Vail Unified District roughly covers schools within Pima County and has a main office in Vail.

A 2023 study from Scholaroo ranked Arizona last out of all U.S. states in terms of educational success, giving the state poor marks for school quality, student success, and teacher-to-student ratio.

Additionally, WalletHub also claimed Arizona’s school system ranked among the worst across U.S. for class size, performance, funding, safety, and instructors’ credentials.

Some data provided by the Arizona Department of Education may be incomplete due to the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

School Name	% Who Passed	Number of students tested
Empire High School	79%	209
Senita Valley Elementary School	76%	354
Vail Blended Learning	72%	75
Esmond Station School	69%	521
Corona Foothills Middle School	69%	579
Ocotillo Ridge Elementary	66%	364
Copper Ridge Elementary	66%	208
Andrada Polytechnic High School	64%	133
Civano Charter School	64%	107
Mesquite Elementary School	62%	338
Rincon Vista Middle School	62%	704
Old Vail Middle School	61%	794
Vail Innovation Center	61%	111
Vail Academy & High School	58%	373
Desert Sky Middle School	58%	740
Cienega High School	56%	445
Mica Mountain High	55%	330
Acacia Elementary School	51%	395
Sycamore Elementary School	50%	345
Cottonwood Elementary School	49%	246
Desert Willow Elementary School	48%	401
Pantano High School	< 10%	39