West Valley Schools Performing Well

The Arizona Department of Education released Arizona Learns designations last week for nearly 2,000 schools across the state.  The Arizona Learns accountability system gives schools one of six acheivment profiles: Excelling; Highly Performing; Performing Plus; Performing; Underperforming; and Failing.

The breakdown of the schools in each category for 2006 are:

1. Excelling - 320 Schools
2. Highly Performing - 235 Schools
3. Performing Plus - 670 Schools
4. Performing - 609 Schools
5. Underperforming - 123 Schools
6. Failing - 8 Schools (pending site visit)

In the West Valley, four Schools reached top honors of Excelling Schools

• Litchfield Elementary School (Litchfield District)
• Palm Valley Elementary School (Litchfield District)
• Estrella Mountain Elementary (Liberty District)
• Garden Lakes Elementary (Pendergast District)

In the Litchfield School District alone:

• 2 schools earned Excelling ratings
• 4 schools earned Highly Performing ratings
• 4 schools earned Performing Plus ratings

Liberty School District had:

• 1 school earn an Excelling rating
• 2 schools earned Performing Plus ratings

All other West Valley schools, except seven, earned "Performing" or better ratings.

1. Lattie Coor Elementary (Avondale Elementary School District):  Underperforming
2. Michael Anderson Elementary (Avondale Elementary School District):  Underperforming
3. Eliseo C. Felix Jr Elementary (Avondale Elementary School District):  Underperforming
4. Buckeye Primary School (Buckeye Elementary School District):  Underperforming
5. Arts Academy at Estrella Charter School (91st Ave/Lower Buckeye Road):  Underperforming
6. Heritage Elementary Charter School (Dysart Road/Glendale Ave):  Underperforming
7. Union Elementary School (Union Elementary School District):  Failing

Of those seven schools, Lattie Coor Elementary has failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the federal "No child left behind" standards for the past four years.  Since Lattie Coor has failed AYP for a total of four years, it will be assigned a coach who will monitor progress and implement changes.  The school could also receive a federal grant of up to $60,000, which would go towards the creation of an improvement plan.  The school could also see a more changes if it continues to fail, which could include:  The firing of teachers; The firing of the principal; or  The addition of more coaches.  Of the 618 schools in the state that failed to meet AYP. Lattie Coor is the only Southwest Valley school to fail.