2026-09-06

How to Read AZ School Report Cards for Verrado

A parent walkthrough of Arizona School Report Cards for the LESD #79 schools serving Verrado and Verrado High — how to look up data, not a list of letter grades.

Arizona publishes a report card for every public school. This guide is a method, not a ranking. Letter grades, test results, and program lists change when the state updates the site — look them up yourself, and do not treat a real-estate listing or this page as the current grade.

For which public schools serve Verrado, start with our schools guide, then confirm the attendance boundary for your address with the district.

Where the official data lives

  • AZ School Report Cards — the Arizona Department of Education's public report-card site. Use Search to find a school or district by name, then open that school's card. Compare lets you place a few schools or districts side by side.
  • Arizona Department of Education — statewide school information and accountability resources. ADE describes what report cards include: school characteristics, enrollment, teacher experience and credentials, state assessment results, graduation and dropout rates (where they apply), school finance, A–F letter grades, and Civil Rights Data Collection reporting. See ADE's public data overview and state accountability pages.
  • A–F letter grades (State Board of Education) — the state's explanation of the A–F model and a reminder that a letter grade is one component of a school decision, not the whole picture.

This site does not reprint current letter grades. If a seller, blog, or listing quotes an "A" or a GreatSchools number, open the official card and see what the state actually published for the latest year.

Which names to search

Search the report-card site for the school or district name — not a subdivision marketing name.

Litchfield Elementary School District #79 (elementary and middle grades serving Verrado):

Agua Fria Union High School District:

You can also search the districts themselves — "Litchfield Elementary School District" and "Agua Fria Union High School District" — if you want district-level cards. Grade spans and school names can change; if a search result looks stale, use the district site as the name source.

What to look at on a card (the method)

Open a school, then work through the sections the state actually shows. Typical questions:

  1. Which year is this? Accountability data lags. Note the school year on the card before you compare it with something you heard last spring.
  2. A–F letter grade. Arizona assigns an annual A–F profile under state law. The State Board's A–F page explains that the model uses statewide assessment results, English-learner progress, attendance and special-education metrics, and — for high schools — graduation and college-and-career indicators. Read the grade and the components, not the letter alone.
  3. Enrollment and who the school serves. Size, grade configuration, and student-group breakdowns help you see whether two "nearby" schools are actually comparable.
  4. Assessment results and growth. Proficiency is a snapshot; growth shows how students moved. Both matter, and both are easy to over-read from a single year.
  5. High school extras. On Verrado High's card, look for graduation and readiness measures the state reports. For athletics and programs, use the school and district sites — report cards are not a live activities calendar.
  6. Teachers and offerings. Credentials, experience, and the school's listed programs or extracurriculars (when present) are context, not a quality score from us.

Use Compare if you want two or three schools on one screen. Stay on azreportcards.azed.gov — commercial school-rating sites mix different years, different tests, and parent surveys.

Boundaries are not on the report card

A strong card does not mean your house is assigned there. Arizona also has open enrollment (capacity limits apply).

  • Confirm the attendance area for a specific address with LESD #79 (elementary/middle) or Agua Fria (high school).
  • Do not trust listing sites, builder maps, or "this neighborhood is zoned for…" in a sales packet until the district says so in writing.
  • If a school assignment matters to a purchase, get it from the district during escrow. Details are in the schools guide.

A sensible order for parents

  1. Confirm the assigned schools (and any open-enrollment options) with the districts.
  2. Open each school's AZ School Report Card.
  3. Read the latest year, the letter grade and its components, and a second measure you care about (growth, graduation, a program).
  4. Tour or call the school about enrollment windows — those live on the district sites, not the report card.
  5. Re-check the card when ADE and the State Board publish a new year.

Families comparing childcare or pediatric options can also see our childcare and healthcare pointers. For school-year sports, see kids and sports.