Tucson's Vail school district ranks top in Arizona

The Arizona Department of Education released its 2025-26 letter grades Wednesday afternoon. Vail ranked first among districts and charter school districts with 10 or more schools.

“These results are a reflection of a ton of hard work by our staff and our students that have been focused over a long period of time,” Vail Superintendent John Carruth told the Star. “At the end of the day, we're all striving for young people to have high-quality learning experiences, and I'm just so incredibly grateful that these results are evidence that that's happening for them.”

Carruth said he believes the ranking stems from “a consistent and intentional focus on instructional practices that are proven to work.”

“It is the adherence and encouragement and urgency and planning and training around those practices of things that work that lead to student achievement at this level,” he said.

Vail’s GPA has grown from 3.76 in 2024 to 3.95, a historic high for the district, according to a news release. Of Vail’s 22 grade-eligible schools, 21 will be earning an ‘A’ label, and 1 will earn a ‘B.’

Vail, Marana, Flowing Wells, Tanque Verde and Catalina Foothills school districts all received ‘A’ ratings from the state.

“Our school letter grades are a testament to the daily effort, passion and teamwork that define Marana Schools,” said Marana Superintendent Dan Streeter in an online statement. “Every student, teacher, and staff member has contributed to this success, and these results reflect the hard work happening in Marana classrooms every day.”

Twelve of 19 MUSD schools earned an ‘A,’ up from eight last year. Four schools earned a ‘B’ and one earned a ‘C.’ Marana Vista Academy and Tangerine Farms K-8 opened in 2025 and are not yet eligible for a letter grade, a news release says.

Sunnyside, Amphitheater and Sahuarita school districts received ‘B’ grades.

Tucson Unified School District remains under review, according to the Department of Education rankings.

Across Arizona, the number of public K-8 schools that received an A letter grade grew by about 60 schools compared to the previous year, the largest change in school rating scores released by the Arizona State Board of Education, the Arizona Republic reported.

The change for K-8 schools amounts to about a 5 percentage point increase, according to the 2025-26 preliminary school letter grades, going from 35% to 40% in the most recent ratings released Oct. 28.

Overall, the scores for other schools roughly aligned with the previous year. The majority of Arizona's public schools received A's or B's, with roughly 42% of schools receiving an A and 40% receiving a B.

Roughly 15% of schools received C’s, and 2% received D’s. Less than 1% of schools received a failing grade.

The letter grades are released annually as an indicator of school performance, with schools receiving "A" grades described as excellent, "B" schools described as highly performing, "C" schools described as adequately performing, "D" schools described as minimally performing and "F" schools described as failing, according to the board.

The majority of public districts in the state also received A's or B's. District grades are calculated by averaging the letter grades from individual schools. A school or district must receive an "F" to be considered failing.

The State Board of Education notes that while letter grades are "important considerations" for parents when selecting a school, they are not the only indicators of a school's performance.

Things like school programs and extracurricular activities, as well as school characteristics like size, should also be considered, according to the board.