Schools · Carefree

Carefree, AZ schools

Carefree’s public schools score well above Arizona’s averages: 59% of students are proficient in reading against 38.5% statewide, and 96% of high schoolers graduate on time against 77.3%. Kids attend one of 5 schools through grade 6, then Sonoran Trails Middle School and Cactus Shadows High School.

Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.

TownTapestry School GradeNew

Carefree’s School Grade: A

The public schools Carefree’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 85% of Arizona’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.

ATest scoresAGraduation
Arizona school districts we grade (567)Better than 85%
Lower resultsHigher results
Arizona towns with similar household incomes (31)Better than 94%
High confidence. Built on 2,557 tested students and a graduating class of 437; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
  • Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Arizona’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
  • The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
  • Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of Arizona only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
  • Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in Arizona with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
  • What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path

Where Carefree kids go to school

Grades PK–6
5 schoolsDepends on your address · see the list Cave Creek Unified District
Grades 7–8
A-Sonoran Trails Middle School 615 students · Phoenix Cave Creek Unified District
Grades 9–12
A-Cactus Shadows High School 1,362 students · Scottsdale Cave Creek Unified District

Based on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.

Test scores · 2020–21

Well above the state in reading

Reading (grades PK–12, Cave Creek Unified)59%
State average 38.5%
Math (grades PK–12, Cave Creek Unified)57%
State average 31.2%
Graduation · class of 2020

96% graduate on time

Graduation rate
96%
AZ: 77.3%
Graduating class
437
students

The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years. #2 of 103 AZ towns →

Districts

The district serving Carefree

Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.

We don’t have any schools located in Carefree yet.

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Carefree

Arizona · AZ
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01