Schools · Payson

Payson, AZ schools

Payson’s public schools score well below Arizona’s averages: 32% of students are proficient in reading against 38.5% statewide, and 71% of high schoolers graduate on time against 77.3%. Kids attend Payson Elementary School through grade 2, then Julia Randall Elementary School, Rim Country Middle School and Payson High School.

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

B-School Grade #59Best schools in AZ (of 117)#97Highest graduation rate in AZ (of 103)

TownTapestry School GradeNew

B⁻

Payson’s School Grade: B-

The public schools Payson’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 50% of Arizona’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.

C+Test scoresC+Graduation

Arizona school districts we grade (567)Better than 50%

Lower resultsHigher results

Arizona towns with similar household incomes (156)Better than 49%

High confidence. Built on 1,060 tested students and a graduating class of 212; 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.