Dear Parents and Guardians,

I would like to take a moment to thank you for entrusting Peralta Trail Elementary School with your child’s education. We deeply value the opportunity to partner with you, recognizing the vital role that education plays in shaping each child’s future.

The Arizona Department of Education recently released school letter grades based on data from the 2024–2025 school year. While we were hopeful that Peralta Trail would earn an “A” rating—given the tremendous effort of our staff and the strong AASA (Arizona’s Academic Standards Assessment) results when including ALL 3rd–5th grade students—we were officially designated as a “B” school.

Our school earned 81.52 points, just 2.48 points shy of the 84 points required for an “A.” One key area that impacted our score was Chronic Absenteeism. Schools must show a reduction in the percentage of chronically absent students from the previous year to earn those additional points, and unfortunately, this past year we did not meet that target.

Over the next 90 days, our leadership team and staff will revisit and strengthen our School Improvement Plan, with a continued focus on increasing student growth and achievement in Math and ELA. This includes emphasizing strong Tier 1 classroom instruction and providing targeted small group interventions. We will also refine our systems for monitoring and evaluating progress throughout the 2025–2026 school year and beyond.

To help clarify how school letter grades are determined, I am sharing two documents:

• An AASA/AZSCI (AZ Science) PTES Comparison Chart

• A detailed PTES Letter Grade Breakdown and Comparison 

I invite you to learn more during our upcoming meetings on Tuesday, November 18th:

• PTO Meeting: 4:00 PM in the Library

• School Site Council Meeting: 5:00 PM (immediately following PTO)
  
  

During these meetings, I will review our letter grade data and outline our next steps in the school improvement process.

Over the past year, I have witnessed firsthand the passion and dedication of our staff, students, families, and community. Your continued support and involvement make Peralta Trail Elementary the special place it is. Together, we will reach our goal of becoming an “A” school—a reflection of the excellence our students and community truly deserve.