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PXU highlights gains in state letter grades and FAFSA completion amid continuing proficiency gaps
Summary
Phoenix Union reported improvements across several campuses — including Alhambra, Wilson and Trevor Brown — and an increase in FAFSA completion to 48.2%, while acknowledging ongoing challenges with ACT proficiency and graduation-rate indicators that the district intends to address with targeted curriculum and progress monitoring.
District leaders used the November meeting to outline state accountability results and celebrate campus progress while identifying work still ahead.
Superintendent Andrade and academic staff said the district's letter grade is a B this year and highlighted schools that posted notable gains: Alhambra (up 5 points), Wilson College Prep (up 10 points to an A), Trevor Brown (up 7 points) and others. Officials credited focused growth strategies and expanded college-and-career readiness opportunities.
"We are really great at growing our kiddos," said a district presenter explaining the growth metric that measures student-level progress from freshman-year assessments to junior-year ACT performance. The district emphasized that growth is a relative'and important'measure even when raw proficiency remains a challenge.
District data also showed gains in postsecondary readiness indicators: FAFSA completion among graduating seniors rose to 48.2% (up from 41.5%). Diploma-seal attainment increased from 260 seniors in 2024 to 470 in the most recent year after the state added new diploma seals for civics and personal finance.
Officials acknowledged continuing gaps in ACT proficiency and said the district will focus on aligned curriculum, progress monitoring and targeted supports. Staff also noted that federal accountability can identify schools for improvement even if state letter grades appear acceptable, and two alternative campuses currently face federal improvement designations tied to graduation metrics.
What happens next: the district will continue progress monitoring, expand dual-enrollment opportunities and publish a CCRI dashboard; board members applauded principals and staff but urged sustained work on proficiency targets.
