Manuel Pena Jr. School

Manuel Pena Jr. School is a big elementary-level community in PHOENIX, Arizona, overseen by Cartwright Elementary District (4282). The school instructs 806 students in grades pre-K through 6. Enrollment runs roughly 79% bigger than the state mean of about 451.

Within Cartwright Elementary District (4282), which oversees 22 schools and 13,436 students, Manuel Pena Jr. School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Manuel Pena Jr. School shows that nearly all students (81%) are Hispanic. The remainder comes out to 12% Black, 3% White. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 31%.

On the income-and-resources front, Manuel Pena Jr. School reports 42 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 19.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.0:1, putting Manuel Pena Jr. School higher than the state norm the norm.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Maricopa County indicate median household earnings sit near $89,300, 37% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Maricopa County runs 1352 public schools (combined enrollment of about 725,139 students), of which Manuel Pena Jr. School is one.

RAUL H. CASTRO MIDDLE SCHOOL: ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Manuel Pena Jr. School.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Manuel Pena Jr. School has increased 10%, going from 732 students in 2018 to 806 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 21.8:1 in 2018 to 19.1:1 today.

On this page, members of the Manuel Pena Jr. School community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.