← AZ High School Explorer

Valley Vista High School

SURPRISE · AZ · Dysart Unified District (4243) · Public · K-12 combined

📄 Shareable scorecard →

📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖13 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 13 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 2 calculus classes · 5 physics · 17 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 3.6% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 94% (69th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

💡

How Valley Vista High School compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 13 AP courses.
  • LocallyAZ sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: West-MEC - Valley Vista High School, Imagine Prep Surprise, Highland Prep and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

📬

Follow Valley Vista High School

Get an email when Valley Vista High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
13
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
8
2 calculus · 6 advanced
Lab science classes
22
5 physics · 17 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment program
✅ Gifted/talented program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Top 3.6% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
691
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
29.6
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

69th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
94%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
641
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

% inexperienced teachers (1st-2nd yr)
17.9%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
43.9%
Elevated. Teacher absence directly affects classroom continuity and student outcomes.

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
333:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
7.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
114
Full-time-equivalent classroom teachers.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Grade 12 went from 532 in 2021 to 549 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+3.2%

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.0%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,334 students:

2025
2,288
2027
2,199
2029
2,114

≈ 220 fewer students by 2029 — a real revenue/relevance risk worth getting ahead of.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue at risk

At $10,891 per student in district revenue, the 220 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,396,020/year in funding at risk.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
West-MEC - Valley Vista High School
SURPRISE
Public 0.0 22
Imagine Prep Surprise
SURPRISE
Public · charter 0.7 251 -17.4%
Highland Prep
SURPRISE
Public · charter 1.0 505 +2.0%
ThrivePoint High School at Surprise
SURPRISE
Public · charter 1.7 323 +116.8%
Northwest Campus
SURPRISE
Public 2.5 40
Arizona Charter Academy
SURPRISE
Public · charter 2.6 982 +0.9%
Paradise Honors High School
SURPRISE
Public · charter 3.3 1,028 +8.3%
West-MEC Paradise Honors
SURPRISE
Public 3.3 1

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Valley Vista High School?

Get a personalized College Plan Audit — find Reach, Target, and Safety colleges matched to your kid's GPA, test scores, intended major, and your family's budget. Free.

Start the College Plan Audit →

For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request an Enrollment Trend Audit →