Independence High School

GLENDALE · AZ · Glendale Union High School District (4285) · Public

Public 🏛 Glendale Union High School District (4285) →

Similar nearby schools

Most similar nearby schools

West-MEC - Independence High School → West-MEC - Glendale High School → Glendale High School → West-MEC - Raymond S. Kellis → Westland School Brighton Campus → Raymond S. Kellis → Crown Point High School → Copper Canyon High School →

📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖15 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features

📚 15 AP courses offered — Elite
✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
✅ Gifted & talented program
🔢 3 calculus classes · 1 physics · 10 chemistry

Academic signals

🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
📝 SAT/ACT participation: 92th percentile by test-taker volume
🎓 4-yr grad rate: 92% (60th percentile nationally)

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

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How Independence High School compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

▸ StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 15 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 - Independence High School, West-MEC - Glendale High School, Glendale High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

90th percentile nationally

Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor

AP courses offered

Math ✓ · Science ✓

Advanced math classes

3 calculus · 10 advanced

Lab science classes

1 physics · 10 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

92th percentile by test-taker volume

SAT/ACT test-takers

479

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

25.1

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?

60th percentile nationally

4-year graduation rate

92%

Single-point estimate

4-year cohort size

462

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)

9.5%

Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.

% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)

41.1%

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

397:1

Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.

Counselor FTE

4.8

Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.

Teacher FTE

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 501 in 2021 to 440 in 2024 — over 3 years.

-12.2%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -2.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,907 students:

2025

1,852

2027

1,748

2029

1,649

≈ 258 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 $11,547 per student in district revenue, the 258 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,979,126/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.

School	Type	Miles	HS enrollment	Trend
West-MEC - Independence High School GLENDALE	Public	0.0	13	—
West-MEC - Glendale High School GLENDALE	Public	1.7	21	—
Glendale High School GLENDALE	Public	1.7	1,734	-6.1%
West-MEC - Raymond S. Kellis GLENDALE	Public	2.0	3	—
Westland School Brighton Campus GLENDALE	Public · charter	2.0	76	-16.5%
Raymond S. Kellis GLENDALE	Public	2.1	1,691	-6.2%
Crown Point High School Glendale	Public · charter	2.2	55	-3.5%
Copper Canyon High School GLENDALE	Public	2.5	2,182	-0.6%