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Betty Fairfax High School

LAVEEN · AZ · Phoenix Union High School District (4286) · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 3 AP courses offered — Strong
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
  • 🔢 9 calculus classes · 8 physics · 18 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 64th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 78th percentile by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 86% (Bottom 36% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Betty Fairfax High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor at the 64th percentile nationally with 3 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: Country Gardens Charter School, Heritage Academy Laveen, Cesar Chavez High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses

64th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
3
Math ✓
Advanced math classes
27
9 calculus · 18 advanced
Lab science classes
26
8 physics · 18 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

78th percentile by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
228
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
11.3
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?

Bottom 36% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
86%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
383
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)
3.1%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
36.1%
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.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
25.9%
Elevated above the national average (~16%). Worth understanding — chronic absence compounds into dropout risk, transfer-out risk, and revenue loss.
Students absent 15+ days
521
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the most reliable early indicator that a student will leave a school — either by transferring out, dropping out, or matriculating to a charter or private alternative. At this level, today's absentees become next year's enrollment loss and the year-after's revenue loss. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Student : Counselor
366:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
5.5
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
87
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 417 in 2021 to 465 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+11.5%

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 2,014 students:

2025
2,073
2027
2,196
2029
2,327

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

Revenue upside

At $15,870 per student in district revenue, the 313 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $4,967,310/year in additional funding.

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
Country Gardens Charter School
LAVEEN
Public · charter 1.5 63 -17.1%
Heritage Academy Laveen
LAVEEN
Public · charter 1.9 487 +12.7%
Cesar Chavez High School
LAVEEN
Public 2.1 2,598 -3.2%
Maricopa Institute of Technology
PHOENIX
Public · charter 2.8 421 +28.0%
West-MEC - Sierra Linda High School
TOLLESON
Public 3.5 1
Sierra Linda High School
TOLLESON
Public 3.5 1,911 +2.5%
Arizona Lutheran Academy
Phoenix
Private 3.9 201 +7.5%
Hope High School
PHOENIX
Public · charter 4.4 155 -1.3%

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