Desert Mountain High School
Scottsdale · AZ · Scottsdale Unified District (4240) · Public
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EVIT - Desert Mountain High School → BASIS Scottsdale → Az Aspire Academy → Sierra Academy Of Scottsdale → Fountain Hills High School → Notre Dame Preparatory → Great Hearts Academies - Archway Scottsdale → Great Hearts Academies - Scottsdale Prep →📋 At a glance
- 📚 15 AP courses offered — Elite
- ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 🔢 7 calculus classes · 17 physics · 16 chemistry
- 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: 90th percentile by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 96% (82th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Desert Mountain 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: EVIT - Desert Mountain High School, BASIS Scottsdale, Az Aspire Academy and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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🎓 Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
90th percentile nationally
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 · 2020-2190th percentile by test-taker volume
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?
82th percentile nationally
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
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
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
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
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of +0.2%/year, projecting from 2024's 1,905 students:
An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.
Revenue upside
At $12,356 per student in district revenue, the 18 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $222,408/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.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EVIT - Desert Mountain High School Scottsdale |
Public | 0.0 | — | — |
| BASIS Scottsdale SCOTTSDALE |
Public · charter | 0.5 | 311 | -10.6% |
| Az Aspire Academy Tempe |
Private | 2.8 | 286 | — |
| Sierra Academy Of Scottsdale Scottsdale |
Private | 4.4 | 41 | — |
| Fountain Hills High School FOUNTAIN HILLS |
Public | 4.7 | 347 | -27.9% |
| Notre Dame Preparatory Scottsdale |
Private | 5.0 | 863 | -6.7% |
| Great Hearts Academies - Archway Scottsdale Scottsdale |
Public · charter | 5.2 | 1,059 | -1.6% |
| Great Hearts Academies - Scottsdale Prep Scottsdale |
Public · charter | 5.2 | 362 | +0.6% |