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Highland High School

GILBERT · AZ · Gilbert Unified District (4239) · Public · K-12 combined

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📚AP rigor: 82th percentile nationally 📖23 AP courses 🎓95% 4-yr grad rate

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 23 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 82th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 0.4% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 95% (75th percentile nationally)

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

💡

How Highland High School compares for families

Stronger-than-average college-prep profile.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 18% nationally with 23 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 - Highland High School, Freedom Prep Academy - Mesa, Canyon Valley High School 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

82th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
23
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
114
0 calculus · 114 advanced
Lab science classes
58
18 physics · 40 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 0.4% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
1,255
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
41.9
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?

75th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
95%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
744
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)
20.1%
Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
39.4%
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
332:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
9.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
140
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 714 in 2021 to 784 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+9.8%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.7%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,992 students:

2025
2,942
2027
2,846
2029
2,752

≈ 240 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 $10,851 per student in district revenue, the 240 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,604,240/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
EVIT - Highland High School
GILBERT
Public 0.0 1
Freedom Prep Academy - Mesa
GILBERT
Public · charter 0.4 156
Canyon Valley High School
GILBERT
Public 0.9 266
San Tan Charter School
GILBERT
Public · charter 1.0 283 +12.7%
Lumos Arts Academy
Mesa
Private 1.3 160
Pieceful Solutions Llc
Gilbert
Private 1.7 169
Learning Foundation and Performing Arts Gilbert
Gilbert
Public · charter 2.0 163 -31.2%
Great Hearts Academies - Arete Prep
Gilbert
Public · charter 2.4 243 -2.8%

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