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Mesa High School

MESA · AZ · Mesa Unified District (4235) · Public

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📚AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally 📖16 AP courses

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 16 AP courses offered — Elite
  • ✅ Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 🔢 4 calculus classes · 6 physics · 18 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 90th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Top 2.0% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 79% (Bottom 26% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

💡

How Mesa High School compares for families

Standout academic depth by national standards.

  • StatewideAP rigor in the top 10% nationally with 16 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 - Mesa High School, Edkey Inc. - Sequoia Deaf School, Sequoia Choice School Arizona Distance Learning 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

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
16
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Advanced math classes
16
4 calculus · 12 advanced
Lab science classes
24
6 physics · 18 chemistry
Other rigor signals
✅ Dual-enrollment 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 2.0% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
838
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
25.9
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?

Bottom 26% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
79%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
771
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)
6.3%
Strong: experienced corps. New teachers rotate through but most have ≥3 years in.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
12.0%
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
359:1
Around the US median. Counselors are stretched but functional.
Counselor FTE
9.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
174
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 614 in 2021 to 740 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+20.5%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.4%/year, projecting from 2024's 3,233 students:

2025
3,189
2027
3,102
2029
3,017

≈ 216 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 $12,419 per student in district revenue, the 216 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $2,682,504/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 - Mesa High School
MESA
Public 0.0 10
Edkey Inc. - Sequoia Deaf School
MESA
Public · charter 1.2 25
Sequoia Choice School Arizona Distance Learning School
Mesa
Public · charter 1.2 922 +60.6%
Sequoia Charter School
MESA
Public · charter 1.3 295 -17.4%
EDUPRIZE SCHOOL Gilbert
GILBERT
Public · charter 1.4 202 -14.4%
Pathways School
Gilbert
Private 1.5 117
Sun Valley High School
MESA
Public · charter 1.5 345 -8.2%
Academy with Community Partners
MESA
Public · charter 1.9 170 +25.9%

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