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STAR Academic High School

TUCSON · AZ · Sunnyside Unified District (4407) · Public · K-12 combined

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • ✅ Gifted & talented program
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 33% of US high schools
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 15% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 37% (Bottom 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

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How STAR Academic High School compares for families

What families should know about STAR Academic High School.

  • 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: PJCTED - Star Academic High School, Toltecali High School, PCJTED - Aztec Middle College Desert Vista and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 15% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
11
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
4.2
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 8% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
37%
Range: 35–39%
4-year cohort size
119
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)
30.8%
Elevated — a quarter or more of teachers are in years 1-2. Often correlates with school instability.
% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)
76.9%
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
265:1
Above the ASCA 250:1 target but below the US median (~430:1). Capacity is workable.
Counselor FTE
1.0
Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.
Teacher FTE
13
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 55 in 2021 to 189 in 2024 — over 3 years.
+243.6%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -1.3%/year, projecting from 2024's 265 students:

2025
261
2027
254
2029
248

≈ 17 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 $9,558 per student in district revenue, the 17 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $162,486/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
PJCTED - Star Academic High School
Tucson
Public 0.0
Toltecali High School
TUCSON
Public · charter 0.3 126 -8.0%
PCJTED - Aztec Middle College Desert Vista
TUCSON
Public 1.4
Alta Vista High School
TUCSON
Public · charter 1.7 495 +6.7%
PCJTED - Pueblo High School
TUCSON
Public 1.7 1
Pueblo High School
TUCSON
Public 1.7 1,821 +1.2%
Pima Rose Academy
TUCSON
Public · charter 1.7 442 +16.6%
PPEP TEC - Celestino Fernandez Learning Center
TUCSON
Public · charter 1.7 116 -11.5%

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