Sweetwater Community School

PHOENIX · AZ · Paradise Valley Unified District (4241) · Public · K-12 combined

Public 🏛 Paradise Valley Unified District (4241) →

Similar nearby schools

Most similar nearby schools

Ignite Learning Academy → Scottsdale Christian Academy → Great Hearts Academies - North Phoenix Prep → Accelerated Learning Center → Gateway Academy → pvONLINE → West-MEC - Horizon High School → Horizon High School →

📋 At a glance

Programs & features

Academic signals

🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 26% by test-taker volume
🎓 4-yr grad rate: 52% (Bottom 10% 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 Sweetwater Community School compares for families

What families should know about Sweetwater Community 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: Ignite Learning Academy, Scottsdale Christian Academy, Great Hearts Academies - North Phoenix Prep and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 26% by test-taker volume

SAT/ACT test-takers

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

14.3

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 10% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

4-year graduation rate

52%

Range: 50–54%

4-year cohort size

183

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)

13.3%

Typical mix. Watch the trend — high turnover can compound.

% chronic teacher absence (≥10 days/yr)

0.0%

Strong attendance culture among teachers.

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

113.3%

Well above the national average (~16%). At this level, chronic absence becomes a leading driver of enrollment loss as families rotate to other schools.

Students absent 15+ days

187

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

82:1

Below the ASCA 250:1 recommendation — strong capacity for college planning, course selection, and student supports.

Counselor FTE

2.0

Full-time-equivalent school counselors on staff.

Teacher FTE

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 125 in 2021 to 74 in 2024 — over 3 years.

-40.8%

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

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -30.5%/year, projecting from 2024's 165 students:

2025

115

2027

2029

A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.

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

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
Ignite Learning Academy Scottsdale	Private	0.9	236	—
Scottsdale Christian Academy Phoenix	Private	1.0	864	+17.9%
Great Hearts Academies - North Phoenix Prep PHOENIX	Public · charter	1.5	278	+14.4%
Accelerated Learning Center PHOENIX	Public · charter	1.7	133	-11.9%
Gateway Academy Phoenix	Private	1.8	103	+9.6%
pvONLINE PHOENIX	Public	1.8	104	-57.9%
West-MEC - Horizon High School SCOTTSDALE	Public	2.2	6	—
Horizon High School SCOTTSDALE	Public	2.2	1,767	-12.7%