Sun Valley High School
MESA · AZ · American Charter Schools Foundation d.b.a. Sun Val (79877) · Public charter
📄 Shareable scorecard →Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
Gilbert Classical Academy 7-12 → Sequoia Charter School → Great Hearts Academies - Chandler Prep → East Valley Academy → EVIT - East Valley Institute of Technology → San Tan Charter School → Great Hearts Academies - Arete Prep → Canyon Valley High School →📋 At a glance
- 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 18% of US high schools
- 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 1% by test-taker volume
- 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 19% (Bottom 2% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
How Sun Valley High School compares for families
What families should know about Sun Valley 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: Gilbert Classical Academy 7-12, Sequoia Charter School, Great Hearts Academies - Chandler Prep and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
For Parents
Follow Sun Valley High School
Get an email when Sun Valley High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
SAT / ACT participation
CRDC federal data · 2020-21Bottom 1% 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?
Bottom 2% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
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.
🏛️ Your state's public flagship
University of Arizona
The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $16,674/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.
Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.
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 -3.1%/year, projecting from 2024's 345 students:
≈ 51 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 $14,581 per student in district revenue, the 51 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $743,631/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.
Most similar nearby high schools
The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.
| School | Type | Miles | HS enrollment | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert Classical Academy 7-12 GILBERT |
Public | 2.0 | 379 | -19.2% |
| Sequoia Charter School MESA |
Public · charter | 2.6 | 295 | -17.4% |
| Great Hearts Academies - Chandler Prep CHANDLER |
Public · charter | 6.5 | 339 | +4.3% |
| East Valley Academy MESA |
Public | 4.6 | 295 | +14.8% |
| EVIT - East Valley Institute of Technology MESA |
Public | 5.6 | 300 | +96.1% |
| San Tan Charter School GILBERT |
Public · charter | 4.9 | 283 | +12.7% |
| Great Hearts Academies - Arete Prep Gilbert |
Public · charter | 2.3 | 243 | -2.8% |
| Canyon Valley High School GILBERT |
Public | 5.6 | 266 | — |