Desert Heights Charter School
Glendale · AZ · Desert Heights Charter Schools (81099) · Public charter · K-12 combined
Similar nearby schools
Most similar nearby schools
ThrivePoint High School at Metro → Ombudsman - Charter Metro → Student Choice High School → Ombudsman - Charter Northwest → Ombudsman - Charter West → Great Hearts Academies - Glendale Prep → Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics → Kaizen Education Foundation dba Maya High School →At a glance
- 3 AP courses offered — Strong
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- Gifted & talented program
- 2 calculus classes · 4 physics · 3 chemistry
- AP rigor: 63rd percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: 57th percentile by test-taker volume
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
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How Desert Heights Charter School compares for families
Solid mid-tier academic profile.
- ▸ StatewideAP rigor at the 63rd percentile nationally with 3 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: ThrivePoint High School at Metro, Ombudsman - Charter Metro, Student Choice High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Strong — solid AP program + advanced courses
63rd percentile nationally
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 · 2020-2157th percentile 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.
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 strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2021 total enrollment.
Enrollment trend & projection
Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).
If the recent trend holds…
At its recent rate of -1.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 868 students:
≈ 81 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 $9,443 per student in district revenue, the 81 students projected to be lost by 2029 represent ≈ $764,883/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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ThrivePoint High School at Metro PHOENIX |
Public · charter | 5.1 | 216 | +272.4% |
| Ombudsman - Charter Metro Glendale |
Public · charter | 5.9 | 250 | +17.4% |
| Student Choice High School Peoria |
Public · charter | 4.6 | 201 | -14.5% |
| Ombudsman - Charter Northwest Peoria |
Public · charter | 6.0 | 203 | +31.0% |
| Ombudsman - Charter West Phoenix |
Public · charter | 3.4 | 176 | +95.6% |
| Great Hearts Academies - Glendale Prep PEORIA |
Public · charter | 5.4 | 324 | +20.0% |
| Arizona Conservatory for Arts and Academics PHOENIX |
Public · charter | 3.6 | 148 | -12.4% |
| Kaizen Education Foundation dba Maya High School PHOENIX |
Public · charter | 6.9 | 401 | +13.6% |
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantDesert Heights Charter School is a public high school in Glendale, AZ, enrolling 868 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
It offers 3 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 63% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
90 students took the SAT or ACT in the most recent federal count, a participation level above 57% of U.S. high schools.
19% of its students were chronically absent in 2020.
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics (enrollment), the federal Civil Rights Data Collection and EDFacts, state education agencies where named, and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
How many AP courses does Desert Heights Charter School offer? Desert Heights Charter School offers 3 AP courses, a course-rigor profile stronger than 63% of U.S. high schools, and has a dual-enrollment program (federal Civil Rights Data Collection).
How many students attend Desert Heights Charter School? Desert Heights Charter School is a public high school in Glendale, AZ, enrolling 868 students in grades 9-12 in 2024.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
What does AI tell parents about Desert Heights Charter School?
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Related reading
AP courses · October 2026
Test scores · October 2026