Best Schools: How Phoenix Area Schools Ranked In 2022 Niche List

PHOENIX, AZ — The latest school rankings released by the data analysis company Niche offer a look at how K-12 schools in the state and in the Phoenix metro area compare with each other.

Niche, which released its eighth annual version of the rankings on Monday, looks at a variety of criteria in determining a grade for both public and private K-12 schools in the Valley and across the state, including academics, teachers and diversity.

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Here are the top five school districts in the state:

1. Heritage Academy in Mesa, A+
2. Catalina Foothills Unified School District in Tucson, A+
3. Chandler Unified School District, A
4. Vail Unified School District, A
5. Scottsdale Unified School District, A

Jared Taylor, Heritage Academy's charter representative, believes that his school system's success largely comes from its commitment to attracting excellent teachers.

“Families have great experiences when they have great teachers, and that’s a major priority for us,” he said.

Another strong point for Heritage, in Taylor's eyes, is its effort to provide comprehensive offerings, albeit on a smaller scale than larger districts. Heritage is a small charter school that serves around 1,150 students. Last year between 30-40 percent of Heritage seniors had obtained at least one associate's degree by graduation, he said.

Another point of pride for Heritage is its mission.

“We’re crazy about our mission statement which is 'to build America's heroes,'" Taylor said. “Our country needs great people to step up.”

Heritage works to help students build good character, love their country and its ideals and to be of service to others, Taylor said.

"Everyone can learn to be good people and that’s a primary objective of our program,” he said.

While Taylor said it was fun to be named No. 1 in the state on the Niche list, there's always room for Heritage to improve.

Here are the top 20 school districts in the Phoenix area, according to Niche:

1. Heritage Academy in Mesa, A+
2. Chandler Unified School District, A
3. Scottsdale Unified School District, A
4. Gilbert Public Schools, A-
5. Choice Academies in Phoenix, A-
6. Peoria Unified School District in Glendale, A-
7. Paradise Valley Unified School District, A-
8. Eduprize Schools in Queen Creek, A-
9. Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, A-
10. Fountain Hills Unified School District, A-
11. Glendale Union High School, B+
12. Higley Unified School District in Gilbert, B+
13. Tempe Union High School District, B+
14. Desert Heights Charter School in Glendale, B+
15. Cave Creek Unified School District in Scottsdale, B+
16. Mesa Unified School District, B+
17. Agua Fria Union High School in Avondale, B+
18. Queen Creek Unified School District, B+
19. Buckeye Union High School, B
20. Portable Practical Education Preparation Inc. in Phoenix, B

Niche said its 2022 best schools rankings offer a more “personal” view of schools than its rankings in recent years. Significantly less importance was placed on SAT and ACT scores this year, Niche said. Any factor in its methodology that is related to test scores was reduced by one third.

The company combined ratings from students, alumni and parents with quantitative data from the U.S. Department of Education and other sources to evaluate teachers, resources, facility, extracurricular activity opportunities and other factors. Read more about the methodology here.

Across the country, Niche ranked 94,491 public schools, 2,489 private schools and 11,846 school districts to come up with its lists and rankings.

Top 5 Public High Schools:

1. The Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada
2. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
3. Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science School
4. Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Virginia
5. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Virginia

Top 5 Private High Schools:

1. Phillips Academy in Massachusetts
2. The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut
3. Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut
4. The College Preparatory School in California
5. Groton School in Massachusetts

Top 5 School Districts:

1. Adlai E. Stevenson High School District in Illinois
2. Glenbrook High School District in Illinois
3. Great Neck Public Schools in New York
4. Community High School District 128 in Illinois
5. Jericho Union Free School District in New York

See the full Niche rankings here