Best public High Schools in the West Valley (Phoenix, Scottsdale: 2013, to rent)

[Iluvthepackers]

Hi! So we are looking to relocate to the Phoenix area. I was down there last month to scope out cities and neighborhoods that we liked. West Valley appealed more to me than the East Valley but there are SO many nice areas to choose from! We liked a lot of areas in Avondale and Goodyear and would consider other areas as well.

My husband does not have a job in Phoenix yet but we have decided that we care more about living in a nice, safe area with a really good school than how long his commute will be.

So please tell me your thoughts on the best public High Schools in the West Valley! What we are looking for: Good kids/families at the school, sports and the arts offered (son plays sports, daughter does theater and plays the violin), offers advanced classes (my soon to be 8th grader is taking some high school classes this year) and not super crowded and not super big (under 2,000 kids max in high school). I have read so much about in general the school system is not the best in AZ....that's why we want to pick an area to live based off of the school. Also, if you know which neighborhood you need to live in to go to a certain school, please list that as well. Where I live now, it's very cut and dry (you live in Franklin, you go to Franklin schools) but here school districts seem to cross city lines (please correct me if I am wrong). Thanks for any info you can give!

[observer53]

Districts can cross city lines here, and many do. We also have "open enrollment" which means that if you are willing to provide the transportation, and the school has room, your child can attend a school out of his or her designated attendance area.

I know nothing specific about any of the schools in that part of town, so I wiil let others speak to that. I will say that I hope your move based on school plan works out. I'm not sure you realize how long commutes in the Valley can be.

[Ponderosa]

My kinds went to Estrella Foothills which is in the Estrella community in south Goodyear. The school offers a full slate of sports and performing arts activities and classes, and honors and AP. Covered parking for students too! Estrella has received the A+ designation from the Arizona Education Assoc. My kids took a lot of classes through the community college while attending HS and received both college and HS credit for that. Kids can take the dual enrollment offerings or take any courses they want from the community college and the credits can often apply to both HS and college requirements. Estrella made news recently in that every student from this year on will get a free laptop computer (loaner) and that computer based/aided learning will become the standard in the classroom. This was made possible by approval of bonds by the residents. Estrella gets strong community support, and bonds, which schools have come to depend on with the cuts to education, usually pass here.

The other schools that serve this area are Millenium, Verrado, Buckeye, Desert Edge and Youngker. Of those, I would recommend all but Youngker as that one is a little "rough". Buckeye is an IB school and, lately, has been getting top rating. They offer the widest variety of classes, by far, and have the most complete sports programs. But they also are a very large school and have a fraction of the student body that is not among your top performers. Millenium and Verrado are like Estrella in that they serve an affluent community. They are both good schools that I would not hesitate to send my kids to. Millenium is very large. Not sure about Verrado, but it would be quite a bit bigger that Estrella (Estrella has about 800). Desert Edge is a larger school too and does not do quite as well as Millenium, Verrado, and Estrella in performance measures, but does well enough that your kids will get what they need. The income level it serves is slightly lower but not poverty or anything close and the school is fairly new, offers everything, and is becoming the sports power in the area.

These schools are all within maybe 10 miles of each other. Like Observer said above, in AZ, one can attend any school they want if they provide their own transport and the school has seats open. A good number of the students in my kids' school were from outside the normal attendance boundaries. So if you like the course selection at Buckeye, or the test scores at Millennium sound impressive but the homes are too pricey, you can send your kids to those schools and live outside of the attendance zones.

[LBTRS]

In the Goodyear area, I would stick to Millenium, Verrado or Estrella Foothills high schools. They are definitely the better schools in the area.

My kids go to Verrado High School and they know lots of kids that their parents moved them to Verrado HS from Desert Edge HS because it is a better school. We've been happy with Verrado HS.

[JGMotorsport64]

I'd stray from Dysart (Surprise, El Mirage & Youngtown) as they have some severe budget issues.

Peoria and Deer Valley are traditionally the good schools districts out that way. I'm sure there are others but these are very established districts with long time teachers and community. The issue with a lot of these districts out here is that they are new and have a very high teacher turnover rate as a result. The thing in AZ is you can open enroll to any school, but you will need to get your children there.

The schools in AZ overall are pretty bad by most standards, but some of our school districts are very competitive nationally. It's the rural ones that we struggle with the most.

[new2colo]

BASIS Charter is supposed to be opening up a campus in Goodyear this year.

[JTW2013]

Originally Posted by Iluvthepackers

Hi! So we are looking to relocate to the Phoenix area. I was down there last month to scope out cities and neighborhoods that we liked. West Valley appealed more to me than the East Valley but there are SO many nice areas to choose from! We liked a lot of areas in Avondale and Goodyear and would consider other areas as well.

My husband does not have a job in Phoenix yet but we have decided that we care more about living in a nice, safe area with a really good school than how long his commute will be.

So please tell me your thoughts on the best public High Schools in the West Valley! What we are looking for: Good kids/families at the school, sports and the arts offered (son plays sports, daughter does theater and plays the violin), offers advanced classes (my soon to be 8th grader is taking some high school classes this year) and not super crowded and not super big (under 2,000 kids max in high school). I have read so much about in general the school system is not the best in AZ....that's why we want to pick an area to live based off of the school. Also, if you know which neighborhood you need to live in to go to a certain school, please list that as well. Where I live now, it's very cut and dry (you live in Franklin, you go to Franklin schools) but here school districts seem to cross city lines (please correct me if I am wrong). Thanks for any info you can give!

I know that you don't care about a commute but I wouldn't commit to the either side of the valley without knowing where your DH is going to work. Depending on what kind of work your DH does, he's probably more likely to find a job in the East Valley than in Phoenix or the West Valley. A commute from the West Valley to the East Valley would be terrible.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by JTW2013

I know that you don't care about a commute but I wouldn't commit to the either side of the valley without knowing where your DH is going to work. Depending on what kind of work your DH does, he's probably more likely to find a job in the East Valley than in Phoenix or the West Valley. A commute from the West Valley to the East Valley would be terrible.

Yes, it is easy to say one will accept a long commute but living with it year after year would be bad. The good news is that there are decent to very good schools in all parts. There are pockets of affluence and poverty in every section of the Phoenix area, so you can find what you want. The key here, like anywhere, is that there is a very strong correlation between area income and school performance. If you research online, the percentage of students on free lunch will tell you much more about the school than the test scores will. It may not be fair, but that is just the way it is. There are some notable exceptions, of course, but picking a winner basically boils down to buying in an affluent area - maybe stretching on your house payments if you need to to get in a higher end community.

[OutdoorgirlUtah]

Do you really want a strenuous long commute. Its going to get ridiculous after a time. My mom knows someone who lives in Surprise and they are sick of the long commute every day from Surprise to Scottsdale and are looking to move. Just because someone thinks they can afford a huge nice home. in one of these areas. Also makes no sense. Think about how much wear and tear on your car its going to do as well as money for gas and car repairs. Its better to rent until you know where your going to be at. Yes like the person above my post mentioned look for the better performing schools living within those school boundaries usually determines how much crime is going to be in your area. I know when I looked for my home. I looked at great schools and refused to look at any homes that the schools didnt rate at least an 8 on greatschools.com

[OutdoorgirlUtah]

Honestly look at zillow or trulia or some other sites at different homes. They usually show which schools are attached to which homes and then I would always double check that.