Twelve of Higley Unified School District’s 14 schools received A’s for school performance during the 2022-2023 school year from the Arizona Board of Education.
The remaining …
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Twelve of Higley Unified School District’s 14 schools received A’s for school performance during the 2022-23 school year from the Arizona Board of Education.
The remaining two received B’s. The district itself also received an A.
The latest batch of grades, which the board released Oct. 30, marks an improvement for HUSD from the 2021-22 grades when eight schools received A’s and five B’s.
Higley Virtual Academy received an A as its first letter grade this year. Because 2021-22 was its first year of operation, it did not receive a letter grade last year.
“With a focus on solid educational offerings from preschool through high school, classroom teachers focus on each student's learning, we have taken the guesswork out of education with data-driven instruction and accountability,” Interim Superintendent Sherry Richards said in an emailed statement. “We are honored to receive this recognition and will continue to strive to not only maintain this achievement but also to improve.”
Richards also thanked parents and students.
"We could not achieve this rating without their dedication and commitment to success,” she said. “Certainly, we are proud of our hard work, but we recognize that this level of achievement does not happen without a strong partnership with our parents and community.”
The formula that determines school labels uses a wide range of academic measures, including results from the state-mandated assessment and academic growth.
Elementary School
Grade
Score (A: 84-100; B: 72-83.99)
Bridges
A
92.02
Centennial
A
87.83
Chaparral
A
90.85
Coronado
A
92.81
Cortina
A
89.12
Gateway Pointe
B
80
Higley Traditional Academy
A
93.05
Power Ranch
A
86.7
San Tan
A
87.1
Middle Schools
Grade
Score (A: 84-100; B: 72-83.99)
Cooley
B
74.03
Sossaman
A
84.24
High Schools
Grade
Score (A: 82-100; B: 65-81.99)
Higley
A
95.9
Williams Field
A
91.97
Hybrid
Grade
Score (A: 82-100; B: 65-81.99)
Higley Virtual Academy
A
82.7
Tom Blodgett can be reached by email at tblodgett@iniusa.org or follow him @sp_blodgett on X. We would like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).