Catalina Foothills ranks No. 4 in state school districts

An educational-ranking website has designated Catalina Foothills School District as the No. 4 district in Arizona.

That’s two steps down from the No. 2 designation in Niche’s June 2015 state rankings. Chandler Preparatory School, a charter holder that is part of the Great Hearts Academies network, ranked No. 1 in this year’s state rankings, which were released this week.

But the ranking for Catalina Foothills, which received an overall “A” grade, decline to No. 4 is not an indication of underperformance, as previous selections did not include charter holders. Chandler Unified School District, which was previously ranked No. 3, was ranked No. 3 this time, just behind Basis Schools.

The Niche rankings were calculated based on strength of academics, teacher quality, health and safety, student culture and diversity, resources and facilities, extracurricular activities, sports and fitness and parent and student surveys. Academics accounted for 50 percent of a district’s overall grade.

Parent and student surveys accounted for 10 percent, though response levels were low. Only 36 people responded for Catalina Foothills, which serves nearly 5,000 students.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

None of Arizona’s school districts were among Niche’s Top 100 in the country, but some Tucson-area districts had a similarly strong showing as in the June 2015 Arizona rankings.

The Amphitheater School District ranked No. 6. Vail came in at No. 7, Tanque Verde at No. 10 and Flowing Wells, No. 15.

Sunnyside ranked the lowest out of all the Tucson-area school districts at No. 93 out of 100. It was ranked No. 79 in 2015. Tucson Unified, the area’s largest district with nearly 48,000 students, ranked No. 34. Marana ranked No. 41, and Sahuarita, No. 49.

To see rankings and scorecards, visit k12.niche.com/rankings