NCES CCD 2024-25 79 schools AK

Best-Resourced Schools in Anchorage, AK

79 public K-12 schools in Anchorage from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

79
Schools
35,898
Students
36.6/100
Avg Resource Index
17.3:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Middle-of-corpus city profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Anchorage has more public-school enrollment than 97% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Anchorage sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

59 of Anchorage's 79 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 55-point gap between Frontier Charter School and Focus Homeschool shows the range hidden by Anchorage's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 3%
School count
Top 2%
Resource Index average
31st percentile
Teacher staffing
31st percentile

Anchorage school enrollment varies 68× across entities

Anchorage school enrollment ranges from 25 students (lowest) to 1,702 students (highest), a spread of 1,677 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Anchorage reports 50.0% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Anchorage student-teacher ratio is 17.3:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Variation between sub-units within Anchorage is typically wider than the Anchorage-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

8 of Anchorage's 79 listed schools are charters

10% of the city's listed public-school campuses are reported as charter schools in NCES CCD. Charter status identifies a different governance arrangement; it does not establish admissions availability, academic quality, or the share of city students enrolled in those campuses. Open each school record to compare enrollment and staffing directly.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

# School Score
1. Frontier Charter School 70
2. Paideia Cooperative School 61
3. Martin Luther King Jr. Technical High School 60
4. Mclaughlin Secondary School 58
5. Chester Valley Elementary 56
6. Highland Academy Charter 49
7. Anchorage Stream Academy 47
8. Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School 46
9. Benson Secondary/S.E.a.R.C.H. 46
10. West High School 43
11. Lake Hood Elementary 43
12. O'malley Elementary 41
13. Rabbit Creek Elementary 41
14. Northwood Abc 41
15. Turnagain Elementary 41
16. Baxter Elementary 41
17. Northern Lights Abc K-8 School 40
18. Steller Secondary School 40
19. Gladys Wood Elementary 40
20. Abbott Loop Elementary 40
21. Inlet View Elementary 40
22. S.a.V.E. High School 40
23. Alaska State School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing 40
24. Sand Lake Elementary 39
25. Klatt Elementary 39
26. Ocean View Elementary 39
27. Huffman Elementary 39
28. Tudor Elementary 38
29. Spring Hill Elementary 38
30. Chugach Optional Elementary 38
31. Taku Elementary 38
32. Nicholas J. Begich Middle School 37
33. Government Hill Elementary 37
34. Scenic Park Elementary 37
35. Denali Montessori Elementary 37
36. North Star Elementary 37
37. Williwaw Elementary 37
38. Willow Crest Elementary 37
39. Trailside Elementary 36
40. Bear Valley Elementary 36
41. Family Partnership Charter School 35
42. Chinook Elementary 35
43. College Gate Elementary 35
44. Alaska Native Cultural Charter School 35
45. Dr. Etheldra Davis - Fairview Elementary School 35
46. Whaley School 35
47. Wonder Park Elementary 35
48. Nunaka Valley Elementary 35
49. William Tyson Elementary 34
50. Bartlett High School 33

Showing top 50 of 79 schools.

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Anchorage

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School 85.0/100
  2. 2 Bartlett High School 85.0/100
  3. 3 Willow Crest Elementary 84.9/100
  4. 4 Creekside Park Elementary 84.8/100
  5. 5 Ptarmigan Elementary 84.7/100

What do families ask about schools in Anchorage?

Which Anchorage school has the highest Resource Investment Index?

Frontier Charter School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Anchorage schools in this federal-data comparison at 70/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Anchorage, AK?

Anchorage has 79 public schools with a total enrollment of 35,898 students. 8 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 17.3:1.

Other Cities in Alaska

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Alaska →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.