Enrollment
868
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Other / mixed grade configuration NCES 040061002056 Charter school
Desert Heights Charter School — Glendale, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Desert Heights Charter School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 57/100.
🌟 Gifted program 70
📋 Attendance 45
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Desert Heights Charter Schools (81099) · Arizona
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Free-lunch eligible
22.9%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
-53% vs state
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Desert Heights Charter School reports 868 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 22.9% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 53% below the Arizona average and 56% below the national baseline. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 22.1% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Desert Heights Charter Schools (81099) spends $11,813 per pupil district-wide, below the Arizona average of $15,070 and below the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 11.3% from local sources (property taxes), 72.0% from the state, and 16.8% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 57/100 (C), calculated from 2 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Desert Heights Charter School compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against Arizona state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs Arizona | Arizona avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free-lunch eligible | 22.9% | ▼ 53% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 868 | top 87% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
22.9%
free-lunch eligible
— 53% below the Arizona average of 48.3%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Engagement
22.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Chronic absenteeism at or above 20% — the CDC threshold for "high" — signals significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$11,813
per pupil, district-wide
— below Arizona avg of $15,070
Below the U.S. average per-pupil spend — funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
37
in-school suspensions + 12 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 4.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 5.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 868 Top 87% in Arizona — larger than 13% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 22.9% -53% vs state
NCES ID 040061002056
Student demographics
White 50.2%
Hispanic or Latino 34.8%
Two or More 7.0%
African American 5.4%
Asian 1.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.3%
Largest group: White at 50.2% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 3
Gifted & talented Yes
Counselors (FTE) 0.0
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 22.1%
In-school suspensions 37
Out-of-school suspensions 12
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Desert Heights Charter Schools (81099), which includes Desert Heights Charter School.
$11,813
Per student
-22%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
-39%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 11.3%
State 72.0%
Federal 16.8%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools in Glendale
6 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.
Mountain Ridge High School
Standard public school
2,823 students 25.2:1 students per teacher
Ironwood High School
Standard public school
1,804 students 21.1:1 students per teacher
Deer Valley High School
Standard public school
1,707 students 11.8:1 students per teacher
Raymond S. Kellis
Standard public school
1,691 students 21.1:1 students per teacher
Highland Lakes School
Standard public school
1,091 students 16.7:1 students per teacher
Cactus High School
Standard public school
1,036 students 19.1:1 students per teacher
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Desert Heights Charter School
How many students attend Desert Heights Charter School?
Desert Heights Charter School has 868 students enrolled. It is a other school in GLENDALE, AZ.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Desert Heights Charter School?
22.9% of students at Desert Heights Charter School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Desert Heights Charter School?
The largest demographic group at Desert Heights Charter School is White at 50.2%. The school serves a diverse student body in GLENDALE, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Desert Heights Charter School?
Desert Heights Charter School has a Resource Investment Index of 57/100 (C) based on 2 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Limited indicators were available, so the index reflects partial data.