Enrollment
505
Arizona · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data High school (grades 9-12) NCES 040096603572 Charter school
Highland Prep — Surprise, AZ
Federal NCES profile for Highland Prep, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 18/100.
📚 AP courses 35
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 6
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: Highland Prep (92982) · 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
23.0%
vs 48.3% Arizona avg
-52% 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
Highland Prep reports 505 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 23.0% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 52% below the Arizona average and 56% below the national baseline. The school offers 7 Advanced Placement courses, a stronger academic pipeline indicator than enrollment alone. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 505 students per counselor, above the ASCA-recommended ceiling of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 37.6% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Highland Prep (92982) spends $46,315 per pupil district-wide, above the Arizona average of $15,070 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 1.3% from local sources (property taxes), 85.5% from the state, and 13.2% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 18/100 (F), calculated from 4 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 Highland Prep 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 | 23.0% | ▼ 52% | 48.3% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 505 | top 62% | — | — |
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
23.0%
free-lunch eligible
— 52% below the Arizona average of 48.3%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Engagement
37.6%
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
$46,315
per pupil, district-wide
— above Arizona avg of $15,070
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 505 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
9
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 1.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 505 Top 62% in Arizona — larger than 38% of 2,186 state schools
Teachers (FTE) —
Students per teacher —
Free-lunch eligible 23.0% -52% vs state
NCES ID 040096603572
Student demographics
White 46.5%
Hispanic or Latino 35.0%
African American 9.5%
Two or More 3.8%
Asian 3.4%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.2%
Largest group: White at 46.5% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
AP courses offered 7
Counselors (FTE) 1.0
Students per counselor 505:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 37.6%
In-school suspensions 9
Out-of-school suspensions 9
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Highland Prep (92982), which includes Highland Prep.
$46,315
Per student
+207%
vs Arizona
Avg $15,070
+138%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 1.3%
State 85.5%
Federal 13.2%
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 high schools in Surprise
6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.
Paradise Honors High School
Standard public school
1,028 students
Thrivepoint High School at Surprise
Alternative education program
323 students
Imagine Prep Surprise
Standard public school
251 students
Northwest Campus
Vocational / career-technical school
40 students 1.1:1 students per teacher
West-Mec - Valley Vista High School
Vocational / career-technical school
2 students
West-Mec - Willow Canyon High School
Vocational / career-technical school
1 students
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 Highland Prep
How many students attend Highland Prep?
Highland Prep has 505 students enrolled. It is a high school in SURPRISE, AZ.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Highland Prep?
23.0% of students at Highland Prep are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Arizona average of 48.3%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Highland Prep?
The largest demographic group at Highland Prep is White at 46.5%. The school serves a diverse student body in SURPRISE, AZ.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Highland Prep?
Highland Prep has a Resource Investment Index of 18/100 (F) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.