South Mountain High School

Summary:

South Mountain High School is a public high school in Phoenix, Arizona, serving 2,146 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Phoenix Union High School District, which is ranked 249 out of 288 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

South Mountain High School consistently performs below the state and district averages in academic metrics. Only 12% of 11th-grade students were proficient or better in English Language Arts in 2023-2024, compared to the state average of 38%. The school's performance on the science assessment was also low, with only 10% of 11th-graders proficient or better in 2022-2023, compared to the state average of 22%. South Mountain High School's four-year graduation rate has fluctuated, ranging from 68.4% in 2021-2022 to 81.7% in 2019-2020, and its dropout rate has been relatively high, reaching 6.3% in 2020-2021.

Interestingly, the nearby ASU Preparatory Academy - Phoenix High School and Skyline Prep High School generally perform better than South Mountain High School in academic metrics, graduation rates, and school rankings. For example, ASU Preparatory Academy - Phoenix High School had a 91.1% four-year graduation rate in 2021-2022, compared to South Mountain High School's 68.4% rate. However, South Mountain High School performs better for certain student subgroups, such as Native American and Homeless students, suggesting that targeted interventions could potentially help improve the school's overall outcomes.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 5401 S 7th St
       Phoenix, AZ  85040-3104


(602) 764-5000

District: Phoenix Union High School District

SchoolDigger Rank:
266th of 270 Arizona High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $9,998 Help


Student/teacher ratio:  19.3 Help
Number of students:  2,171

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
82.1%
African American:
12.5%
White:
2.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  84.9% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details South Mountain High School ranks worse than 98.5% of high schools in Arizona. It also ranks 13th among 16 ranked high schools in the Phoenix Union High School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 9.31. (See more...)
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The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at South Mountain High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.
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The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (82.1%), African American (12.5%), White (2.4%). (See more...)
Teachers
Help
Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at South Mountain High School is 19.3. 12 high schools in the Phoenix Union High School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare South Mountain High School employs 112.4 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at South Mountain High School is $9,998, which is the 8th highest among 16 high schools in the Phoenix Union High School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

South Mountain High School:

SchoolDigger ranks South Mountain High School 266th of 270 Arizona public high schools. (See South Mountain High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:


Phoenix Union High School District:

SchoolDigger ranks Phoenix Union High School District 256th of 297 Arizona school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for South Mountain High School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2009 43.60 231st 395 41.5%
2010 46.84 224th 403 44.4%
2011 42.38 227th 397 42.8%
2012 48.71 247th 471 47.6%
2013 42.35 278th 491 43.4%
2014 36.00 262nd 394 33.5%
2015 19.83 227th 261 13.0%
2016 21.10 298th 406 26.6%
2017 18.45 327th 416 21.4%
2018 18.60 327th 420 22.1%
2019 9.60 281st 285 1.4%
2021 28.90 331st 509 35.0%
2022 15.68 387th 464 16.6%
2023 20.23 373rd 469 20.5%
2024 9.31 266th 270 1.5%
See the entire list of Arizona High School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 26.11 248th 374 33.7%
2022 16.18 229th 282 18.8%
2023 26.30 157th 199 21.1%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 49.70 24th 312 92.3%
2022 41.67 53rd 258 79.5%
2023 19.32 21st 24 12.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 36.68 204th 422 51.7%
2022 32.37 192nd 380 49.5%
2023 20.93 164th 172 4.7%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 22.44 195th 253 22.9%
2022 15.20 158th 168 6.0%
2023 23.62 283rd 347 18.4%
2024 11.18 169th 172 1.7%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.17 25th 26 3.8%
2021 31.10 69th 168 58.9%
2022 81.05 14th 150 90.7%
2023 73.62 14th 60 76.7%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 15.27 304th 354 14.1%
2019 8.27 244th 247 1.2%
2021 29.70 317th 492 35.6%
2022 17.40 366th 456 19.7%
2023 14.85 369th 406 9.1%
2024 5.92 200th 200 0.0%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Foster Care students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 30.47 48th 116 58.6%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Foster Care Students!

Rank History for Military Connected students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 19.81 64th 102 37.3%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Military Connected Students!

Rank History for Male students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 16.66 313th 370 15.4%
2019 8.51 238th 238 0.0%
2021 29.20 322nd 492 34.6%
2022 14.95 384th 455 15.6%
2023 21.31 334th 429 22.1%
2024 7.48 217th 219 0.9%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.68 108th 122 11.5%
2019 13.96 28th 33 15.2%
2021 32.21 186th 306 39.2%
2022 29.44 195th 301 35.2%
2023 10.53 198th 201 1.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 21.54 246th 311 20.9%
2019 12.15 182nd 183 0.5%
2021 34.64 284th 479 40.7%
2022 19.09 360th 441 18.4%
2023 21.99 312th 379 17.7%
2024 9.58 168th 170 1.2%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Native American students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 53.01 67th 256 73.8%
2022 44.16 96th 255 62.4%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Native American Students!

Rank History for Pacific Islander students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 27.21 41st 94 56.4%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for Pacific Islander Students!

Rank History for White students at South Mountain High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 21.20 231st 291 20.6%
2021 55.65 185th 448 58.7%
2022 51.52 165th 409 59.7%
2023 23.18 293rd 371 21.0%
See the entire list of Best Arizona High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Arizona Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

South Mountain High School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 



Data source: Arizona Department of Education

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Enrollment information for South Mountain High School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 374 1116 9 1438 41 n/a n/a -472 2506
1989 341 1064 14 1471 31 n/a n/a -387 2534
1990 370 1007 17 1510 34 n/a n/a -305 2633
1991 432 901 21 1614 24 n/a n/a -353 2639
1992 458 818 20 1668 31 n/a n/a -1 2994
1993 547 828 11 1928 34 n/a n/a 0 3348
1994 553 809 8 1962 35 n/a n/a 0 3367
1995 437 776 11 2080 42 n/a n/a 0 3346
1996 437 776 11 2080 42 n/a n/a 0 3346
1997 369 767 13 2169 39 n/a n/a 0 3357
1998 313 767 9 2228 39 n/a n/a 0 3356
1999 261 717 13 2212 33 n/a n/a 0 3236
2000 189 661 9 1664 29 n/a n/a 0 2552
2001 153 599 17 1529 31 n/a n/a 0 2329
2002 113 631 14 1377 34 n/a n/a 0 2169
2003 113 631 14 1377 34 n/a n/a 0 2169
2004 119 579 8 1356 52 n/a n/a 0 2114
2005 108 560 11 1437 46 n/a n/a 0 2162
2006 107 587 11 1394 50 n/a n/a 0 2149
2007 97 592 8 1451 49 n/a n/a 0 2197
2008 94 536 11 1443 51 n/a n/a 0 2135
2009 77 487 7 1361 58 n/a n/a 0 1990
2010 80 409 11 1299 37 n/a n/a 0 1836
2011 70 423 14 1278 35 0 3 0 1823
2012 58 403 15 1314 32 0 12 0 1834
2013 58 361 17 1295 24 4 18 0 1777
2014 50 299 12 1313 26 6 19 0 1725
2015 44 271 7 1335 20 7 22 0 1706
2016 48 253 7 1351 24 13 26 0 1722
2017 53 226 7 1497 28 8 27 0 1846
2018 61 244 6 1592 35 7 32 0 1977
2019 70 333 6 1692 30 7 37 0 2175
2020 76 364 5 1735 20 2 57 0 2259
2021 59 353 3 1729 24 3 40 0 2211
2022 53 352 4 1678 15 3 38 0 2143
2023 61 278 5 1743 18 7 34 0 2146
2024 53 272 8 1782 25 4 27 0 2171

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at South Mountain High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 2506 136.8 18.3 n/a
1989 2534 195.0 12.9 n/a
1990 2633 198.5 13.2 n/a
1991 2639 194.1 13.5 n/a
1992 2994 203.2 14.7 n/a
1993 3348 234.6 14.3 n/a
1994 3367 232.1 14.5 n/a
1995 3346 185.0 18.1 n/a
1996 3346 185.0 18.1 n/a
1997 3357 174.4 19.2 n/a
1998 3356 177.4 18.9 n/a
1999 3236 186.0 17.4 n/a
2000 2552 145.2 17.6 n/a
2001 2329 130.8 17.8 n/a
2002 2169 131.0 16.6 n/a
2003 2169 131.0 16.6 n/a
2004 2114 131.8 16.0 76.7
2005 2162 116.8 18.5 67.5
2006 2149 135.0 15.9 71.8
2007 2197 131.0 16.8 10.1
2008 2135 127.0 16.8 2.6
2009 1990 121.4 16.4 65.8
2010 1836 121.4 15.1 77.4
2011 1823 110.4 16.5 4.9
2012 1834 107.4 17.0 80.4
2013 1777 104.8 16.9 58.5
2014 1725 92.0 18.7 80.5
2015 1706 103.0 16.5 88
2016 1722 105.0 16.4 88.4
2017 1846 105.6 17.4 92.4
2018 1977 109.6 18.0 84
2019 2175 118.4 18.3 84
2020 2259 120.4 18.7 84
2021 2211 119.6 18.4 n/a
2022 2143 116.6 18.3 84
2023 2146 111.2 19.2 84.9
2024 2171 112.4 19.3 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio South Mountain High School

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Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 2506 136.8 18.3 n/a
1989 2534 195.0 12.9 n/a
1990 2633 198.5 13.2 n/a
1991 2639 194.1 13.5 n/a
1992 2994 203.2 14.7 n/a
1993 3348 234.6 14.3 n/a
1994 3367 232.1 14.5 n/a
1995 3346 185.0 18.1 n/a
1996 3346 185.0 18.1 n/a
1997 3357 174.4 19.2 n/a
1998 3356 177.4 18.9 n/a
1999 3236 186.0 17.4 n/a
2000 2552 145.2 17.6 n/a
2001 2329 130.8 17.8 n/a
2002 2169 131.0 16.6 n/a
2003 2169 131.0 16.6 n/a
2004 2114 131.8 16.0 76.7
2005 2162 116.8 18.5 67.5
2006 2149 135.0 15.9 71.8
2007 2197 131.0 16.8 10.1
2008 2135 127.0 16.8 2.6
2009 1990 121.4 16.4 65.8
2010 1836 121.4 15.1 77.4
2011 1823 110.4 16.5 4.9
2012 1834 107.4 17.0 80.4
2013 1777 104.8 16.9 58.5
2014 1725 92.0 18.7 80.5
2015 1706 103.0 16.5 88
2016 1722 105.0 16.4 88.4
2017 1846 105.6 17.4 92.4
2018 1977 109.6 18.0 84
2019 2175 118.4 18.3 84
2020 2259 120.4 18.7 84
2021 2211 119.6 18.4 n/a
2022 2143 116.6 18.3 84
2023 2146 111.2 19.2 84.9
2024 2171 112.4 19.3 n/a

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for South Mountain High School

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YearPersonnel Expenditures from Federal FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from Federal FundsTotal Expenditures from Federal FundsPersonnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $467 (4.1%) $273 (2.4%) $1,208 (10.6%) $8,743 (76.7%) $1,916 (16.8%) $10,659 (93.5%) $11,400
2020 $660 (5.8%) $427 (3.7%) $1,748 (15.2%) $8,684 (75.7%) $1,697 (14.8%) $10,381 (90.5%) $11,468
2021 $1,636 (12.3%) $1,148 (8.6%) $4,419 (33.1%) $8,742 (65.6%) $1,810 (13.6%) $10,552 (79.1%) $13,336
2022 $803 (8.0%) $252 (2.5%) $1,858 (18.6%) $8,107 (81.1%) $836 (8.4%) $8,943 (89.4%) $9,998

Data source: Arizona Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on South Mountain High School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 281st of 285 High schoolsRanks 373rd of 469 High schools
 19.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students21752146
 1.3%
African American333278
 16.5%
American Indian3018
 40%
Asian65
 16.7%
Hispanic16921743
 3%
Pacific Islander77
White7061
 12.9%
Two or More Races3734
 8.1%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients84%84.9%
 1%


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Frequently Asked Questions about South Mountain High School

South Mountain High School ranks in the bottom 1.5% of Arizona high schools.

Students at South Mountain High School are 82% Hispanic, 13% African American, 2% White, 1% Two or more races, 1% American Indian.

In the 2023-24 school year, 2,171 students attended South Mountain High School.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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