Mesa Public Schools to open 2 new high schools next fall

PHOENIX — Mesa Public Schools, Arizona’s largest school district, will be opening two new high schools next school year, focusing on smaller learning environments and personalized education.

The new locations will be added onto existing junior high schools, adding one grade at a time until they become full high schools.

Superintendent Matthew Strom explained that by combining the new locations with the junior highs, the district is opening these schools without having a large expense.

“These junior highs in Mesa Public Schools were built for student populations of 1,200 to 1,600, and most of our junior highs now run between 600 to 900 students,” he said. “So, we had the space available and the opportunity available to create these small learning environments with hardly any capital infrastructure costs.”

Strom added that the populations of these schools will never exceed 600 students, with expected class sizes of 150.

Where will the new high schools be located in Mesa?

One of the new high schools, called Franklin High School, will be located on the same campus as Franklin Junior High School and Franklin Accelerated Academy, Brimhall campus, near Southern Avenue and Higley Road.

The other new high school, Shepherd College Preparatory, will be attached to Shepherd Junior High School, near Alta Mesa Drive and Brown Road.

Even though Mesa Public Schools has seen a slight decrease in enrollment, Strom said these new schools will create new opportunities for students in the district, using already existing spaces to provide more advanced schooling.

“One of the goals of Shepherd College Prep is to ensure that every kid graduates with some college credit on their transcript, and really one of our goals is that we have quite a few students graduate with their associates degree by the time they’re done with their senior year,” he explained.

Any families with a child heading into ninth grade next year that want to attend Shepherd College Prep can apply for a spot on the Mesa Public Schools website. The district will host an information session for prospective families on Nov. 18.

The district said applications will open for Franklin High School on Nov. 10.

Mesa Public Schools will now have 10 high schools, with six classic schooling layouts, two alternative options, and two advanced learning options.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

Related

EVIT faces potential lawsuit by 9 local school districts over revised agreementHead Start programs in Arizona at risk of closing due to government shutdownAnti-DEI vote pushed off until December after State Board of Education disagreed about urgencyFormer Mesa High School official claims that an inaccurate police report destroyed his careerFormer ASU President, who elevated university’s status, dies at 89Peoria Unified names new principal for school at center of teacher sex scandal