Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District (4454), AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District (4454)

Santa Cruz Valley Union High School District is a small high-school-only district in Pinal County, serving grades nine through twelve. It operates two schools: the main Santa Cruz Valley Union High School and an alternative campus called Santa Cruz Center for Success. The district’s enrollment runs about the size of a moderate high school, with the freshman class slightly larger than the senior class, suggesting a typical age distribution. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with much smaller shares of white and Black students and very small numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Data on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not reported, so the economic profile of the student population is not measurable from available records.

Academic performance measures are absent from the public data. The district has no reported state assessment results and no graduation rate on file. Because the district serves only high school grades, state testing data would normally be expected, but it is not available here; the same is true for the graduation rate. A parent considering this district would need to seek those numbers directly from the school or the Arizona Department of Education to evaluate academic outcomes.

The one outcome metric that is available is chronic absenteeism, and it stands out sharply. The district’s rate of chronic absenteeism places it in the bottom quartile among Pinal County’s districts, meaning that a very high share of students miss a substantial number of school days. This is a soft spot that a family may want to investigate further with the district, as chronic absence can affect learning and course progress.

On the resource side, per-pupil current spending is in the upper range of what Pinal County districts report. The district spends more per student than many of its neighbors, which may reflect the costs of operating a small high school district with its own administrative structure, or it may indicate targeted investments. The district brief, drawn from publicly reported sources, turned up little by way of recent major changes—no bond measures, override elections, or curriculum overhauls were found. The district appears to have been operating in a steady, low-profile manner.

The housing context for the district’s catchment area is mixed. The district-weighted home values fall around the national median, but they vary widely across the nine zip codes that contribute to the district, from modestly priced homes in Eloy and Arizona City to significantly higher values in parts of Marana and Saddlebrooke. Rents follow a similar spread. The county-level mortgage and rental cost comparisons suggest that home-buying in the district’s higher-priced areas is more expensive than renting, but the overall affordability picture is close to national averages. The district’s boundaries appear to pull students from a broad geographic area, encompassing smaller towns and rural communities as well as some suburban edges.

For a family, this district offers a small high school environment with two campuses—the main comprehensive high school and an alternative school—and relatively high spending per student. The absence of testing and graduation data is a meaningful gap, and the high chronic absenteeism is a clear concern that warrants direct inquiry. The district has not been in the news for recent changes, so parents may need to rely on conversations with staff and current families to understand the day-to-day experience. It fits a family that is comfortable with a small district, wants to ask pointed questions about attendance and academics, and lives in one of the several communities that feed into this single high school system.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

415

Grades

09–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 75%

Black 8%

White 13%

Asian 0%

Two+ 1%

Am. Indian / AK Native 2%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

Schools in this District

2 schools are officially reported under this district.

Santa Cruz Valley Union High School

Santa Cruz Center for Success

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$365,613

Year-over-year change-2.1%

Range across 9 ZIP codes$250K to $536K

vs. state typical0.86x

vs. national typical0.99x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (9 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
85131	Eloy	$293K	-2.5%	47.2%
85658	Marana	$536K	-1.7%	20.2%
85739	Saddlebrooke	$473K	-1.6%	7.8%
85145	Red Rock	$291K	-2.1%	6.7%
85653	Marana	$386K	-0.8%	3.1%
85123	Arizona City	$250K	-3.6%	3.0%
85128	Coolidge	$270K	-1.4%	0.8%
85194	Casa Grande	$361K	+0.2%	0.4%
85132	Florence	$333K	-2.3%	0.2%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$2,010/mo

Year-over-year change+2.5%

Range across 8 ZIP codes$1,363 to $2,346/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (8 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
85131	Eloy	$1,949	—	47.2%
85658	Marana	$2,118	—	20.2%
85739	Saddlebrooke	$2,346	—	7.8%
85653	Marana	$2,144	+2.8%	3.1%
85123	Arizona City	$1,363	—	3.0%
85128	Coolidge	$1,598	+1.6%	0.8%
85194	Casa Grande	$2,041	—	0.4%
85132	Florence	$1,795	+1.8%	0.2%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$1,845/mo

Home price / national median income4.4x

Annual rent / national median income28.8%

Rent exceeds est. mortgage by$165/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$423,746 (-1.6% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Academic Performance
Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.