The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Science. The lowest is 29% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Academy Charter
Highland AcademyCharter is a small charter school in Anchorage serving grades six through twelve, part of the Anchorage School District. It sits on Northern Lights Boulevard in the city's east side, a corridor of commercial strips and residential neighborhoods in the Anchorage Bowl. The school's enrollment is modest, with students spread fairly evenly across the seven grade levels it serves. As a charter, it operates under the district umbrella but with its own programmatic identity, and families choosing it are opting into that alternative within the public system.
The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful portion of students identifying as two or more races. American Indian and Alaska Native students make up a notable share of enrollment, and there are smaller groups of Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, Black, and Asian students. The school does not report free or reduced-price lunch data, nor does it provide counts for students with individualized education programs or English learners, so it is hard to gauge from available information what share of families the school serves through targeted support services. A parent considering the school may want to ask directly about special education services and English learner supports.
On state assessments, the most recent results show a mixed picture. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students reached proficiency. Math results were slightly lower, with just under a third proficient. Science proficiency, measured on a smaller group of tested students, came in a bit higher. Participation was strong across all three subjects. These results do not place the school among the higher performers on proficiency measures, and a parent may want to look into how the school supports students working below grade level, particularly in math. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say from the provided data whether these numbers represent improvement, decline, or stability.
The school serves high school grades, but no graduation rate was provided in the data. No civil rights data on discipline, course access, or staffing was available either. Program offerings such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or dual-credit pathways were not reported. Without these details, a parent would need to contact the school directly to understand what upper-grade coursework and postsecondary preparation look like.
Anchorage itself is Alaska's largest city and chief commercial center, with an economy tied to defense, oil, aviation cargo, and tourism. The municipality is vast but most residents live in the compact Anchorage Bowl, a strip of land between the mountains and Cook Inlet. The city has an extensive paved trail system along its creeks and coastline, and Chugach State Park borders the eastern edge of town. The built environment outside downtown is largely suburban and car-dependent. Major employers include Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Providence Alaska Medical Center, the state government, and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which hosts a major FedEx cargo hub.
The housing market in the school's zip code sits below both the statewide and national benchmarks for typical home values, with rents that track modestly below what a monthly mortgage would cost at current interest rates. Home values in this area have been rising at a pace slightly below the state average, and rents have increased at a comparable rate. For families weighing the cost of living alongside school choice, this part of Anchorage is relatively accessible by local standards.
The Anchorage School District brief did not surface any specific parent-relevant changes such as curriculum shifts, funding referendums, or program restructuring, so there is little to report on district-level developments that would bear on this school's near-term direction.
Highland Academy Charter is a small, choice-based secondary option in a city where school selection carries real weight. Its academic results are moderate, its demographic mix leans majority white with a meaningful Indigenous student presence, and its program details are largely absent from available data. Families drawn to a charter setting in east Anchorage should treat the school visit as essential, especially to understand upper-grade coursework and student support structures.
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