Original Research by School Decision on Student Choice High School
Student Choice High School in Tempe is an alternative charter high school serving grades nine through twelve, and its enrollment profile alone tells a parent a great deal about what this school is. The student body is large for a school of its type, but the distribution across grades is sharply unusual: the vast majority of students are in twelfth grade, with a smaller number in eleventh and a very small number in tenth and ninth. This pattern is not typical of a comprehensive high school that builds a cohort from freshman year onward. A family considering this school would want to understand the programs and pathways that draw students at the senior level in particular.
The student population is predominantly Hispanic, making up the majority of the enrollment. White students are the next largest group, followed by Black students and smaller shares of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. Data on economic disadvantage, special education, and English learner status were not available, so a parent cannot assess from this record how heavily the school serves students receiving support services, and that is a gap worth asking about directly.
State testing data was not reported for this school, and the comparison to other schools and districts in Maricopa County was not possible because the proficiency and graduation metrics were missing. This absence may well reflect the alternative school designation. Many alternative schools serve students who are credit-deficient or have faced challenges in traditional settings and operate outside the standard assessment and accountability framework. A parent should be aware that the typical academic performance benchmarks that apply to district and charter high schools do not appear to apply here, and the school itself would be the source for how it measures student progress and what a graduate leaves with.
The school is a single-campus charter authorized under the entity GAR LLC, and publicly reported information about recent changes to the district was not found. Tempe itself is an inner suburb of Phoenix with a distinct character shaped by Arizona State University’s main campus. The northern part of the city is dense and urban, with high-rise development along Tempe Town Lake and the pedestrian-oriented Mill Avenue district. The southern parts are more suburban with single-family homes and strip malls. Major employers include the university, State Farm, and a number of corporate headquarters. The housing market reflects a mid-range among metro Phoenix areas; home values have declined modestly in the most recent year, and rents have also edged down, similar to the broader state trend.
For a family weighing this school, the central question is what kind of alternative program is offered and what the school expects from a student who enrolls. The grade distribution suggests that many students arrive or remain primarily for their senior year, which could indicate a credit-recovery model, a flexible scheduling arrangement, or a program focused on completing a diploma outside the traditional four-year structure. Without test scores or graduation rate data, the state provides no standard yardstick, so a parent would rely entirely on a conversation with the school about its curriculum, graduation requirements, and what a typical student experience looks like from enrollment to completion.
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