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Mesa Public Schools
School district in Arizona, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mesa Public Schools (incorporated as Mesa Unified School District #44) is the largest public school district in the US state of Arizona, headquartered in Mesa. It has approximately 34,000 students.[1] The district has, in addition to regular programs, Montessori, International Baccalaureate, dual-language immersion, honors, and Advanced Placement courses.
MPS serves most of the city of Mesa, plus small portions of Tempe and Chandler.[2] It also takes students from the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community.[3]
The district has 82 schools, which includes 55 elementary schools, 9 junior high schools, six comprehensive high schools, and several alternative schools.
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Enrollment
Mesa Public Schools has seen a decline in enrollment in the 21st Century.[4] Much of the decline can be attributed to the decline in affordability of housing.
As families become cost-burdened by rental and home ownership costs, they have been relocating to less expensive cities. In Mesa, rents increased by an average of 60% from 2017 to 2023. In Arizona, "the monthly cost of homeownership (excluding the 2022-23 increase in interest rates) for the average home in Arizona increased by 73%, from $1,750 in August 2017 to $3,032 in August 2023." The average house price in the state has increased 216% since 2000, while wages have only increased by an average of 48% in the same time period.
The difficulty of building more housing has contributed to the rising rental and home ownership costs. Average family sizes have decreased, meaning that many more single family homes, as compared to multifamily homes, would be needed to house the rapidly growing population in the state. Current zoning laws make building more single family and especially multifamily housing more difficult.[5]
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Schools
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High schools
High schools (9–12) as listed by Mesa Public Schools:[6]
Junior high schools
Junior high schools (7–8) as listed by Mesa Public Schools:[14]
Mesa Public Schools operated two other junior high schools until 2009–2010 school year.
Hendrix Junior High School consolidated with the adjoining Frost Elementary School as the K-8 Summit Academy with an International Baccalaureate Program. Hendrix had the husky as its mascot and used the colors red and gray.[15]
Powell Junior High School (colors red, white, and blue, mascot the Patriots)[16] closed in May 2010. The former campus serves as the Mesa Educational Center, home to the district's Community Education Department, East Valley Academy and Crossroads.[17]
Mesa Jr High closed at the end of the 2011–2012 school year and was demolished in January 2014. Post demolition, the site was converted into a community center.[18]
Brimhall Jr. High closed at the end of the 2011–2012 school year and was converted into Franklin Accelerated School, which would house students from two Franklin elementary schools, Franklin South and Franklin Northeast, and the only Franklin Junior High. The move was made in order to save money due to a variety of converging factors: the declining enrollment during the previous five years, the budget reduction of $110 million in the same time period (mostly due to declining enrollment), and the need to economize by reducing the amount of buildings to be maintained. The approximately 1,300 students who attended Brimhall Jr. High would then be moved into other junior high schools; the district reported about 4,353 empty seats at junior high schools that year, leaving room for the redistribution of students.[19]
- Name notes
- Fremont — John C. Fremont
- Kino — Eusebio Kino
- Poston — Charles D. Poston, referred to as the "Father of Arizona" due to his efforts lobbying for creation of the territory.
- Shepherd — Rulon T. Shepherd, a 30-year Mesa superintendent who built the first junior high in Mesa
- Stapley — Orley. S. Stapley, at one time the largest International Harvester farm equipment dealer in the United States, as well as the owner of the largest mercantile business in Arizona during the 1940s and 1950s; also the namesake of Stapley Drive
- Taylor — Harvey L. Taylor, former Mesa superintendent and principal
Elementary schools
Elementary schools (K–6) as listed by Mesa Public Schools:[20]
- Adams
- Anne M. Lindbergh
- Benjamin Franklin
- Benjamin Franklin Elementary - West Campus
- Barbara Bush
- Crismon Elementary
- Dilworth Brinton
- Edison
- Eisenhower Center For Innovation
- Entz
- Falcon Hill
- Field
- Franklin at Alma
- Franklin at Brimhall
- Franklin East
- Franklin West
- Pedro Guerrero Elementary
- Hermosa Vista
- Highland
- Holmes
- Hughes
- Irving
- James Madison
- Jefferson
- John K. Kerr, M. D.
- John Philip Sousa
- Keller
- Las Sendas
- Lehi
- Lincoln
- Longfellow
- Lowell
- MacArthur
- Nathan Hale
- Patterson
- Pedro Guerrero
- Pomeroy
- Porter
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Ramón S. Mendoza
- Red Mountain Ranch
- Redbird
- Robson
- Roosevelt
- Salk
- Sandra Day O’Connor
- Sirrine
- Stevenson
- Taft
- Veora E. Johnson
- Washington
- Webster
- Whitman
- Whittier
- Wilson
- Zaharis
- Zedo Ishikawa
Frost Elementary consolidated with the adjoining Hendrix Junior High in 2010–11 to become the K–8 Summit Academy.
Alternative school
Alternative schools (named "Focus Schools" by the district) as listed by Mesa Public Schools:[21]
| Name | Grades | Details |
| Crossroads | 7–12 | Small school environment |
| Eagleridge Enrichment Program | K - 8 | Home schooling enrichment program |
| East Valley Academy | 9–12 | Small school environment with more flexible hours and a credit recovery program |
| Jordan Center for Early Education | Preschool | Preschool with Montessori option available |
| Red Mountain Center for Early Education | Preschool | Preschool campus |
| Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies | 4–8 | Rigorous IB curriculum program preparing for advanced courses in high school. Is the top performing school in Arizona. |
| Mesa Distance Learning Program | 6–12 | Computer-based online learning program |
| Riverview High School | 7–12 | Referral-only school for students with discipline issues |
| SHARP School | K–12 | Alternative needs program for students with qualifying disabilities |
| Summit Academy | K–6 | International Baccalaureate primary years program |
| Summit Academy | 7–8 | International Baccalaureate middle years program |
| Superstition High School | 7–12 | Small school environment |
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See also
References
External links
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