The Glendale City Council voted 6-1 on Oct. 27 to annex 160 acres near Litchfield Road and Olive Avenue and approved zoning for three data centers, 18 gas turbines and an APS substation. Much of the opposition came from Surprise neighborhoods within a mile or two of the site.
The Surprise high school scored 94.8% on the state's 2025-26 letter grades, second among Dysart's four high schools. State records show its strength is how many students pass the state tests, and what cost it in 2022-23.
A volunteer group cites a state law that could let Wittmann move toward becoming its own town if Surprise does not annex it within 120 days of receiving a petition. The city clerk's receipt fields in the meeting packet are empty.
The Surprise-area high school scored 92% on the state's 2025-26 letter grades. State records show how it climbed from 216th in Arizona, and where it still trails Dysart's other high schools.
The Surprise high school scored 97.3% on the state's 2025-26 letter grades, 29th in Arizona. State records show its lead comes from how many students pass the state tests, more than from how much their scores grow.
The Surprise high school scored 90% on the state's 2025-26 letter grades, its best yet but last among Dysart's four high schools. State records show why.
A neighborhood-by-neighborhood map of when Surprise was built, and a second map of every tract the city lists as approved or proposed for development.
Jeffrey August of Keep Us Rural LLC said the city clerk turned away his filing on September 30 and that the group will petition Maricopa County when 120 days are up. The state law he cited starts that period when residents present the city with a petition for annexation, and The Surprise Standard has not seen what he filed.
Citygate Associates told the council in June that both departments are strained now and that about 35,000 more residents are coming. The stations are funded. Most of the positions are not, and the staffing plan has not come back to the council.
The Alexandria Way agreement is a loan in all but name: up to $4 million out, repaid at 8% over 115 months. The agreement sets deadlines for the streets, not for the stores.
Proposition 421 would borrow $71.4 million for a new elementary school, high school land and repairs. Voters have turned down Dysart's last three bond requests.
The Arizona Fall League is back at Surprise Stadium through mid-November, with the reigning champions, the highest-ranked prospect in the league and 15 home dates.
The festival on city land in City Center runs through Nov. 1. Admission gets you in the gate; several of the big attractions cost extra. The city has agreed to pay back up to $30,000 a year if the crowds come.
Eight traffic signal cabinets along one of the city's fastest-growing roads are getting designs by local artists, two of them students. The designs went before the city's arts commission Oct. 7.
