Shadow Ridge High School earned a 97.3% on the state's 2025-26 letter grades, released Oct. 28. That is the highest score among Dysart Unified's four high schools and 29th among Arizona's 230 traditional high schools. It is Shadow Ridge's sixth straight A.
Shadow Ridge High School 2025-26 state letter grade
- District
- Dysart Unified
- Grade
- A, 97.3%
- Rank in Dysart
- 1st of 4 high schools
- Rank in Arizona
- 29th of 230
- A's in a row
- 6
- Principal
- Tony Vining
Shadow Ridge has had Dysart's top high school score in five of the seven years the state has graded schools under its current formula. In 2018-19, it became the first Dysart high school to earn an A under that formula. The state published no grades for 2019-20 or 2020-21.
| School year | Grade | Score | Rank in Dysart | Rank in Arizona |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | B | 70.3% | 2nd of 4 | 146th of 269 |
| 2017-18 | B | 75.2% | 1st of 4 | 88th of 235 |
| 2018-19 | A | 84.4% | 1st of 4 | 42nd of 226 |
| 2019-20 | No grades issued | |||
| 2020-21 | No grades issued | |||
| 2021-22 | A | 89.4% | 2nd of 4 | 51st of 246 |
| 2022-23 | A | 92.3% | 1st of 4 | 22nd of 229 |
| 2023-24 | A | 96.0% | 1st of 4 | 29th of 234 |
| 2024-25 | A | Not yet public | ||
| 2025-26 | A | 97.3% | 1st of 4 | 29th of 230 |
Ranks are among Dysart's four traditional high schools and among Arizona's traditional high schools, by the state's score. Dysart's online iSchool, graded as a high school in 2021-22 and 2022-23, scored below all four both years. The 2024-25 grade is from Dysart's report to its Governing Board; the state has not posted its final 2024-25 file.
Note: The state's overall percentage, bonus points included. No grades were issued for 2019-20 and 2020-21, and the state has not posted 2024-25 scores. The median is for traditional high schools. Years are school years ending in the year shown. Source: Arizona State Board of Education
Show the data
| year | Shadow Ridge | Arizona high school median |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 70.3% | 71.2% |
| 2018 | 75.2% | 71.1% |
| 2019 | 84.4% | 71.7% |
| 2020 | — | — |
| 2021 | — | — |
| 2022 | 89.4% | 73.5% |
| 2023 | 92.3% | 74.8% |
| 2024 | 96.0% | 81.2% |
| 2025 | — | — |
| 2026 | 97.3% | 83.4% |
How the grade is figured
Arizona grades a high school on five measures. Proficiency, how many students pass the state's tests, is 30% of the grade. Growth, how much their scores improve from one year to the next, is 20%. Graduation is 20%, college and career readiness is 20%, and English learners' progress is 10%. Schools can also earn bonus points on top.
The state's files break each school's grade into those parts.
| Year | Proficiency (30) | Growth (20) | Graduation (20) | Readiness (20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 15.6 | 12.9 | 20.0 | 12.8 |
| 2018 | 15.7 | 13.4 | 20.0 | 17.1 |
| 2019 | 18.0 | — | 20.0 | 16.9 |
| 2022 | 19.1 | 17.0 | 20.0 | 15.8 |
| 2023 | 23.1 | — | 20.0 | 16.9 |
| 2024 | 23.2 | 17.9 | 20.0 | 18.5 |
| 2026 | 23.8 | 17.8 | 20.0 | 18.8 |
Years are school years ending in the year shown. The most points possible in each part are in parentheses. The state's files for 2018-19 and 2022-23 give high schools no growth points; those years scored improvement among groups of students instead. Not shown are English learners, where Shadow Ridge was not graded in 2016-17 or 2017-18, so it was scored out of 90 points those years, and has earned 9 or 10 points since; and bonus points, 1.5 to 7.5 a year.
Proficiency is where Shadow Ridge stands apart. Its 23.8 of 30 points this year ranks 33rd among Arizona high schools, about 8 points above the state's median school and nearly 4 above the middle of Dysart's high schools. It has been above both every graded year. The biggest jump came in 2022-23, when its proficiency points rose 4.0 while the state's median rose 1.5.
- Shadow Ridge
- Dysart median
- Arizona median
Note: Proficiency is 30% of a high school's grade. The Dysart median is the middle of its four high schools; the Arizona median is for traditional high schools. Source: Arizona State Board of Education
Show the data
| year | Shadow Ridge | Dysart median | Arizona median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 15.6 | 14.4 | 14.9 |
| 2017-18 | 15.7 | 13.9 | 13.7 |
| 2018-19 | 18.0 | 16.5 | 14.3 |
| 2021-22 | 19.1 | 18.2 | 14.8 |
| 2022-23 | 23.1 | 19.4 | 16.3 |
| 2023-24 | 23.2 | 19.2 | 15.9 |
| 2025-26 | 23.8 | 20.1 | 15.6 |
Growth is not where it stands out. Shadow Ridge's growth points have been within about a point of the state's median every graded year, and this year they were just below the middle of Dysart's high schools.
- Shadow Ridge
- Dysart median
- Arizona median
Note: Growth is 20% of a high school's grade. The state's files have no high school growth points for 2018-19 or 2022-23. The Dysart median is the middle of its four high schools; the Arizona median is for traditional high schools. Source: Arizona State Board of Education
Show the data
| year | Shadow Ridge | Dysart median | Arizona median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 12.9 | 13.5 | 13.2 |
| 2017-18 | 13.4 | 13.1 | 14.0 |
| 2021-22 | 17.0 | 16.8 | 16.2 |
| 2023-24 | 17.9 | 17.4 | 17.3 |
| 2025-26 | 17.8 | 18.3 | 17.1 |
College and career readiness
Shadow Ridge's 18.8 of 20 readiness points this year were the most among Dysart's high schools, and just above the state's median of 18.7.
The state scores readiness from what a school's seniors have done before graduating. School districts' explanations of the measure list things like passing college-level courses or exams, earning industry credentials and meeting test benchmarks.
Across Dysart, readiness is the weak spot. The middle of the district's four high schools has trailed the state's median every graded year, though the gap has narrowed, from 3.8 points in 2016-17 to 0.6 this year. Shadow Ridge was above the state's median in three of those seven years.
- Shadow Ridge
- Dysart median
- Arizona median
Note: Readiness is 20% of a high school's grade. The Dysart median is the middle of its four high schools; the Arizona median is for traditional high schools. Source: Arizona State Board of Education
Show the data
| year | Shadow Ridge | Dysart median | Arizona median |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 12.8 | 12.9 | 16.7 |
| 2017-18 | 17.1 | 15.4 | 16.4 |
| 2018-19 | 16.9 | 16.2 | 17.4 |
| 2021-22 | 15.8 | 14.7 | 16.1 |
| 2022-23 | 16.9 | 16.1 | 17.1 |
| 2023-24 | 18.5 | 17.0 | 18.1 |
| 2025-26 | 18.8 | 18.1 | 18.7 |
A higher curve
Shadow Ridge's scores rose as grades rose across Arizona. The state's median high school scored 71.2% in 2016-17 and 83.4% this year. About one in five Arizona high schools earned an A in 2016-17; this year, 128 of 230 did.
Part of that is in how the grade is built. Since 2022-23, the state has split the 20 graduation points into 10 for a school's graduation rate and 10 for improving it. This year, 85% of high schools earned all 10 rate points and 76% earned all 10 improvement points. Dysart's four high schools have earned all 20 every year since the split.
Bonus points add more. Shadow Ridge's 7 bonus points this year are the difference between 90.3% and 97.3%. The Arizona Auditor General reported in June that bonus points were "potentially inflating" grades statewide, and the State Board of Education has voted to drop them.
Shadow Ridge has also moved up against other schools. It ranked 146th in Arizona in 2016-17 and 29th this year.
At the school
Principal Tony Vining and Shadow Ridge's ninth grade English teachers presented their work to the Governing Board on Oct. 26, 2026. The team, teachers Engwall, Harter, Rosengren, Stapleton and Waldon, said it serves regular, honors, English learner and special education students under one plan, with the same learning targets and different supports.
The teachers said students' mastery on the team's unit tests rose from 69% on the first to 71% on the second this fall. Their slides said the school's ACT Aspire results had been "consistently higher than the District and State average by 10% or more" from 2024 to 2026, and that its English and reading results grew 9% and 13% from 2025 to 2026.
The team described regrouping students across its classrooms by what they have mastered, with tutoring and reteaching for some and extension projects for others. A co-teacher in the team's co-taught class told the board, "Our rule is every kid learns at grade level."
Shadow Ridge also earned a B in 2013-14, under the state's earlier grading formula. That formula used a different scale, so its scores do not compare with the current ones.