Arizona School Enrollment Glossary (60 Terms)

Arizona schools use a vocabulary of their own, and much of it comes straight from state law. This page defines the 60 terms families meet most often while enrolling, in alphabetical order, with a link to the statute or agency behind each one. Other pages on this site link here the first time they use a term.

How to use this page

Numbers sort first, then letters. Each heading is the term as schools use it; the definition starts with what it means and then says where the rule comes from. Where a figure appears (an age, a dollar amount, a percentage) it is dated, because Arizona figures change every July.

Terms

504 plan

A written plan of accommodations for a student with a disability that limits a major life activity, under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which bars disability discrimination in any program receiving federal funds. A 504 plan is lighter than an IEP and does not require special education eligibility. See IEP and 504 plans when you move.

A-F letter grades

Arizona's state accountability system, which assigns every public school (district and charter) a letter grade from A to F each year under A.R.S. 15-241. Grades are built from proficiency, growth, English learner progress and, depending on grade span, readiness, graduation and college-and-career indicators. See Arizona school letter grades.

AASA

Arizona's Academic Standards Assessment, the statewide test in English language arts and mathematics for all public school students in grades 3 through 8, given each spring. Its results feed the proficiency and growth parts of the A-F letter grades.

ADE

The Arizona Department of Education, the state agency that administers public school funding, assessments, accountability, English learner programs, the ESA program and school report cards. Its site is azed.gov.

ADHS

The Arizona Department of Health Services, whose Bureau of Immunization Services sets the documentary standards for school immunization records and publishes the K-12 requirements and exemption forms.

AIA

The Arizona Interscholastic Association, the nonprofit that governs high school sports and activities for member schools. Its transfer rule (Bylaw 15.10) applies after a student enrolls and attends a class at a new school and requires both schools to complete a Student Transfer Form (Form 550); hardship exceptions include a bona fide family move within Arizona.

Alternative school

A public school designated by the State Board of Education to serve students at risk of not graduating; it is graded on a separate A-F model in which the college-and-career indicator counts 35 percent instead of 20 percent (as of October 2026).

AOI

Arizona Online Instruction, the state's name for full-time and part-time online public schooling under A.R.S. 15-808. An online school is a district or charter school approved by the State Board or its charter authorizer; pupils must live in Arizona, and the school keeps a daily log of each pupil's time on academic tasks. See Online schools.

AP

Advanced Placement, the College Board program that lets high school students take college-level courses and exams; qualifying exam scores can earn college credit and placement. AP participation is one of the activities counted in Arizona's high school CCRI.

Attendance boundary

The geographic area assigned to a district school, called the attendance area in A.R.S. 15-816. A pupil whose residence is inside it is a resident pupil of that school, with a right to enroll there; attending any other school means using open enrollment.

AzELLA

The Arizona English Language Learner Assessment, the state test of English proficiency. A student flagged by the Home Language Survey takes the AzELLA placement screener; students in an English learner program retake it each spring until they score proficient, then are monitored for two years. See English learners.

Boarding school

A school where students live on campus during the term. Seven-day (full) boarding means students stay through weekends; five-day boarding means they go home on weekends; most boarding schools also enroll day students who commute. See Boarding schools in Arizona.

Capacity

The number of students a district school can take, which it must post on its website and update at least every twelve weeks under A.R.S. 15-816.01. Schools accept open-enrollment pupils throughout the year as capacity allows and keep a wait list when it is full.

CCRI

The College and Career Readiness Indicator, the part of a high school's A-F letter grade that gives points for graduating seniors who complete activities such as AP testing, dual enrollment, the FAFSA, CTE courses and workplace certifications. It counts 20 percent of a traditional high school's grade and needs at least 10 students to be scored (as of October 2026).

Certificate of educational convenience

A certificate issued by a county school superintendent under A.R.S. 15-825 that lets a pupil attend a school district other than the one of residence; a district must admit a pupil who presents one (A.R.S. 15-824).

A charter holder is the organization that holds a charter to run a public charter school; a sponsor is the body that granted it. The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools sponsors most charters; the State Board of Education and some district boards can also sponsor. Admission and lottery rules are in A.R.S. 15-184.

Charter school

A public school run by a charter holder under a contract with a sponsor. It cannot charge tuition to Arizona residents (A.R.S. 15-185), must enroll all eligible pupils who apply on time unless it is over capacity, and must then select by an equitable process such as a lottery (A.R.S. 15-184). See Charter schools.

Civics test

A graduation requirement in State Board rule R7-2-302: beginning with the class of 2026, students must answer at least 70 of 100 questions correctly on a test drawn from the naturalization civics test.

ClassWallet

The online payment platform the Arizona Department of Education uses to hold and disburse ESA funds; families pay vendors and schools or request reimbursement through it. ADE links its ClassWallet information from the ESA parent handbook page.

Compulsory attendance

Arizona's requirement that every child between the ages of six and sixteen attend school for the full time school is in session (A.R.S. 15-802). The person who has custody of the child chooses a public, private or charter school, a homeschool or an ESA.

Conditional attendance

The immunization rule that lets a pupil attend while a vaccine series is still in progress: under A.R.S. 15-872 a pupil who has received at least one dose of each required vaccine and has a schedule to finish may be admitted. See Immunization requirements.

Credit

The unit of high school coursework; State Board rule R7-2-302 sets 22 credits as the statewide minimum for graduation and requires schools to let a student demonstrate competency in place of classroom time. Districts and charters may require more.

CTE

Career and Technical Education: courses in trades, health, business, technology and other career fields. Many Arizona high schools belong to a career technical education district (CTED), a separate district formed under A.R.S. 15-391 that offers CTE courses, often at a central campus.

Dual enrollment

A course that counts for both high school and community college credit under A.R.S. 15-1821.01, taught at the high school or college under an agreement between the district and the community college. Only high school freshmen through seniors may enroll for college credit.

ECAP

The Arizona Education and Career Action Plan, which State Board rule R7-2-302.05 requires every public school student in grades 9 through 12 to complete before graduation and update at least yearly, covering academic, career, postsecondary and extracurricular goals.

ELL

An English language learner (the statute says "English learner"): a child who does not speak English, or whose native language is not English, and who cannot yet do ordinary classroom work in English (A.R.S. 15-751). English learners are educated through SEI until they test proficient.

ESA

An Empowerment Scholarship Account: a state-funded account a parent uses to pay for private school tuition, curricula, tutoring and other approved expenses instead of public school. Since the 2022-23 school year any Arizona resident eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 qualifies (A.R.S. 15-2401.01); the parent agrees not to enroll the student in a district or charter school (A.R.S. 15-2402); funds arrive quarterly through ClassWallet. See ESA.

FACTS, SSS and Clarity

The three services private schools most often use to collect a family's financial information for need-based aid. FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment (a Nelnet company) and Clarity each produce an assessment the school uses to decide an award; School and Student Services (SSS) is now sold by VenturEd Solutions as Ravenna Financial Aid, though schools still call its form the Parents' Financial Statement. See Financial aid.

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the federal law that gives parents (and students 18 or older) the right to inspect education records, request corrections and control most disclosures. It lets a school send records to another school where the student seeks to enroll without consent.

Graduation requirements

The State Board minimum of 22 credits (four English, four mathematics, three science, three social studies, one arts or CTE, seven electives) plus the civics test, under rule R7-2-302. See High school.

Guardianship

A court order under A.R.S. 14-5204 giving an adult the powers of a custodial parent over a minor's support, care and education (A.R.S. 14-5209). A court can also appoint a temporary guardian for up to six months (A.R.S. 14-5207). See Relatives and guardians.

Home Language Survey

The three-question state form every family completes at enrollment asking which language is used at home, which the student uses most, and which the student first learned. A non-English answer leads to the AzELLA placement test.

Homeschool affidavit

The affidavit of intent that the person with custody of a homeschooled child files with the county school superintendent under A.R.S. 15-802, stating the child is being taught at home. See Homeschool.

IB

The International Baccalaureate, a nonprofit foundation whose Diploma Programme is a pre-university curriculum taken in the last two years of high school at authorized IB World Schools. Some Arizona public and private high schools offer it; IB exam participation counts in the CCRI.

IEP

An Individualized Education Program, the written plan for a child with a disability under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. When a child with an IEP moves to Arizona from another state, the new school must provide comparable services until it evaluates the child and writes a new IEP. See IEP and 504 plans.

Kindergarten cutoff

A child may start kindergarten if they turn five before September 1 of that school year, and first grade if they turn six before September 1 (A.R.S. 15-821). A governing board may admit a younger child if it finds that is in the child's best interest, provided the child reaches the age by January 1. See Kindergarten.

Legal custody

For school residency, custody held by the natural or adoptive parents the pupil lives with, or custody granted by a court to the person the pupil lives with (A.R.S. 15-824). A pupil's residence for enrollment is the residence of the person with legal custody.

Lottery

The equitable selection process a district school or charter school must use when more eligible pupils apply than it has room for (A.R.S. 15-816.01 and 15-184). Siblings of selected pupils get preference.

McKinney-Vento Act

The federal law that guarantees children and youth who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence (including families sharing housing, or living in motels, hotels or shelters) immediate enrollment even without records, the choice to stay in their school of origin, and a district liaison. See Between homes.

Microschool

A very small school, often a handful to a few dozen students, run in a home, business or community space, sometimes as part of a network. Arizona statute does not define the term; microschools operate as private schools, homeschool groups or, in some cases, as programs of an online charter, so ask which legal form a given microschool takes.

Move On When Reading

Arizona's third-grade reading law (A.R.S. 15-701): a pupil who does not show sufficient reading skills on the state test is not promoted from third grade unless an exception applies, such as fewer than three years of English instruction, a special education evaluation or demonstrated progress. See Elementary and middle school.

NAIS

The National Association of Independent Schools, a nonprofit membership association for independent (private, nonprofit) schools. Its Principles of Good Practice set the norms most independent schools follow for admission and need-based financial aid.

Nonresident pupil

A pupil who lives in Arizona but outside the district where they are enrolled or seeking enrollment (A.R.S. 15-816). Nonresident pupils enroll through open enrollment and may have to arrange their own transportation.

Open enrollment

The policy every Arizona district must adopt, without charging tuition, that lets pupils attend a school outside their attendance area or outside their home district (A.R.S. 15-816.01). Schools post capacity, give priority to residents, returning pupils and siblings, and use a lottery when oversubscribed. See District public schools.

Personal belief exemption

The exemption from school immunization requirements a parent can claim under A.R.S. 15-873 by signing a statement, after receiving information from the health department, that they do not consent due to personal beliefs. Exempt pupils must stay home during an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease. See Immunization requirements.

Power of attorney for a minor

A document under A.R.S. 14-5104 by which a parent delegates care and custody powers over a child to another adult for not more than six months, except the power to consent to marriage or adoption. Many schools accept it for enrollment; see Relatives and guardians.

Private school

A nonpublic school that sets its own admission, tuition and calendar. Under A.R.S. 15-802 the person with custody of a child attending a private school files an affidavit of intent with the county school superintendent; ask the school how it handles this. See Private schools.

Report card

The Arizona Department of Education's public profile of each school and district at azreportcards.azed.gov, showing the letter grade, the indicators behind it, test results and other data. You can compare up to three schools or districts side by side.

Residency affidavit

The Affidavit of Shared Residence that a parent who has no residency document in their own name submits under ADE's residency guidelines: a notarized statement from the Arizona resident the family lives with, plus one of that person's documents. See Proof of residency.

Resident school

The district school whose attendance area contains the pupil's home (A.R.S. 15-816). A resident pupil has the right to enroll there; districts must give resident pupils priority over open-enrollment applicants.

School district

A local public school system governed by an elected governing board. Arizona has common (elementary) school districts, high school districts and unified districts that cover both, which is why one address can sit in two districts.

School of origin

Under the McKinney-Vento Act, the school a child attended when permanently housed or the school where the child was last enrolled. A child who loses housing may stay in the school of origin for the duration, with transportation on request.

SEI

Structured English Immersion (the statute also says sheltered English immersion): the required program for English learners in Arizona public schools, in which nearly all instruction is in English with curriculum designed for learners (A.R.S. 15-751 and 15-752). Districts choose among State Board-approved SEI models.

STO

A school tuition organization: a nonprofit certified by the Arizona Department of Revenue that collects donations under the state's tax credits (A.R.S. 43-1089 and 43-1089.03) and awards private school scholarships. See Tax-credit scholarships.

Student growth percentile

The measure behind the growth indicator in the A-F letter grades: each student's test score is compared with students statewide who scored similarly the prior year. Percentiles 1 to 33 count as low growth, 34 to 66 average and 67 to 99 high (as of October 2026).

Switcher scholarship

A private school scholarship funded by the second individual tax credit (A.R.S. 43-1089.03). Under A.R.S. 43-1603 these funds go mainly to students who attended a public school for at least 90 days before transferring, enter kindergarten, moved to Arizona from another state, were homeschooled, left an ESA, or are military dependents. For tax year 2026 the credit is $784 single or $1,561 joint.

TABS

The Association of Boarding Schools, a membership association of boarding schools that runs a school finder and publishes guidance for families considering boarding.

Title I

Part A of Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which sends money to schools with high numbers of children from low-income families so that all children have a fair, equitable and high-quality education. A "Title I school" receives these funds.

Truancy

Under A.R.S. 15-803 a child aged six to sixteen is truant after an unexcused absence of at least one class period, habitually truant after five truant days in a school year, and absences above ten percent of required days may be treated as excessive.

Withdrawal form

The form the old school completes when a student leaves, confirming the last day attended, grades to date and any outstanding items. The new school then requests the full record directly from the old school within ten school days of enrolling a transfer pupil (A.R.S. 15-828). See School records and transcripts.

Sources and where to verify

Frequently asked questions

Where do these rules come from?

Most come from Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, which the Legislature changes a little every session, and from rules the State Board of Education adopts under it. Federal laws (IDEA, Section 504, FERPA, McKinney-Vento, Title I) sit on top for every public school.

Do charter schools use the same terms?

Yes, with a few differences. Charters are public schools, so letter grades, AASA, AzELLA, IEPs and immunization rules apply to them, but they have no attendance boundaries and enroll by application and lottery rather than open enrollment.

Do private schools use the same terms?

Only some. Private schools are not graded A-F, do not give the AASA, and set their own admission and aid processes using terms such as FACTS, SSS and Clarity, full pay and tuition remission; see Financial aid. Immunization and compulsory attendance law still apply to them.

What is the difference between an ESA and an STO scholarship?

An ESA is a state-funded account the parent controls through ClassWallet; an STO scholarship is a grant from a nonprofit funded by donors' tax credits and paid to the school. See Paying for private school for how they combine.

Why does the same address belong to two school districts?

Arizona has separate elementary (common) and high school districts in many areas, alongside unified districts that cover both. Your address can be in one elementary district and one high school district at the same time.

What should I do if a school uses a term that is not here?

Ask the registrar to spell it out; most are abbreviations of a form or program name. If it is one other families will meet, tell us through the contact page and we will add it.

Are these definitions legal advice?

No. They are plain-English summaries with links to the statute or agency so you can read the original. For a decision that depends on the law, such as guardianship, talk to a lawyer or a legal aid office.

Last reviewed October 11, 2026. Figures change; the sources above are where to check.