Phoenix Metro Schools Guide for New Families (2026)

The Phoenix metro area has more school districts, charter schools and private schools than anywhere else in Arizona, and they overlap. Your address assigns you to one district (or two, where an elementary district and a union high school district share the same ground), and that district's boundary school must take your child. Everything else, from a different district school to a charter or private school, is a choice you apply for.

How the Valley's districts overlap

Most suburban districts are "unified" and run kindergarten through grade 12 in one system: Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Deer Valley, Peoria, Dysart, Queen Creek, Higley and Cave Creek among them. Older parts of Phoenix, Tempe and Glendale work differently. An elementary district (for example Kyrene, Tempe Elementary, Washington or Phoenix Elementary) covers preschool through grade 8, and a separate union high school district (Phoenix Union, Tempe Union, Glendale Union or Agua Fria) covers grades 9 to 12 for the same neighborhoods. If you live in one of those areas you will enroll in two districts over your child's school years, each with its own registration system and open enrollment window.

Every district uses an attendance boundary map to assign a home school. Every district also runs open enrollment under A.R.S. § 15-816.01, which means you can apply to any other school in that district or in a neighboring district when it has space. Several districts publish capacity lists showing which grades at which schools are open.

Main public school districts

Listed alphabetically. Grade ranges come from each district's site as of October 2026; a few districts do not state a range and are described by their schools instead.

District	Grades served	Enrollment page	Boundary map or school locator
Agua Fria Union High School District (Avondale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Buckeye)	High school	Registration	District boundaries, which links an address-based school locator
Cave Creek Unified School District No. 93	Preschool through high school (five elementary schools, a middle school and Cactus Shadows High)	Enroll	Boundary maps
Chandler Unified School District	Preschool through grade 12	Enroll	Boundary maps, with an interactive address lookup
Deer Valley Unified School District (north Phoenix, Glendale, Anthem)	Pre-K through grade 12, 41 schools	Register for school	School boundary maps, interactive by address
Dysart Unified School District (Surprise, El Mirage)	Preschool through grade 12, 26 schools	Enroll	School finder linked from the enrollment page (dysart.org/schoolfinder)
Gilbert Public Schools	Preschool, K-6, 7-8 and 9-12	Enroll	School finder and boundary maps
Glendale Union High School District	High school (ten high schools)	Registration	Boundary map
Higley Unified School District (Gilbert, Queen Creek)	Pre-K through grade 12	Enrollment	School boundaries
Kyrene School District (Ahwatukee, parts of Tempe and Chandler)	Pre-K through grade 8	Enrollment and registration	Maps, locations and boundaries
Mesa Public Schools	Preschool through grade 12	Enroll	School locator linked from the enrollment page
Paradise Valley Unified School District (northeast Phoenix, Scottsdale)	Preschool through grade 12	Enroll	Interactive boundary map on the enrollment page
Peoria Unified School District (Peoria, Glendale)	Preschool through grade 12 (34 elementary and 7 high schools)	Enrollment information	No locator published; the enrollment page links school directories, or call 623-486-6000
Phoenix Elementary School District No. 1 (central Phoenix)	Preschool through grade 8	Enroll in our schools	Boundary map
Phoenix Union High School District	Grades 9-12	Enroll	No boundary lookup; the district says you may enroll at any PXU school if space is available
Queen Creek Unified School District	Preschool through high school, 15 schools	Enrollment	School site locator
Scottsdale Unified School District No. 48	Pre-K through grade 12	Enrollment	School locator and district map
Tempe Elementary School District	Preschool through grade 8, 21 schools	Enroll	Boundaries
Tempe Union High School District (Tempe, Ahwatukee, parts of Chandler)	High school (six high schools)	Enrollment	Attendance boundaries
Washington Elementary School District (north-central Phoenix, east Glendale)	Pre-K through grade 8, 33 schools	Registration	Maps and school locator

Other Valley districts not in this table include Alhambra, Avondale, Buckeye, Cartwright, Fowler, Glendale Elementary, Isaac, Laveen, Litchfield, Madison, Murphy, Osborn, Pendergast, Roosevelt, Tolleson, Wilson and the Tolleson Union and Buckeye Union high school districts. Find any of them on AZ School Report Cards.

Charter schools in the Valley

Charter schools are public and free, have no attendance boundaries, and hold a lottery when applications exceed seats. Many of the state's largest networks are based here. Listed alphabetically; each link goes to the network's own site.

Academies of Math and Science: Title I STEM-focused network with Valley campuses including Avondale, Camelback, Desert Sky, Flower, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria Advanced, Power (east Mesa) and South Mountain.
American Leadership Academy: Pre-K to 12 campuses in Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek, San Tan Valley, Buckeye, Anthem, Vistancia and elsewhere, plus a virtual school.
Arizona Autism Charter Schools: K-12 schools for students on the autism spectrum, with campuses in central Phoenix, Mesa and Peoria and an online program.
Arizona School for the Arts: performing-arts-focused school in downtown Phoenix with lower and upper divisions.
BASIS Charter Schools: primary and upper campuses in Ahwatukee, Chandler, Goodyear, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix and Scottsdale; several split K-4 or K-5 primary schools from a 5-12 or 6-12 upper school.
EDUPRIZE Schools: K-8 campuses in Gilbert and San Tan Valley, and EDUPRIZE Online for K-12.
Great Hearts Academies: classical K-12 academies in Phoenix (Anthem, Glendale, North Phoenix, Maryvale, Lincoln, Cicero, Arete, Veritas, Trivium), Scottsdale and Chandler.
Heritage Academy: campuses in Mesa (7-12), Laveen (6-12), Maricopa (K-12) and Gateway and Pinnacle (K-8 and 9-12).
Leading Edge Academy: K-8 campuses in east Mesa, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Maricopa, a 9-12 early college in Gilbert, and an online academy.
Legacy Traditional Schools: K-8 "traditional" model network with campuses across the Valley and beyond.
Self Development Academy: K-8 campuses in Phoenix and Mesa, expanding to K-12.
Sonoran Schools: STEM-focused K-12 campuses in Chandler (Paragon) and Phoenix (Sonoran Science Academy).
Tempe Preparatory Academy: grades 6-12 classical school in Tempe; 6th-grade lottery applications open October 1 to December 15 each year.

Hundreds of smaller charters exist. The State Board for Charter Schools directory is the complete list, and AZ School Report Cards shows each school's letter grade.

Private schools

The Valley has the state's largest concentration of private schools: Catholic and other Christian schools, a few independent (non-religious) schools, and many smaller faith-based and Montessori schools. Ten notable ones, alphabetically. Tuition is on each school's site; Arizona's ESA program and tax-credit scholarships can offset it (see Paying for private school).

Bourgade Catholic High School (Phoenix): high school, Catholic.
Brophy College Preparatory (Phoenix): grades 9-12, Jesuit Catholic, boys.
Northwest Christian School (Phoenix): preschool through grade 12, non-denominational Christian.
Notre Dame Preparatory (Scottsdale): grades 9-12, Catholic, co-ed.
Phoenix Country Day School (Paradise Valley): Pre-K through grade 12, independent, non-sectarian.
Rancho Solano Preparatory School (Scottsdale): Pre-K through grade 12, independent, IB Diploma Programme, boarding available for grades 6-12.
Saint Mary's Catholic High School (Phoenix): high school, Catholic, Arizona's oldest Catholic high school.
Scottsdale Christian Academy (Phoenix): preschool through grade 12, Christian.
Seton Catholic Preparatory (Chandler): high school, Catholic.
Xavier College Preparatory (Phoenix): grades 9-12, Catholic, girls.

For the full picture, including application timelines and how admissions work, see Private schools in Arizona.

Online options

Statewide online public schools are free to Arizona residents and enroll from anywhere in the Valley: Arizona Virtual Academy (K-12), Arizona Connections Academy (K-12), Primavera Online School (K-12, based in Chandler) and ASU Prep Digital (K-12, tuition-free for Arizona residents). Many districts also run their own online schools, including Dysart's iSchool, Gilbert's GPS Global Academy, Scottsdale Online Learning, Tempe Union Online and Phoenix Union's Phoenix Digital Academy, and several charter networks above have virtual programs. See Online schools in Arizona.

Practical notes

School starts early. Chandler Unified's first day was July 15, 2026; Kyrene, Higley, Tempe Elementary and Queen Creek started the following week, and Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix Union, Phoenix Elementary, Peoria and Deer Valley in the first week of August (as of July 2026, per KTAR). Dysart's site lists August 6. If you arrive in mid-August, school has already been running for weeks; enroll anyway, mid-year enrollment is routine.
Heat. Daytime highs run above 100°F from June into September. Schools keep recess and PE indoors on extreme days; carry water on any walk to school.
Buses. District buses serve students inside the boundary school's transport zone. If you open enroll, you will almost always drive. Deer Valley and Amphitheater, for example, state that families choosing a non-home school are responsible for transportation.
Commute. The Valley is large and freeway-dependent. A school that looks close on a map may be 40 minutes away at 7:30 a.m. Check the drive at school start time before you commit to an open-enrollment school.
Two districts, two registrations. In Phoenix, Tempe and Glendale elementary-district areas, plan on a separate registration with the high school district when your child reaches grade 9.

How to find your assigned school

Find your district. Enter your address on AZ School Report Cards or check the county assessor's record for your home; in the overlapped areas note both the elementary and the high school district.
Open the district's boundary map or locator from the table above and enter your street address. Scottsdale, Deer Valley, Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek and Washington all have address-based tools; others publish PDF maps.
Note the assigned elementary, middle and high school. Those schools must take a resident child.
If you want a different school, open the district's open enrollment page (linked from each enrollment page), check its capacity list, and apply. Do this before registering, because most districts require an approved open-enrollment application first.
Register online through the district's portal (Infinite Campus, ParentVUE or PowerSchool, depending on the district), then bring the documents in the enrollment checklist to the school office.

Sources and where to verify

A.R.S. § 15-816.01, Open enrollment policies
AZ School Report Cards, Arizona Department of Education
Arizona State Board for Charter Schools
KTAR, East Valley students start heading back to class for 2026-27 school year (July 2026)
District enrollment and boundary pages linked in the table above, each checked October 2026.
Charter network and private school sites linked above, each checked October 2026.

Represent a school listed on this page? You can keep your own facts current: see how schools update their listing, by web form, by a scoped API key, or by connecting your AI assistant to this site's MCP server. Corrections by email are welcome too. Every change is logged and shown with its date, as the editorial policy explains.

Frequently asked questions

Which Phoenix district am I in?

The one whose boundary contains your address. Enter the address on AZ School Report Cards or on the district locator tools linked above. In central Phoenix, Tempe and Glendale you are in two districts: an elementary district and a union high school district.

Can my child go to a school in a different district?

Yes, through open enrollment, if that school has space in that grade. Apply on the district's open enrollment page before registering, and plan to provide transportation.

When does school start in Phoenix?

Mid-July to the first week of August, depending on the district. Chandler started July 15 in 2026; Mesa, Scottsdale and Phoenix Union started the first week of August.

Are charter schools in Phoenix free?

Yes. They are public schools. Some charge for optional extras such as preschool, uniforms or activities, but not for tuition.

Do Phoenix charter schools have waiting lists?

Many of the well-known networks do, especially at entry grades. Apply early, and ask where your child's grade stands on the list; mid-year openings happen as families move.

How do I find a private school near me?

Start with the list above and the private schools guide. Each school's site has its admissions timeline. There is no state directory of private schools.

Does the heat affect enrollment timing?

No, but it affects the school day. Most districts start in July partly so that fall break and winter break land where they do; indoor recess on extreme-heat days is standard.

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