# Higley Unified School District

The Higley Unified School District #60 or HUSD #60, is a school district in Gilbert, Arizona. The school district serves 13,500 students across 16 schools in portions of Gilbert, Mesa and Queen Creek. It is one of Arizona's fastest growing school districts. Continued modest growth is expected despite the downturn in the economy during the 2000s. In August 2013, the district opened two new middle schools and all other elementary schools that hosted grades K-8 went down to K-6.

## About HUSD

Higley Unified School District is a rapidly growing district in the state of Arizona. It operates 2 preschools, 9 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools and one virtual academy.
Higley is an open-enrollment district, which permits parents to choose a school, regardless of the individual school boundaries. The district also allows un-housed children to register for school.
The District has two administrative sites. The primary administration building is located north of Higley High School and the district's transportation center is located south of Williams Field High School.
All high schools and middle schools utilize a resource officer to help protect the school environment from disruptions and crimes.

### Curriculum

All preschool classes are split into 2 classes per day, depending on the school and the time the classes start. Higley offers full day kindergarten classes at its schools. Higley's comprehensive curriculum is aligned with the Arizona Academic Standards and the new Common Core Standards. The District primarily focuses on the core standards, which are Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Higley also offers free full day kindergarten classes, technological instructions, library media services, K-8 Art, Music, and Physical Education, Character Education, and Before and After School Enrichment Programs. In Middle School, Higley offers choir, band, strings, applied technology, Spanish, and many skills for success. Along with its academic programs, Higley provides students athletic programs to encourage children to be actively fit while focusing on academics. The Middle Schools also offer early development childhood (preschool) services. Higley Unified School often tries new academic programs and standards not yet passed or effective in the state to allow students to get used to the new curriculum and align it in the future.

## History

The Higley district was incorporated in 1909 with a territory far larger than its current size, with most of the district land transferred to other Valley school districts over the years. For instance, the Queen Creek Unified School District was carved out of the Higley district in 1947. Higley Elementary School was the only school in the district for the next 53 years. The district's high school students attended Gilbert Public Schools' high schools. As the Valley expanded, Larry Likes, then-superintendent of the district, guided it through an era of suburban expansion engulfing local farmland. The growth of the 1990s and 2000s caught up to the district's 24-square-mile (62 km$^2$) service area. In 1999, the district legally unified; in 2000, it opened Coronado Elementary School, its first new school in decades; in 2001, Higley High School opened its doors; four years later, Gateway Pointe Elementary School debuted, then a year later, Cortina Elementary School opened; another year later, further growth induced the opening of Williams Field High School. In the spring of 2008, Higley became the first district in Arizona to receive K-12 accreditation by the AdvancED/North Central Accreditation Team. Graduating Higley seniors were offered $2.7 million in academic and athletic scholarships.
In early 2011, Higley had more than 10,000 students in the district.
The district opened two middle schools (Cooley Middle School and Sossaman Middle School) to better prepare 7th and 8th grade students for high school and to alleviate projected capacity issues at its elementary schools.

### District Website

The Higley Unified School District website is https://www.husd.org/.
Users can access the latest news, events, information pertaining to schools, enrollment, career opportunities, and more.

### Statistics and Demographics (2024-2025)

* Student Enrollment: 13,500
* Employees: 1,600
* Graduation Rate: 96%
* Rated A by the Arizona Department of Education

### Higley Center for the Performing Arts

The District built the HCPA and opened in spring of 2006. The HCPA has a large concert hall, seating 1,235 people and a little theatre, able to sit 186 people. Over 500 productions are yearly shown in the building. It is located adjacent to the Higley High School, and schools throughout the district use it to show major assemblies or guest speakers.

### Transportation

Transportation of students from the various schools throughout the district is provided by the District's transportation crew. They currently have 63 School Buses and 53 Support Vehicles. The district mandates that all students taking a field trip must be approved by parents. The district also provides transportation for students to and from school. Any student who lives within one mile from the school they go to, although, does not have transportation, and will have to transport themselves to and from school. To better balance all the school bus use to transport students to and from school, the district changed the school bell times to help align the high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools so as to not cause traffic.

## Schools
### Preschools

| Preschools | Mascot | Address | Director (2024-2025) | Assistant Director (2024-2025) | Established |
| Cooley Early Childhood Development Center (Home) | Cougars | 1100 S. Recker Rd. Gilbert, AZ, 85296 | Amy Kochis | Marsha Hofstetter | 2013 |
| Sossaman Early Childhood Development Center (Home) | Spartans | 18655 E. Jacaranda Blvd. Queen Creek, AZ, 85142 | Amy Kochis | Marsha Hofstetter | 2013 |

### Elementary schools (grades K-6)

| Elementary Schools | Mascot | Address | Principal (2024-2025) | Assistant Principal (2024-2025) | Established |
| Bridges Elementary (Home) | Bobcats | 5205 S. Soboba St., Gilbert, AZ | Jeff Beickel | Elizabeth Melter | 2016 |
| Centennial Elementary (Home) | Cardinals | 3507 S. Ranch House Pkwy, Gilbert, AZ 85297 | Amanda Day | Eric Rogers | 2009 |
| Chaparral Elementary (Home) | Sharks | 338 E. Frye Rd. Gilbert, AZ 85295 | Kristine Hanson | Terry Peper | 2007 |
| Coronado Elementary (Home) | Coyotes | 4333 S. De Anza Blvd. Gilbert, AZ 85297 | Brian Griggs | Alice Sortini | 2000 |
| Cortina Elementary (Home) | Tigers | 19680 S. 188th St. Queen Creek, AZ 85242 | Kelly Papke | Chrissy DeBono | 2006 |
| Gateway Pointe Elementary (Home) | Gators | 2069 S. De La Torre Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85295 | Kaity Harris | Angie Walker | 2005 |
| Higley Traditional Academy (Home) | Hawks | 3391 E. Vest Ave. Gilbert, AZ 85295 | Caryn Bacon | Mandy Bachali | 1909 |
| Power Ranch (Home) | Panthers | 351 S. Ranch House Pkwy. Gilbert, AZ 85297 | Michelle McNabb | Nicole McCullough | 2003 |
| San Tan (Home) | Scorpions | 3443 E. Calistoga Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85297 | Ray Mercado | Lyndsey Reeves | 2001 |

### Middle schools (grades 7-8)

| Middle Schools | Mascot | Address | Principal (2024-2025) | Assistant Principal (2024-2025) | Established |
| Cooley Middle School (Home) | Cougars | 1100 S. Recker Rd. Gilbert, AZ, 85296 | Chad Cantrell | Luiza Schwartz | 2013 |
| Sossaman Middle School (Home) | Spartans | 18655 E. Jacaranda Blvd. Queen Creek, AZ, 85142 | Bruce Potts | Brandon Keeling | 2013 |

### High schools (grades 9-12)

| High Schools | Mascot | Address | Principal (2024-2025) | Assistant Principals (2024-2025) | Established |
| Higley High School (Home) | Knights | 4068 E. Pecos Rd. Gilbert, AZ 85295 | Alan Fields | Aaron Dille, Brian Banach, Pamela Simmons, Sean Casey | 2001 |
| Williams Field High School (Home) | Black Hawks | 2076 S. Higley Rd. Gilbert, AZ 85295 | John Dolan | Darrell Stangle, Heather Wallace, Shana Lacerenza, Brent Brandenburg | 2007 |

### Virtual academy (grades K-12)

| Virtual Schools | Mascot | Principal (2024-2025) | Established |
| Higley Virtual Academy (Home) | Vipers | Tommie Byrd | 2020 |

## Awards

* Rated A by the Arizona Department of Education (2023)
* Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Association of School Business Officials International (2023)
* Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers of the United States (2023)