Best High Schools in Zip Code 85344

ZIP code 85344 has two high schools in Parker Unified School District, both serving grades 9–12: Parker High School enrolls 478 students, while Parker Alternative School enrolls 37. The schools’ clearest difference is completion: Parker High’s graduation rate is above the state rate, while Parker Alternative’s is far below it.

Parker High stands out for graduation and dropout results; Parker Alternative has the weaker figures on both measures. In 2024–25, 89% of Parker High students graduated, compared with 80% statewide and 83% districtwide; the school’s dropout rate was 3%, below the state’s 5%. Parker Alternative’s graduation rate was 59%, 21 points below the state, and its dropout rate was 17%, 12 points above it. Test results offer a more mixed picture: Parker High’s all-grades English proficiency was 19%, 22 points below the state. In grade 11 English, it was 2 points above the district but 19 below the state; in science, it was 1 point above the district and 10 below the state. Math results are not available for either school, and the available scores do not establish a test-score ranking between them.

SchoolDigger’s rankings for both schools were lower in later listed years, though these relative rankings do not show a year-by-year change in test scores. Parker High moved from the 29th percentile in 2022–23 to the 8th percentile in 2024–25 and received 0 stars in 2024–25; Parker Alternative moved from the 23rd percentile in 2012–13 to the 14th in 2020–21. Parker High’s 2024–25 student–teacher ratio was 17.4, while no ratio is listed for the Alternative. Reported 2021–22 spending was $12,919 per student at Parker High and $4,596 at Parker Alternative, but these figures alone do not explain the schools’ different outcomes.