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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Highland High?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,973
High
DISTRICT 1,110 · STATE 980
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SALT LAKE DISTRICT·NCES 490087000496
Highland High
2166 S 1700 E, SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84106 · (801) 484-4343 · Salt Lake County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,973 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 67% of Utah public high schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Utah public high schools
Student : Teacher
23.2:1
85 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 21.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
29%
574 students
DISTRICT 59% · STATE 33%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 446 | 23% |
| Grade 10 | 513 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 509 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 505 | 26% |
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · STATE 47% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
41.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.6%
based on UT schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 42% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 46% typical for Utah schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Utah's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Highland High
Highland High's state test result (41.8% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highland High this school | 1,973 | 29.1% | 41.8% |
| Murray High MURRAY | 1,364 | 31.3% | 35.5% |
| Northridge High LAYTON | 1,984 | 26.8% | 31.4% |
| Timpview High PROVO | 2,300 | 25.3% | 43.7% |
| Copper Hills High WEST JORDAN | 2,837 | 25.7% | 25.4% |
| Tooele High TOOELE | 1,900 | 25.8% | 27.6% |
Matched among Utah high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Highland High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Utah | In Salt Lake County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.8% | #55 of 149 | #12 of 35 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,973 | #35 of 189 | #18 of 47 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 23.2:1 | #75 of 145 | #22 of 38 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 56.2% | #27 of 145 | #19 of 38 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.1% | #76 of 169 | #22 of 42 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +17.2% | #36 of 84 | #8 of 18 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,973
+167 (+9%) vs 2020
-9% since 1990-91, when it was 2,159
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,973 | 84.9 | 23.2:1 | 29% (574) |
| 2023-24 | 2,009 | 85.7 | 23.4:1 | 31% (622) |
| 2022-23 | 1,980 | 83.8 | 23.6:1 | 30% (589) |
| 2020-21 | 1,806 | N/A | N/A | 30% (533) |
| 2017-18 | 1,683 | N/A | N/A | 40% (681) |
| 2015-16 | 1,645 | N/A | N/A | 44% (720) |
| 2010-11 | 1,536 | 70 | 21.9:1 | 47% (716) |
| 2000-01 | 2,194 | 85 | 25.8:1 | 43% (934) |
| 1990-91 | 2,159 | 95 | 22.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highland High.
About Highland High
Highland High is a large high school located in SALT LAKE CITY, Utah. The school's 1,973 students are in grades 9 through 12. Enrollment is 101% higher than the average for high schools in Utah, which is about 980.
Salt Lake District has 39 schools and 20,086 students, and Highland High is one of those schools.
White students are the majority at Highland High, with 61% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 24% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 4% Black, and 3% Asian. The school's White share is 9 points below the 70% share among Salt Lake County residents. Highland High's diversity index is 56%, against a US figure of 70%.
The school employs the equivalent of 84.9 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 23.2:1. That is higher than the 21.1:1 average for high schools in Utah. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 29%.
Highland High is graded B+ by allk12, scoring above 67% of Utah public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Highland High is 3.8 points below its prediction. Actual: 41.8%. Predicted: 45.6%.
Salt Lake County has these Census figures: the median household income is $97,494, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Salt Lake County is home to 325 public schools and about 209,757 public school students.
Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts is the closest public school, about 0.6 miles away in a straight line. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Highland High. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, Highland High ranks 7th on average proficiency.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Mid-size, or inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
2024-25 enrollment was 1,973, a 9% gain from 1,806 in 2020-21.
Topics for discussion here include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Salt Lake County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,196,523
Census ACS
Median income
$97,494
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
325
209,757 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Salt Lake District
- West HighHigh · 2,503 students
- East HighHigh · 1,764 students
- Glendale MiddleMiddle · 678 students
- Mountain View SchoolElementary · 629 students
- Clayton MiddleMiddle · 567 students
- Northwest MiddleMiddle · 542 students
Other schools in SALT LAKE CITY
- West HighHigh · 2,503 students
- Brighton HighHigh · 2,435 students
- Skyline HighHigh · 2,186 students
- Olympus HighHigh · 2,151 students
- East HighHigh · 1,764 students
- Cottonwood HighHigh · 1,451 students
Other Highland High schools
15 other US public schools in 14 states are named Highland High. Highland High is the 4th largest of the 16.
- Highland High SchoolGILBERT, AZ · 2,992 students
- Highland HighPalmdale, CA · 2,706 students
- Highland HighBakersfield, CA · 2,530 students
- HIGHLAND HIGH SCHOOLPOCATELLO, ID · 1,456 students
- HIGHLAND HIGHALBUQUERQUE, NM · 1,144 students
Nearby schools
- Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts0.6 mi · 163
- Dilworth School0.8 mi · 463
- Highland Park School0.9 mi · 478
- Clayton Middle1.0 mi · 567
- Hillside Middle1.2 mi · 485
- Uintah School1.3 mi · 464
Frequently asked questions
About Highland HighHow many students attend Highland High?
Highland High enrolls approximately 1,973 students in grades 09-12.
Is Highland High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Highland High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Highland High have?
Highland High employs 85 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 23.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Highland High?
At Highland High, the student body is approximately 61% White, 24% Hispanic, 4% Black, 3% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Highland High public or private?
Highland High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Salt Lake District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.