Ajo High School

Whether they choose college or career after graduation, Ajo High School prepares our students for success. Learn more about the academic program and the learning opportunities we offer.

Independent Educational Agencies Visit Ajo High School

During two visits to Ajo High School, three independent educational agencies, The Arizona Department of Education, Teach For America, and Lead by Lisa Graham Keegan, A for Arizona, gave the Ajo High School and the Ajo School District glowing reviews. Please take a moment to review their reports.

High School Academics

Ajo’s high school academic program is segmented into a seven-period day. We carefully place students into courses that best meet their needs.

Ajo High School also provides courses in the vocational field in conjunction with Pima County’s JTED (Joint Technical Education District). JTED classes are open to 10–12 graders in the areas of Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, Information Technology, and Marketing. Visit our Career and Technical Education program for more information.

Standardized Testing & Assessment

All Ajo High School students must pass Arizona state assessments to graduate. Please visit our Curriculum page for more information on state standards and assessments.

High school students may also participate in the ACT and SAT testing programs. We offer both tests and the PSAT on campus each year. Please visit our College and Career Center to learn more.

Graduation Requirements

Ajo High School operates on a Carnegie credit/unit system with two semesters, each lasting 18 weeks, earning one-half credit for each semester-length course passed, or one credit for each full-year subject passed.

Students must earn 22.0 Carnegie credits to graduate. The credit breakdown follows:

  • Language Arts: 4.0 credits
  • Mathematics: 4.0 credits
  • Science: 3.0 credits
  • World History: 0.5 credits
  • World Geography: 0.5 credits
  • U.S. History: 0.5 credits
  • U.S. Government: 0.5 credits
  • Economics: 0.5 credits
  • Health: 0.5 credits
  • Physical Education: 0.5 credits
  • Fine Arts/Vocational: 1.0 credits
  • Electives: 6.0 credits

Grading & Class Ranking

Beginning with grade nine, we include all subjects in the computation of a student’s grade point average (GPA). If a student repeats a course, the original grade remains on the transcript with a credit of 0. We do not calculate the original course into the GPA; the replacing course counts for the GPA. We compute a student’s GPA using the following quality points:

A – Excellent                      90-10                 4 points
B – Above Average            80-89                3 points
C – Average                        70-79                2 points
D – Below Average            60-69                1 point
F – Failure                          59 or below      0 points

Ranking

We calculate class rank based on the unweighted GPA by the semester.