Desert Vista High School Mission Statement:

Desert Vista inspires a community of learning by demonstrating excellence in academics, arts, and extra-curricular activities. 

Desert Vista High School Vision Statement:

We strive for excellence by engaging our community, promoting accountability, fostering responsibility, and encouraging life-long learning.

More about the Thunder:

Since opening its doors in 1995, Desert Vista High School has been inspiring, “Excellence through Performance.”

An A-rated High School by the Arizona Department of Education, Desert Vista provides a wide array of academic and educationally rich opportunities on our campus to ensure our students are college and career ready. We offer a variety of academic options for all grade levels, including Advanced Placement (AP) courses, honors courses, Career and Technical courses, Dual Language, and dual enrollment courses through the Maricopa County Community Colleges.

We continually examine our curriculum, monitor student progress through the use of formative assessments, and strive to collaborate with one another to improve instruction to meet the differentiated needs of our students.

Our graduates are admitted traditionally into over 100 different national and international colleges and universities, earning over $25 million in scholarship offers.

At Desert Vista, we believe that in addition to successful experiences in the classroom; activities and athletics are integral to a positive high school experience. We are home to one of the state’s strongest athletic programs, with over 50 state championships and two national championships for our boy’s track team. We are proud to offer students more than 75 clubs and outstanding activities to get involved in on campus.

Better grades, new friendships, and improved time management skills are only a few of the many benefits gained by participating in extra/co-curricular activities.

• State and Nationally recognized fine arts programs in band, orchestra, choir, and theater
• 50-plus State Championships
• 50-plus state runners-up titles
• Arizona Interscholastic Award (AIA) “Harold Slemmer Award” recipient
• 10 plus State Speech and Debate Champions
• Yearly National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
• Averaging 20 students earning an associates degree from Rio Salado College while concurrently attending high school
• Registered Yoga instructors graduating through the International Yoga Alliance while concurrently attending high school
• Yearly, over 50 Seal of BiLiteracy students who have studied and attained competency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in two or more languages by high school graduation
• Yearly, over 50 students earn the Arizona State Seal of Arts Proficiency by high school graduation 
• Record number of yearly Career and Technical Education (CTE) program completers
• Averaging 3.5 and higher Advanced Placement scores