New to Arizona? Here is how school enrollment works.
Public, charter, private, online, homeschool and boarding, plus how to pay for it, explained in plain English by people who do this for a living.
Pick the page that matches your week
We need a school this week
The fastest legal path, what to bring, and what can wait.We are moving mid-year
Records, credits and how to avoid losing a semester.Our child is starting kindergarten
Age cutoffs, full-day versus half-day, and what to ask.We have a high schooler
Credit transfer, graduation rules, IB, AP and dual enrollment.We want to use an ESA
What Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account pays for and how to apply.We are looking at private or boarding schools
How admission works, what it costs, and every boarding school in the state.
The fastest legal path, what to bring, and what can wait.We are moving mid-year
Records, credits and how to avoid losing a semester.Our child is starting kindergarten
Age cutoffs, full-day versus half-day, and what to ask.We have a high schooler
Credit transfer, graduation rules, IB, AP and dual enrollment.We want to use an ESA
What Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account pays for and how to apply.We are looking at private or boarding schools
How admission works, what it costs, and every boarding school in the state.
What this site covers
- Start here: the 7-step checklist, documents, proof of residency, immunizations, records and transcripts, mid-year moves.
- Your options: district public schools and open enrollment, charter schools, private schools, online schools, homeschool and microschools, boarding schools.
- Paying for school: Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA), tax-credit scholarships, financial aid.
- By grade: kindergarten, elementary and middle school, high school.
- By region: Phoenix metro, Tucson, Sedona and the Verde Valley, Flagstaff and northern Arizona.
- Special situations: IEPs and 504 plans, English learners, families between permanent homes, relatives and guardians enrolling a child.
- How to evaluate a school from far away, including Arizona's letter grades and what rankings do and do not tell you.
Every page links to the official source for each fact and shows the date it was last reviewed. Terms are defined in the glossary.
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Ask a questionWho writes this
I'm Michael Janzen. By day I run enrollment at Verde Valley School, a small boarding and day high school in Sedona. This site is a personal project, built outside work, because I know my school doesn't have room for everyone and isn't the right fit for everyone, and I wanted something honest to send the families I can't help. Why I built it, and my conflict of interest, stated plainly.