The largest school district in Arizona welcomed tens of thousands of students back on Aug. 6 and opened two new high school campuses designed for students looking for a different approach.
Parents had voiced concern with the size of the district's high schools, and Mesa Public Schools officials responded with Franklin High School and Shepherd College Prep, both with a smaller high school footprint.
Franklin High School, near Southern Avenue and Higley Road in east Mesa, follows the district's "Franklin" model of education. It emphasizes academic rigor and a back-to-basics approach to teaching, with significant input from parents on the educational program.
Shepherd College Prep, near Brown Road and Alta Mesa Drive in northeast Mesa, transforms
the district's Shepherd Junior High into a seventh- through 12th-grade campus. Students' curricula will be geared toward college readiness, while maintaining the school's emphasis on performing arts.
Jeffrey Abrams, the Franklin High School principal, said the school's new freshmen will be able to determine the future of their own school.
“Today is the first day that we've opened the doors to Franklin High School, which will ultimately change students' high school experience in Mesa,” Abrams said. “We have a lot of students that are really excited to be part of that pioneering class.”
As the first cohort, students will help establish the school's traditions such as homecoming activities and which electives and clubs Franklin High School would offer, Abrams said. School staff also met with students and families before the beginning of the school year to get feedback. As students were already familiar with the campus, Abrams said they opted to focus their freshman orientation on socializing with friends and teachers.
“We really try to empower those students and find ways to say yes to their areas of interest,” he said. “It wasn't what I wanted for them, it was what they wanted for them.”
Anne-Marie Conkle, a Franklin High School freshman, said she has gone to a Franklin school since her elementary grades and is looking forward to joining new clubs at the high school level, such as speech and debate.
“The learning, I think, is better than other schools, and everyone's just so friendly,” she said. “I'm a little biased, but it is the best. The learning's great, the environment's great. The teachers are amazing.”
Franklin High School, along with Shepherd College Prep, will continue to expand to higher grade levels in subsequent years until they become full high schools. Shepherd has seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students this school year.
‘The district is in good shape for future years’
Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Matt Strom said back-to-school day is the “Super Bowl of education.”
Public schools receive funding from state and federal dollars for every student enrolled. Mesa Public Schools has had to address budgetary shortfalls amid declining enrollment. In 2025, the district announced it would cut roughly 150 staff positions, and an additional 50 positions were cut for this school year.
Despite the cuts, Strom said a recent internal survey showed an increase in the number of administrators and certified teachers who enjoy working with the district.
Strom said the district worked hard to keep low staffing ratios, with many kindergarten classes operating at 20 students for every teacher.
“Mesa Public Schools is owned by the community,” Strom said, and because the district’s Governing Board wants to keep this school district functioning for hundreds of years to come, "we've had to do some difficult work.”
According to Strom, the district’s budget every year tries to remain fiscally conservative. This year, he said, the district has roughly 1,000 more students than initially projected.
“That's great news, but it's day one. We've got to see if the kids actually show up,” he said. “If the kids do show up, the district is in good shape for future years.”
Across the district, other schools also began the year focused on academic growth and school culture.
Cally Pursley, Marjorie Entz Elementary School principal, said staff last year focused on improving its state assessment scores and wants to maintain that growth in the 2026-27 school year. She also said the school has involved parents to encourage students to participate in the school’s core values of responsibility and pride.
Students can earn “positive behavior tickets” for actions such as maintaining a clean classroom and turning in their work on time, Pursley said. She said students can later use these tickets at the Den, a spot operated with the help of the school's parent-teacher organization, where students can buy prizes and learning tools.
Ridge Hammond, a sixth grader, said he’s using the school's core values to lead students as class president. This year, he said he’s looking forward to having fun and improving his math and reading skills, which he said his teachers have been very helpful with.
Coverage of education solutions on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mesa district welcomes back students, opens 2 new high schools
