Yuma Union High School District’s college-going rates beat state average

The Arizona Board of Regents wrote in a report – The Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) has a school average of 68% of college-going graduates.

High schools including – Cibola High School, Kofa High School and Yuma High School scored in the top 100 schools with college-going graduates.

YUHSD Superintendent, Toni Badone, said this improvement has been a proud one for the District.

“[Those] graduates that went on to college the semester following their graduation is a pretty good deal,” Badone said. “It’s an amazing number and it’s growing. That’s the exciting part.”

Badone said she accredits student growth and college drive to a range of curriculum changes that have provided opportunities for students to explore various career paths.

“We adopted the Cambridge Curriculum a few years ago,” Badone said. “It’s very much a critical thinking curriculum that has set up our students for success in both advanced placement and career and technical education courses.”

With help from a committed faculty and new classroom opportunities, Badone said she expects to see continuous growth in the upcoming graduating classes.

“We have over a thousand students enrolled in advanced placement and career and technical courses at the same time,” Badone said. “That never used to happen. So that’s a huge advantage to our students. They’re tasting all worlds so they are really going to be both college and career ready.”