Nogales High School had the highest enrollment among Santa Cruz County schools, welcoming 1,762 students during the 2025-26 academic year, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
Of all the students welcomed in the 2025-26 school year, 50.4% were boys, and 49.6% were girls.
The most represented ethnicity among Nogales High School students was Asian, accounting for 0% of the student population.
Among the 26 schools in Santa Cruz County, Rio Rico High School ranked second in enrollment numbers with 1,355 students, while Calabasas School welcomed 792 students and ranked third in the 2025-26 school year.
Nogales High School is part of Nogales Unified District, which roughly covers schools within Santa Cruz County and has a main office in Nogales.
In the previous school year, Patagonia Montessori School had the highest number of students among Santa Cruz County schools.
Arizona ranks dead last in educational success among U.S. states, according to World Population Review, which graded states based on K–12 performance, funding, higher education, and safety.
Arizona’s K-12 enrollment is shifting amid a declining school-aged population, projected to drop by 40,000 by 2028, according to the Common Sense Institute.
| School name | City | Total School Enrollment |
|---|---|---|
| Nogales High School | Nogales | 1,762 |
| Rio Rico High School | Rio Rico | 1,355 |
| Calabasas School | Rio Rico | 792 |
| Desert Shadows Middle School | Nogales | 787 |
| Coatimundi Middle School | Rio Rico | 510 |
| Francisco Vasquez De Coronado Elementary School | Nogales | 499 |
| Wade Carpenter Middle School | Nogales | 476 |
| Mountain View School | Rio Rico | 419 |
| San Cayetano Elementary School | Rio Rico | 415 |
| Lincoln Elementary School | Nogales | 382 |
| Challenger Elementary School | Nogales | 369 |
| Mary L. Welty Elementary School | Nogales | 340 |
| A. J. Mitchell Elementary School | Nogales | 295 |
| Robert Bracker Elementary School | Nogales | 267 |
| Colegio Petite Arizona | Nogales | 241 |
| NUSD Online | Nogales | 175 |
| Mexicayotl Charter School | Nogales | 159 |
| Little Red Schoolhouse | Nogales | 123 |
| Patagonia Elementary School | Patagonia | 121 |
| Elgin Elementary School | Elgin | 111 |
| Pierson High School | Nogales | 95 |
| Montessori De Santa Cruz Charter School | Amado | 75 |
| Patagonia Union High School | Patagonia | 71 |
| EdOptions Preparatory Academy | Nogales | 69 |
| Pinnacle Charter High School | Nogales | 68 |
| Patagonia Montessori School | Patagonia | 29 |
Information in this story was obtained from the Arizona Department of Education. The source data can be found here.
