The Higley district was incorporated in 1909 with a territory far larger than its current size, with most of the district land transferred to other Valley school districts over the years. For instance, the
Queen Creek Unified School District was carved out of the Higley district in 1947.
Higley Elementary School was the only school in the district for the next 53 years. The district's high school students attended
Gilbert Public Schools' high schools. As the Valley expanded, Larry Likes, then-superintendent of the district, guided it through an era of suburban expansion engulfing local farmland. The growth of the 1990s and 2000s caught up to the district's service area. In 1999, the
district legally unified; in 2000, it opened Coronado Elementary School, its first new school in decades; in 2001,
Higley High School opened its doors; four years later, Gateway Pointe Elementary School debuted, then a year later, Cortina Elementary School opened; another year later, further growth induced the opening of
Williams Field High School. In the spring of 2008, Higley became the first district in Arizona to receive K-12 accreditation by the AdvancED/North Central Accreditation Team. Graduating Higley seniors were offered $2.7 million in academic and athletic scholarships. In early 2011, Higley had more than 10,000 students in the district. The district opened two middle schools (Cooley Middle School and Sossaman Middle School) to better prepare 7th and 8th grade students for high school and to alleviate projected capacity issues at its elementary schools.
District Website The Higley Unified School District website is https://www.husd.org/. Users can access the latest news, events, information pertaining to schools, enrolment, career opportunities, and more.
Statistics and Demographics (2024-2025) • Student Enrolment: 13,500 • Employees: 1,600 • Graduation Rate: 96% • Rated A by the Arizona Department of Education
Higley Center for the Performing Arts The District built the HCPA and opened in spring of 2006. The HCPA has a large concert hall, seating 1,235 people and a little theatre, able to sit 186 people. Over 500 productions are yearly shown in the building. It is located adjacent to the Higley High School, and schools throughout the district use it to show major assemblies or guest speakers.
Transportation Transportation of students from the various schools throughout the district is provided by the District's transportation crew. They currently have 63 School Buses and 53 Support Vehicles. The district mandates that all students taking a field trip must be approved by parents. The district also provides transportation for students to and from school. Any student who lives within one mile from the school they go to, although, does not have transportation, and will have to transport themselves to and from school. To better balance all the school bus use to transport students to and from school, the district changed the school bell times to help align the high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools so as to not cause traffic. ==Schools==