 Sweetwater offers a one-of-a-kind promise to students participating in the Compact for Success Program—guaranteed admission to San Diego State University. This year the Compact was given an Innovation Award by the College Board and honored by the National Journal as the Innovative K-12 Program of the Year.  Sweetwater District graduation rate is higher than the state and county averages while the dropout rate is below the state and county rates. The graduation rate increased from 79.5% in 2011 to 82.2% in 2012 and dropouts decreased from 8.3% in 2011 to 6.7% in 2012.  Three schools – Bonita Vista Middle, EastLake Middle and Eastlake High were named California Distinguished Schools in 2013. Only 19 middle and high schools in all of San Diego County earned this honor and three were from the Sweetwater District.  In the 2013-2014 school year, every 7th and 8th grade student in the Sweetwater District was assigned an iPad tablet computer as their primary learning tool allowing students to take tests, do homework and communicate with their teachers.  All twelve of Sweetwater's comprehensive high schools were named Silver Medal winners in 2013 by the U.S. News & World Report, placing them among the top nine percent of schools in the nation in the annual ranking of schools.  Granger Junior High was named a Gold Medalist and among the best urban middle schools in the nation receiving the Excellence in Urban Education Award. National City Middle won this award in 2012 by the National Center for Urban School Transformation.  San Ysidro High School was named one of 10 “Breakthrough Schools” in the nation by the National Association of Secondary School Principals for their academic achievements.

 Eight Sweetwater District graduates received Gates Millennium Scholarships in 2013. The scholarship pays 100% of their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Only 1,000 scholarships are distributed in the entire nation.  Sweetwater schools dominated the San Diego County Academic Decathlon competition. Olympian High took the title for the fifth straight year in a row. Hilltop High finished in second place, Sweetwater High finished in third and Bonita Vista High finished in fourth place.  A flourishing Visual and Performing Arts Department offers middle and high school students high-quality instruction in music, drama, dance, digital and graphic media arts.  Eleven Sweetwater schools exceeded the 800-point target score on the Academic Performance Index—Bonita Vista Middle, EastLake Middle, Granger Junior High, Hilltop Middle, Rancho del Rey Middle, Bonita Vista High, Eastlake High, Hilltop High, Olympian High, Otay Ranch High and Sweetwater High.  Sweetwater High won the CIF Championship in Football in 2013; The Sweetwater High Basketball team was the runner-up in the CIF championship game and finished the season at 26-2. Southwest High won the Division 2 title in Soccer and San Ysidro won the Division 4 CIF title; and Sweetwater High graduate, Joe Corona, was a member of the 2012 Mexican soccer league champions, the Tijuana Xolos.  The Sweetwater District continues to open new school facilities thanks to Prop O. Since 2011, new facilities were unveiled at National City Middle, Montgomery High and Southwest Middle, Southwest High and Montgomery Middle.