Best Middle Schools in Arizona

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Find the best Arizona middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish Arizona test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the AASA and AzSCI test scores by the Arizona Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

NOTE: 2024 rankings for Arizona schools were revised on November 25^th after the AZ Department of Education's recent release of the 2024 AzSci scores.

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 550)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
040625000584	221	Paseo Verde Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	7880 W Greenway Rd	Peoria	85381	Maricopa County	Peoria Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 412-5075	695	37	18.6		333 (47.9%)	33 (4.7%)	256 (36.8%)	22 (3.2%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	44 (6.3%)	$7,680	$63	$202	$329	$6,233	$1,180	$7,414	53	69.9	199	22
040378003381	222	Cooley Middle School	Public	6-8	1100 S Recker Rd	Gilbert	85296	Maricopa County	Higley Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 279-8300	850	49	17.3		462 (54.4%)	76 (8.9%)	206 (24.2%)	30 (3.5%)	6 (0.7%)	7 (0.8%)	63 (7.4%)	$6,360	$203	$85	$491	$5,417	$654	$6,071	52.9	68.4	207	15
040038102319	223	Desert View Middle & High School	Public, Charter	6-12	3777 W 22nd Ln	Yuma	85364	Yuma County	Carpe Diem Collegiate High School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 317-3113	213				43 (20.2%)	4 (1.9%)	155 (72.8%)	4 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (3.3%)		$00			$00			52.8	50.4	337	114
040730003582	224	Wrightson Ridge K-8 School	Public	K-8	16325 S Rancho Sahuarita Blvd	Sahuarita	85629	Pima County	Sahuarita Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 625-3502	829	49	16.8		214 (25.8%)	22 (2.7%)	548 (66.1%)	11 (1.3%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	28 (3.4%)	$6,582	$269	$13	$552	$5,891	$409	$6,300	52.8	54.9	299	75
040187003483	225	Dr. Camille Casteel High School	Public	7-12	24901 S Power Rd	Queen Creek	85142	Maricopa County	Chandler Unified District #80	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 424-8100	2,971	146	20.2		2,022 (68.1%)	90 (3.0%)	605 (20.4%)	66 (2.2%)	14 (0.5%)	4 (0.1%)	170 (5.7%)	$6,562	$470	$80	$1,019	$5,654	$359	$6,013	52.8	69.8	200	25
040841000798	226	Thatcher Middle School	Public	7-8	1300 North 4th Avenue	Thatcher	85552	Graham County	Thatcher Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(928) 348-7260	301	19	16.2		202 (67.1%)	2 (0.7%)	84 (27.9%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	$5,907	$00			$4,807	$1,100	$5,907	52.7	57.5	287	61
040022302199	227	Sonoran Science Academy - Tucson	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2325 W Sunset Rd	Tucson	85741	Pima County	Daisy Education Corporation dba Sonoran Science Ac	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 665-3400	700				246 (35.1%)	55 (7.9%)	295 (42.1%)	62 (8.9%)	8 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (4.9%)		$00			$00			52.6	54.7	302	75
040974603602	228	Heritage Academy Maricopa	Public, Charter	6-12	41004 W Lucera Ln	Maricopa	85138	Pinal County	Heritage Academy Maricopa Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(520) 367-3800	923				515 (55.8%)	51 (5.5%)	265 (28.7%)	11 (1.2%)	9 (1.0%)	12 (1.3%)	60 (6.5%)								52.3			(n/a)
040269002481	229	Sunset Hills Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	17825 W Sierra Montana Loop	Surprise	85388	Maricopa County	Dysart Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 523-8700	979	48	20.6		456 (46.6%)	80 (8.2%)	331 (33.8%)	9 (0.9%)	7 (0.7%)	8 (0.8%)	88 (9.0%)	$7,498	$145	$868	$1,158	$5,745	$740	$6,484	52.2	73.5	177	52
040630001555	230	Magnet Traditional School	Public	PK, KG-8	2602 N 23rd Ave	Phoenix	85009	Maricopa County	Phoenix Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 257-6281	372	26	14.3		14 (3.8%)	24 (6.5%)	332 (89.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$10,133	$777	$393	$1,946	$8,442	$521	$8,964	51.6	51.6	323	93

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for AZ student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on AASA English Language Arts, AASA Mathematics, AzSCI Science test scores released by the Arizona Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on September 25, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the Arizona Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the Arizona Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.