Best Middle Schools in Arizona

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 533)	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)
040775001873	71	Highland Lakes School	Public	PK, KG-8	19000 N 63rd Ave	Glendale	85308	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 376-4300	1,069	65	16.5	23.9%	725 (67.8%)	33 (3.1%)	181 (16.9%)	43 (4.0%)	11 (1.0%)	6 (0.6%)	70 (6.5%)	$7,294	$615	$11	$1,240	$6,431	$238	$6,669	83	89	67	4
040176001487	72	Esperero Canyon Middle School	Public	6-8	5801 N Sabino Canyon Rd	Tucson	85750	Pima County	Catalina Foothills Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(520) 209-8100	501	35	14.5	13.0%	284 (56.7%)	6 (1.2%)	156 (31.1%)	18 (3.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (7.2%)	$8,440	$73	$545	$691	$5,861	$1,962	$7,822	82.9	88.3	70	2
040187002478	73	Willie & Coy Payne Junior High	Public	7-8	7655 S Higley Rd	Queen Creek	85142	Maricopa County	Chandler Unified District #80	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 224-2400	1,143	56	20.4	10.9%	768 (67.2%)	42 (3.7%)	214 (18.7%)	43 (3.8%)	19 (1.7%)	3 (0.3%)	54 (4.7%)	$6,644	$426	$65	$918	$6,016	$136	$6,152	82.6	83.5	102	29
040757000603	74	Desert Canyon Middle School	Public	6-8	10203 E McDowell Mtn Ranch Rd	Scottsdale	85255	Maricopa County	Scottsdale Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 484-4600	490	30	16.4	14.7%	353 (72.0%)	18 (3.7%)	64 (13.1%)	36 (7.3%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.7%)	$7,889	$356	$1,085	$1,798	$6,505		$6,447	82.1	91.8	46	28
040625003145	75	Parkridge Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	9970 W Beardsley Rd	Peoria	85382	Maricopa County	Peoria Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 412-5400	886	47	18.8	29.9%	554 (62.5%)	37 (4.2%)	218 (24.6%)	21 (2.4%)	6 (0.7%)	6 (0.7%)	44 (5.0%)	$6,861	$63	$204	$330	$5,766	$827	$6,594	82.1	75.1	167	92
040757001562	76	Mountainside Middle School	Public	6-8	11256 N 128th St	Scottsdale	85259	Maricopa County	Scottsdale Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 484-5500	550	31	17.5	10.9%	421 (76.5%)	13 (2.4%)	56 (10.2%)	39 (7.1%)	6 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	13 (2.4%)	$7,591	$71	$438	$579	$6,525	$557	$7,082	82	79.9	127	51
040387001057	77	Liberty Traditional School	Public	PK, KG-8	3300 N Lake Valley Rd	Prescott Valley	86314	Yavapai County	Humboldt Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 759-4500	785	35	22.4	38.9%	441 (56.2%)	0 (0.0%)	315 (40.1%)	7 (0.9%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.3%)	$8,134	$895	$189	$1,979	$5,920	$1,131	$7,050	81.9	75.1	166	89
040315000245	78	Colonel Smith Middle School	Public	PK, KG-8	67601 Cushing	Fort Huachuca	85613	Cochise County	Fort Huachuca Accommodation District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(520) 459-8892	247	19	12.8	22.7%	130 (52.6%)	25 (10.1%)	62 (25.1%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.6%)	23 (9.3%)	$14,902	$7,527	$688	$15,741	$5,058	$1,629	$6,687	81.8	85.6	90	12
040085103271	79	Great Hearts Academies - Trivium Prep	Public, Charter	6-12	2001 N Bullard Ave	Goodyear	85395	Maricopa County	Trivium Preparatory Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 866-4730	894				355 (39.7%)	55 (6.2%)	316 (35.3%)	89 (10.0%)	3 (0.3%)	7 (0.8%)	69 (7.7%)		$00			$00			81.2	84	99	20
040091903472	80	Great Hearts Academies - Lincoln Prep	Public, Charter	6-12	2250 S Gilbert Rd	Chandler	85286	Maricopa County	Lincoln Preparatory Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(480) 424-1796	536				251 (46.8%)	36 (6.7%)	76 (14.2%)	123 (22.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	46 (8.6%)		$00			$00			81.2	65.4	239	159

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on AASA English Language Arts, AASA Mathematics 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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide