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 test scores by the Arizona Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

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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)
040063801796	61	Pathfinder Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2906 N Boulder Canyon	Mesa	85207	Maricopa County	Edkey Inc. - Pathfinder Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 986-7071	600			13.0%	521 (86.8%)	3 (0.5%)	48 (8.0%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.8%)	$6,678	$129	$272	$530	$4,199	$2,079	$6,278	84.9	86.4	79	18
040775002434	62	Diamond Canyon School	Public	PK, KG-8	40004 N Liberty Bell Way	Anthem	85086	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 445-8000	807	47	17.3	15.9%	639 (79.2%)	6 (0.7%)	99 (12.3%)	18 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	44 (5.5%)	$6,000	$249	$13	$511	$5,524	$214	$5,738	84.8	92.5	42	20
040775002486	63	West Wing School	Public	PK, KG-8	26716 N High Desert Dr	Peoria	85383	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 376-5000	1,042	50	20.7	9.9%	804 (77.2%)	16 (1.5%)	147 (14.1%)	24 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.5%)	46 (4.4%)	$5,473	$418	$13	$849	$4,812	$231	$5,043	84.7	86.9	78	15
040010001714	64	Hearn Academy The - A Ball Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	17606 N 7th Ave	Phoenix	85023	Maricopa County	Ball Charter Schools (Hearn)	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 896-9160	663			37.9%	371 (56.0%)	32 (4.8%)	240 (36.2%)	10 (1.5%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.9%)		$00			$00			84.4	91.3	48	16
040625003441	65	Sunset Heights Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	9687 W Adam Ave	Peoria	85382	Maricopa County	Peoria Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 486-6000	1,064	50	21.2	10.9%	741 (69.6%)	19 (1.8%)	190 (17.9%)	54 (5.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	59 (5.5%)	$5,943	$47	$138	$233	$5,245	$513	$5,758	84.4	81.6	111	46
040593001230	66	Explorer Middle School	Public	7-8	22401 N 40th St	Phoenix	85050	Maricopa County	Paradise Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(602) 449-4200	678	35	19.4	5.8%	535 (78.9%)	14 (2.1%)	65 (9.6%)	25 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	36 (5.3%)	$6,002	$187	$138	$512	$5,487	$190	$5,677	84.3	87.5	75	9
040775001503	67	Hillcrest Middle School	Public	7-8	22833 N 71st Ave	Glendale	85310	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 445-3300	899	42	21.6	13.8%	685 (76.2%)	19 (2.1%)	123 (13.7%)	30 (3.3%)	5 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	35 (3.9%)	$5,381	$507	$03	$1,017	$4,633	$237	$4,870	84	93.6	38	29
040340002432	68	South Valley Junior High	Public	7-8	2034 S Lindsay Rd	Gilbert	85295	Maricopa County	Gilbert Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 855-0015	848	44	19.2	19.9%	499 (58.8%)	35 (4.1%)	211 (24.9%)	29 (3.4%)	11 (1.3%)	6 (0.7%)	57 (6.7%)	$6,311	$70	$463	$604	$6,025		$5,778	83.9	86	85	17
040438003478	69	Verrado Heritage Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	20895 W Hamilton St	Buckeye	85396	Maricopa County	Litchfield Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 547-3300	1,017	42	24.2	22.9%	463 (45.5%)	62 (6.1%)	398 (39.1%)	10 (1.0%)	8 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (7.5%)	$5,735	$01	$01	$03	$5,129	$604	$5,733	83.8	89.9	56	13
040775003688	70	Union Park School	Public	PK, KG-8	25700 N 21st Ave	Phoenix	85027	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 445-5800	753	47	16.1	13.8%	524 (69.6%)	17 (2.3%)	137 (18.2%)	33 (4.4%)	7 (0.9%)	3 (0.4%)	32 (4.2%)	$6,582	$309	$36	$654	$6,087	$150	$6,237	83	93.2	40	30

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Arizona

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for AZ student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students Hispanic Students White Students Multi-racial Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

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

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Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education