Summary:
Catalina Foothills Unified District has two middle schools serving grades 6–8, and both are above Arizona’s reported proficiency levels in every subject comparison provided. The clearest difference for families comparing them is that Orange Grove Middle School leads Esperero Canyon Middle School by 6 percentage points in all-grades ELA and 12 points in math.
Orange Grove stands out at the top of this two-school comparison, while Esperero Canyon is lower on the reported measures but still well above the state. In 2025–26, Orange Grove had 72% proficiency in ELA and 61% in math, compared with Esperero’s 66% and 49%; Arizona’s figures were 41% and 33%. Both schools also posted strong eighth-grade science results in 2024–25: 59% at Orange Grove and 53% at Esperero, versus 30% statewide. SchoolDigger’s latest statewide rankings also place Orange Grove higher: 39th of 536 schools, compared with Esperero at 78th.
SchoolDigger’s ranking history shows Orange Grove improving from 63rd to 39th between 2023–24 and 2025–26, while Esperero moved from 70th to 78th; the pair’s average percentile rose modestly, from 88% to 89%. Grade-level results add context: the largest ELA gap is in eighth grade, where Orange Grove leads by 11 points, while the largest math gaps are 14 points in sixth and eighth grades. Seventh-grade math is a relative low point at both schools, though each remains above the state figure. Their reported student–teacher ratios are nearly identical at 19.8 and 19.9, and enrollment is 683 at Orange Grove versus 495 at Esperero. Multi-year test-score trends are not provided, so ranking changes should not be read as changes in proficiency.
Thank you for your feedback!