Saddle Mountain Unified School District

The Saddle Mountain Unified School District includes five schools: three elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and an alternative school serving PK–12, with schools collectively covering PK–12. In 2025–26, their simple average proficiency was 27% in English language arts (ELA) and 23% in math, compared with state rates of 41% and 33%. The most important finding is that every school fell below the state rate in both subjects.

Desert Sunset and Tartesso tied for the highest all-grades ELA result at 33%, 8 points below the state; Tartesso led math at 31%, just 2 points below the state. At the other end, Tonopah Valley High had the lowest results: 16% in ELA and 13% in math, 25 and 20 points below the state, respectively. The middle schools’ results also trailed the state: Ruth Fisher scored 27% in ELA and 18% in math. Among elementary schools, leaders vary by grade: Tartesso led both subjects in grades 3 and 5, while Desert Sunset led both in grade 4 and matched the state’s 40% math result. Tartesso’s grade 4 math result was 24%, 16 points below both Desert Sunset and the state.

SchoolDigger rankings show weaker relative standing at the district level and for two elementary schools from 2023–24 to 2025–26: the district percentile fell from 15 to 12, Winters Well’s from 34 to 15, and Tartesso’s from 42 to 33; Desert Sunset remained at 28. These rankings do not establish whether test proficiency itself is improving or declining. School size and student–teacher ratios also differ: Tartesso has 340 students and a ratio of 18.3, while Winters Well has 663 students and a ratio of 25.5; Winters Well’s all-grades results are lower than Tartesso’s. Desert Sunset also ties for top ELA despite a ratio of 23.1. Free/reduced-lunch figures are not available, and differences in grade span and school type limit direct all-grades comparisons.