Summary:
The Sunnyside Unified District in Arizona is home to 5 middle schools serving grades 5-8. These schools include Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts Magnet School, Sierra 2-8 School, Challenger Middle School, Apollo Middle School, and Billy Lane Lauffer Middle School.
Gallego Intermediate Fine Arts Magnet School stands out as the top-performing school in the district, with significantly higher test scores across subjects and grade levels compared to the other schools and the state average. For example, in 2024-2025, 46% of 7th graders at Gallego were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to just 22% for the district and 42% for the state. However, Gallego also has the highest dropout rate at 5.2%. In contrast, Billy Lane Lauffer Middle School has the highest SchoolDigger rating in the district at 1 out of 5 stars, despite its test scores being lower than Gallego's.
The remaining schools, Sierra 2-8 School, Challenger Middle School, and Apollo Middle School, all have lower test scores and performance compared to Gallego and Billy Lane Lauffer. Additionally, all 5 schools in the Sunnyside Unified District have the same concerning dropout rate of 5.2%, which the district should investigate and address.
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