Middle Schools in Yuma Elementary District

Five middle schools in Yuma Elementary District serve grades 6–8. Across the schools, 2025–26 proficiency rates are below state results in both English Language Arts (ELA) and math: the five-school averages are 28% in ELA versus 41% statewide, and 12% in math versus 33%. No school reaches the state rate in either subject, making math the most consistent area of concern across the group.

Ron Watson Middle School is the clearest standout in ELA, with 35% proficiency—5 points above the next-highest school, Castle Dome Middle School at 30%, and 6 points below the state. Watson leads in all three ELA grades, too. In math, Watson ties with R Pete Woodard Junior High School for the top rate at 14%; both are still 19 points below the state. Woodard’s math strength contrasts with its 27% ELA result, just below the five-school average. Fourth Avenue Junior High School is lowest in both subjects, at 20% in ELA and 7% in math; those results are 10 and 6 points below the other schools’ respective averages.

SchoolDigger rankings show differing recent paths rather than a uniform trend: among four schools with rankings across all three years, the average percentile fell from 22 in 2023–24 to 18 in 2025–26. Watson recovered from 22 in 2024–25 to 27, while Castle Dome and Woodard each declined from their 2023–24 percentiles, 20 to 14 and 27 to 14. Fourth Avenue remains the lowest-ranked of these schools in 2025–26, at 502 of 536 schools and the 6th percentile; Watson ranks 390 of 536 and at the 27th percentile. School size and staffing ratios do not align simply with results: Fourth Avenue has the lowest listed student-teacher ratio, 17.1, yet the lowest proficiency, while Watson’s ratio is 20.9. Rankings reflect relative standing, not changes in test proficiency, and Fourth Avenue’s grade-level math results are suppressed.