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 and AzSCI test scores by the Arizona Department of Education. The most recent update was on Saturday, October 11, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2022)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 552)	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 (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
171	Abraham Lincoln Traditional School	Public	PK, KG-8	10444 N 39th Ave	Phoenix	85051	Maricopa County	Washington Elementary School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(602) 896-6300	593	31	18.8		148 (25.0%)	43 (7.3%)	319 (53.8%)	31 (5.2%)	14 (2.4%)	3 (0.5%)	35 (5.9%)	$8,522	$450	$155	$1,054	$6,802	$1,116	$7,918	61.7	62.5	162	9		040906000652
172	Franklin Phonetic Primary School	Public, Charter	K-8	6116 E. Highway 69	Prescott Valley	86314	Yavapai County	Franklin Phonetic Primary School Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 775-6747	362	27	13.6		212 (58.6%)	4 (1.1%)	123 (34.0%)	6 (1.7%)	6 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.0%)		$00			$00			61.4			(n/a)		040009201075
173	Magnet Traditional School	Public	PK, KG-8	2602 N 23rd Ave	Phoenix	85009	Maricopa County	Phoenix Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 257-6281	356	26	13.6		14 (3.9%)	30 (8.4%)	306 (86.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$10,133	$777	$393	$1,946	$8,442	$521	$8,964	61.4	51.6	230	57		040630001555
174	Valor Preparatory Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	6-12	13185 W Thomas Rd	Goodyear	85395	Maricopa County	Valor Preparatory Academy LLC	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	No	(623) 444-5969	230	9	24.3		76 (33.0%)	20 (8.7%)	112 (48.7%)	5 (2.2%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.5%)		$00			$00			61.2	46.8	248	74		040098803680
175	Desert Mountain School	Public	PK, KG-8	35959 N 7th Ave	Desert Hills	85086	Maricopa County	Deer Valley Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 445-3500	438	28	15.9		334 (76.3%)	3 (0.7%)	74 (16.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.5%)	$7,482	$263	$20	$546	$7,019	$179	$7,198	60.8	61.2	175			040775000622
176	Verrado Middle School	Public	5-8	20880 W Main St	Buckeye	85396	Maricopa County	Litchfield Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(623) 547-1300	731	35	21.1		295 (40.4%)	36 (4.9%)	330 (45.1%)	19 (2.6%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	47 (6.4%)	$6,394	$159	$07	$325	$5,202	$1,026	$6,228	60.7	62.1	171	5		040438002431
177	Heritage Academy Maricopa	Public, Charter	6-12	41004 W Lucera Ln	Maricopa	85138	Pinal County	Heritage Academy Maricopa Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(520) 367-3800	937	50	18.7		491 (52.4%)	51 (5.4%)	300 (32.0%)	15 (1.6%)	10 (1.1%)	10 (1.1%)	60 (6.4%)								60.6	52.3	228	51		040974603602
178	Desert Ridge Junior High	Public	7-8	10211 E Madero Ave	Mesa	85209	Maricopa County	Gilbert Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(480) 635-2025	925	48	19.4		530 (57.3%)	34 (3.7%)	277 (29.9%)	18 (1.9%)	4 (0.4%)	4 (0.4%)	58 (6.3%)	$6,110	$02	$530	$533	$5,910		$5,578	60.5	59	194	16		040340002112
179	Discovery School	Public	K-8	7910 W Maryland Ave	Glendale	85303	Maricopa County	Glendale Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 237-4013	601	30	20		36 (6.0%)	32 (5.3%)	480 (79.9%)	28 (4.7%)	9 (1.5%)	2 (0.3%)	14 (2.3%)	$9,660	$1,714	$453	$3,880	$5,883	$1,610	$7,493	60.4	50.5	235	56		040342000058
180	Leman Academy of Excellence East Tucson	Public, Charter	K-8	10200 E Golf Links Rd	Tucson	85730	Pima County	Leman Academy of Excellence Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(520) 526-0474	1,157	88	13.1		528 (45.6%)	51 (4.4%)	444 (38.4%)	38 (3.3%)	9 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	85 (7.3%)		$00			$00			60.3	59.3	191	11		040094403586

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for Arizona

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for AZ student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on AASA English Language Arts, AASA Mathematics, AzSCI Science test scores released by the Arizona Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 11, 2025, 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.