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
471	Doolen Middle School	Public	6-8	2400 N Country Club Rd	Tucson	85716	Pima County	Tucson Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 232-6900	490	40	12.3		111 (22.7%)	94 (19.2%)	206 (42.0%)	26 (5.3%)	12 (2.4%)	14 (2.9%)	27 (5.5%)		$00			$00			16.1	14.4	482	11		040880000837
472	Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy of Arizona	Public, Charter	K-8	1903 E Roeser Rd	Phoenix	85040	Maricopa County	Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy of Arizona	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(602) 305-8865	412	24	17.1		18 (4.4%)	48 (11.7%)	332 (80.6%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.2%)		$00			$00			16			(n/a)		040018502147
473	Justine Spitalny STE3AM School	Public	PK, KG-8	3201 N 46th Dr	Phoenix	85031	Maricopa County	Cartwright Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 691-4400	667	34	19.9		17 (2.5%)	22 (3.3%)	606 (90.9%)	1 (0.1%)	13 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.2%)	$13,209	$1,986	$543	$4,514	$9,305	$1,377	$10,681	16			(n/a)		040168000100
474	Safford K-8 School	Public	PK, KG-8	200 E 13th St	Tucson	85701	Pima County	Tucson Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 225-3000	318	26	12.3		17 (5.3%)	26 (8.2%)	261 (82.1%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)		$00			$00			15.8	14.1	486	12		040880000886
475	Billy Lane Lauffer Middle School	Public	5-8	5385 E Littletown Rd	Tucson	85756	Pima County	Sunnyside Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 545-4900	435	22	19.4		26 (6.0%)	27 (6.2%)	358 (82.3%)	3 (0.7%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.4%)	$7,924	$712	$56	$1,480	$6,594	$562	$7,156	15.7	10.1	522	47		040817002549
476	Desert Wind Middle School	Public	6-8	35565 W Honeycutt Rd	Maricopa	85138	Pinal County	Maricopa Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 568-7110	898	43	21		197 (21.9%)	171 (19.0%)	408 (45.4%)	20 (2.2%)	23 (2.6%)	4 (0.4%)	75 (8.4%)	$8,733	$267	$954	$1,489	$6,582	$929	$7,512	15.6	14	487	11		040472002914
477	Bales Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	25400 W Maricopa Rd	Buckeye	85326	Maricopa County	Buckeye Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 847-8503	699	35	19.9		117 (16.7%)	54 (7.7%)	507 (72.5%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.0%)	$9,848	$606	$92	$1,303	$7,002	$2,148	$9,151	15.6	20.1	424	53		040138003123
478	Palo Verde Middle School	Public	7-8	7502 N 39th Ave	Phoenix	85051	Maricopa County	Washington Elementary School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 347-2500	797	44	18.1		80 (10.0%)	119 (14.9%)	518 (65.0%)	46 (5.8%)	14 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.5%)	$7,569	$743	$125	$1,611	$5,717	$984	$6,701	15.3	14.1	484	6		040906000935
479	Inca Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	23601 W Durango St	Buckeye	85326	Maricopa County	Buckeye Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 925-3500	735	33	22.2		92 (12.5%)	53 (7.2%)	536 (72.9%)	6 (0.8%)	3 (0.4%)	5 (0.7%)	40 (5.4%)	$9,825	$496	$86	$1,077	$7,280	$1,964	$9,244	15.2	19.2	433	46		040138003052
480	Granada Elementary School-East Campus	Public	4-8	3022 W Campbell Ave	Phoenix	85017	Maricopa County	Alhambra Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 589-0110	683	35	19.5		11 (1.6%)	62 (9.1%)	566 (82.9%)	23 (3.4%)	11 (1.6%)	2 (0.3%)	8 (1.2%)	$7,878	$1,347	$229	$2,923	$5,624	$678	$6,302	15.1	11.9	508	28		040060000012

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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