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
491	Wade Carpenter Middle School	Public	6-8	595 W Kino St	Nogales	85621	Santa Cruz County	Nogales Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 287-0820	547	25	21.8		0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	546 (99.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$5,882	$359	$44	$762	$4,962	$517	$5,479	14	14.2	483	8		040553000456
492	Gila Vista Junior High School	Public	6-8	2245 S Arizona Ave	Yuma	85365	Yuma County	Yuma Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 502-7100	551	22	24.8		86 (15.6%)	7 (1.3%)	440 (79.9%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (1.6%)	$7,251	$1,020	$1,379	$3,419	$4,503	$349	$4,852	13.9	13.7	490	2		040960000986
493	Walker Butte Middle School	Public	PK, KG-8	29697 N Desert Willow Blvd	San Tan Valley	85143	Pinal County	Florence Unified School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(480) 987-5360	718	44	16.3		302 (42.1%)	50 (7.0%)	283 (39.4%)	6 (0.8%)	20 (2.8%)	13 (1.8%)	44 (6.1%)	$8,080	$785	$353	$1,922	$6,547	$395	$6,942	13.5	18.3	446	47		040292002210
494	Tucson Unified Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	3645 E Pima St	Tucson	85716	Pima County	Tucson Unified District	No	(n/a)	Yes	Yes	(520) 232-8770	1,184	64	18.6		221 (18.7%)	81 (6.8%)	748 (63.2%)	13 (1.1%)	50 (4.2%)	5 (0.4%)	66 (5.6%)		$00			$00			13.5	8.6	537	43		040880002547
495	Imagine Cortez Park Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	3535 W Dunlap Ave	Phoenix	85051	Maricopa County	Cortez Park Charter Middle School Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(602) 589-9840	252	12	21		13 (5.2%)	36 (14.3%)	134 (53.2%)	66 (26.2%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)		$00			$00			13.4	22.7	393	102		040037602313
496	La Paloma Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2050 N Wilmot Rd	Tucson	85712	Pima County	Arizona Community Development Corporation	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 721-4205	632	28	22.5		121 (19.1%)	85 (13.4%)	401 (63.4%)	5 (0.8%)	7 (1.1%)	3 (0.5%)	10 (1.6%)		$00			$00			13.4			(n/a)		040036102299
497	Freedom Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	22150 W Sundance Pkwy	Buckeye	85326	Maricopa County	Liberty Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 327-2850	574	33	17.3		84 (14.6%)	49 (8.5%)	410 (71.4%)	4 (0.7%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (3.8%)	$8,828	$441	$345	$1,227	$6,510	$1,532	$8,042	13.3	18.4	445	52		040432002489
498	Tsehootsooi Middle School	Public	7-8	Navajo Rt. 12	Fort Defiance	86504	Apache County	Window Rock Unified District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(928) 729-6811	284	15	18.9		1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	278 (97.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)		$00			$00			13.2	10	525	27		040943000968
499	Academy of Math and Science Desert Sky	Public, Charter	K-8	5757 W McDowell Rd	Phoenix	85035	Maricopa County	Academy of Mathematics and Science South Inc.	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(520) 888-1732	1,339	63	21.2		34 (2.5%)	85 (6.3%)	1,184 (88.4%)	28 (2.1%)	7 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,122	$1,395	$1,678	$4,468	$3,255	$1,795	$5,049	13.1	23.6	383	116		040089103581
500	Desert Horizon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	8525 W Osborn Rd	Phoenix	85037	Maricopa County	Pendergast Elementary District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(623) 772-2430	690	39	17.6		33 (4.8%)	50 (7.2%)	585 (84.8%)	8 (1.2%)	7 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.0%)	$6,537	$430	$1,090	$1,950	$5,681		$5,018	12.8	9.8	527	27		040621000505

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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