Desert Canyon Middle School

Public 6-8

 10203 E McDowell Mtn Ranch Rd
       Scottsdale, AZ  85255-8600


(480) 484-4600

District: Scottsdale Unified District

SchoolDigger Rank:
46th of 854 Arizona Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $7,889 Help


Students who attend Desert Canyon Middle School usually attend:

High:    Desert Mountain High School

Feeder schools for Desert Canyon Middle School:

Elementary:    Cheyenne Traditional School
    Desert Canyon Elementary
    Redfield Elementary School

Student/teacher ratio:  16.4 Help
Number of students:  490

Racial breakdown:

White:
72.0%
Hispanic:
13.1%
Asian:
7.3%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  14.7% Help


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 Compare Desert Canyon Middle School to nearby middle schools!

Performance Trends
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Compare Details Desert Canyon Middle School ranks better than 94.6% of middle schools in Arizona. It also ranks 2nd among 6 ranked middle schools in the Scottsdale Unified District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2023 the calculated Average Standard Score was 91.75. (See more...)
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The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: White (72%), Hispanic (13.1%), Asian (7.3%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 14.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Desert Canyon Middle School is 16.4, which is the 3rd best among 6 middle schools in the Scottsdale Unified District. (See more...)
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Compare Desert Canyon Middle School employs 29.8 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Desert Canyon Middle School is $7,889, which is the 2nd highest among 6 middle schools in the Scottsdale Unified District.
Schooldigger 2023 Rankings:

Desert Canyon Middle School:

SchoolDigger ranks Desert Canyon Middle School 46th of 854 Arizona public middle schools. (See Desert Canyon Middle School in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Multi-racial students:
English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Asian students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
Native American students:
White students:


Scottsdale Unified District:

SchoolDigger ranks Scottsdale Unified District 92nd of 540 Arizona school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Your rating for Desert Canyon Middle School?

Rank History for Desert Canyon Middle School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2009 83.38 94th 663 85.8%
2010 84.83 83rd 692 88.0%
2011 86.41 67th 685 90.2%
2012 73.58 181st 772 76.6%
2013 74.48 167th 787 78.8%
2014 82.17 115th 690 83.3%
2015 71.01 133rd 521 74.5%
2016 79.94 111th 677 83.6%
2017 83.13 93rd 695 86.6%
2018 79.92 123rd 711 82.7%
2019 87.39 62nd 605 89.8%
2021 88.42 66th 832 92.1%
2022 80.12 86th 605 85.8%
2023 91.75 46th 854 94.6%
See the entire list of Arizona Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 74.41 93rd 650 85.7%
2022 64.63 58th 211 72.5%
2023 52.10 181st 384 52.9%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 54.01 76th 606 87.5%
2023 61.75 35th 145 75.9%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 75.32 18th 178 89.9%
2021 74.94 47th 789 94.0%
2022 32.69 33rd 36 8.3%
2023 72.87 53rd 363 85.4%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 72.18 91st 503 81.9%
2022 81.12 46th 369 87.5%
2023 57.92 215th 717 70.0%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 84.55 71st 624 88.6%
2019 83.41 54th 466 88.4%
2021 90.95 45th 820 94.5%
2022 80.80 55th 494 88.9%
2023 93.88 28th 806 96.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 75.81 126th 617 79.6%
2019 81.90 56th 435 87.1%
2021 83.50 96th 818 88.3%
2022 67.61 118th 476 75.2%
2023 85.85 73rd 810 91.0%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 41.63 32nd 42 23.8%
2021 64.96 128th 404 68.3%
2023 60.40 82nd 247 66.8%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 77.43 46th 573 92.0%
2023 36.21 250th 400 37.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 78.28 78th 543 85.6%
2019 84.05 53rd 387 86.3%
2021 73.60 124th 802 84.5%
2022 73.30 82nd 392 79.1%
2023 76.93 110th 760 85.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Native American students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 86.26 10th 390 97.4%
2022 75.31 6th 49 87.8%
2023 87.84 17th 159 89.3%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for Native American Students!

Rank History for White students at Desert Canyon Middle School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 67.92 125th 436 71.3%
2019 74.15 67th 337 80.1%
2021 81.30 82nd 780 89.5%
2022 66.20 113th 446 74.7%
2023 87.40 42nd 675 93.8%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Arizona Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Desert Canyon Middle School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Arizona Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)
100%

0%

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0%

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Reviews:
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Enrollment information for Desert Canyon Middle School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1997 809 11 31 23 4 n/a n/a 0 878
1998 959 14 35 35 1 n/a n/a 0 1044
1999 1178 21 52 34 2 n/a n/a 0 1287
2000 968 19 47 26 1 n/a n/a 0 1061
2001 1011 18 41 32 2 n/a n/a 0 1104
2002 698 16 25 34 4 n/a n/a 0 777
2003 698 16 25 34 4 n/a n/a 0 777
2004 707 19 34 39 4 n/a n/a 0 803
2005 581 20 35 47 4 n/a n/a 0 687
2006 476 16 34 48 4 n/a n/a 0 578
2007 508 19 44 55 4 n/a n/a 0 630
2008 599 14 48 55 7 n/a n/a 0 723
2009 631 16 63 44 3 n/a n/a 0 757
2010 592 22 52 53 3 n/a n/a 0 722
2011 538 23 50 47 1 0 3 0 662
2012 514 21 35 55 2 0 5 0 632
2013 521 20 32 48 5 1 7 0 634
2014 488 17 29 48 7 1 10 0 600
2015 454 11 37 45 6 0 13 0 566
2016 445 13 31 57 4 0 12 0 562
2017 418 17 25 56 4 0 12 0 532
2018 401 24 33 69 4 1 9 0 541
2019 385 21 34 57 7 0 13 0 517
2020 374 25 29 68 5 0 14 0 515
2021 288 13 21 54 2 0 10 0 388
2022 347 20 34 61 6 0 17 0 485
2023 353 18 36 64 6 0 13 0 490

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Desert Canyon Middle School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1997 878 43.6 20.1 n/a
1998 1044 54.2 19.3 n/a
1999 1287 62.1 20.7 n/a
2000 1061 54.5 19.5 n/a
2001 1104 56.5 19.5 n/a
2002 777 44.0 17.7 n/a
2003 777 44.0 17.7 n/a
2004 803 40.9 19.6 7.7
2005 687 39.3 17.5 13.1
2006 578 36.2 16.0 10.2
2007 630 41.8 15.1 14.1
2008 723 50.0 14.5 9.4
2009 757 49.8 15.2 9.9
2010 722 42.9 16.8 6.5
2011 662 37.3 17.7 12.2
2012 632 46.9 13.4 12.2
2013 634 29.7 21.3 14.2
2014 600 28.7 20.9 14.7
2015 566 30.0 18.8 14.8
2016 562 30.0 18.7 11.9
2017 532 29.7 17.9 14.1
2018 541 28.7 18.8 11.8
2019 517 27.1 19.0 10.8
2020 515 28.9 17.8 10.9
2021 388 25.3 15.3 n/a
2022 485 26.5 18.2 6
2023 490 29.8 16.4 14.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Desert Canyon Middle School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1997 878 43.6 20.1 n/a
1998 1044 54.2 19.3 n/a
1999 1287 62.1 20.7 n/a
2000 1061 54.5 19.5 n/a
2001 1104 56.5 19.5 n/a
2002 777 44.0 17.7 n/a
2003 777 44.0 17.7 n/a
2004 803 40.9 19.6 7.7
2005 687 39.3 17.5 13.1
2006 578 36.2 16.0 10.2
2007 630 41.8 15.1 14.1
2008 723 50.0 14.5 9.4
2009 757 49.8 15.2 9.9
2010 722 42.9 16.8 6.5
2011 662 37.3 17.7 12.2
2012 632 46.9 13.4 12.2
2013 634 29.7 21.3 14.2
2014 600 28.7 20.9 14.7
2015 566 30.0 18.8 14.8
2016 562 30.0 18.7 11.9
2017 532 29.7 17.9 14.1
2018 541 28.7 18.8 11.8
2019 517 27.1 19.0 10.8
2020 515 28.9 17.8 10.9
2021 388 25.3 15.3 n/a
2022 485 26.5 18.2 6
2023 490 29.8 16.4 14.7

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Desert Canyon Middle School

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YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $381 (162.8%) $16 (6.8%) $234
2020 $273 (3.7%) $7,055 (96.6%) $7,305
2021 $1,319 (14.0%) $8,490 (90.4%) $9,390
2022 $1,798 (22.8%) $6,446 (81.7%) $7,888

Data source: Arizona Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Desert Canyon Middle School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 62nd of 605 Middle schoolsRanks 46th of 854 Middle schools
 4.9%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students517490
 5.2%
African American2118
 14.3%
American Indian76
 14.3%
Asian3436
 5.9%
Hispanic5764
 12.3%
Pacific Islander00
White385353
 8.3%
Two or More Races1313
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients10.8%14.7%
 3.9%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Desert Canyon Middle School

In the 2022-23 school year, 490 students attended Desert Canyon Middle School.

Yes. Desert Canyon Middle School ranks in the top 5.4% of Arizona middle schools.

Students at Desert Canyon Middle School are 72% White, 13% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 4% African American, 3% Two or more races, 1% American Indian.

Students who attend Desert Canyon Middle School usually go on to attend Desert Mountain High School


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education. School Attendance Areas provided by ATTOM.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that school and district boundary data are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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