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Desert Foothills Middle School

Public Grades 7-8
355th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 536 Arizona Middle Schools
Better than 34% of Arizona middle schools
Summary

Desert Foothills Middle School serves 621 students in grades 7–8 in Phoenix, in a comparison area that includes middle schools of varied sizes and nearby districts. Its latest all-grades English Language Arts and math results match the Washington Elementary School District average, but trail state results. The clearest bright spot is grade-8 math: at 28%, it was the school’s strongest grade-level result and the second-highest among 11 nearby schools with data.

Math is the school’s strongest subject compared with nearby schools, while ELA is closer to the local middle. All-grades math was 25%, equal to the district, 8 points below the state, but 5 points above the average for five nearby schools serving grades 7–8. Grade-8 math was 5 points above the district and just 2 points below the state; it also exceeded the nearby average of 21%. By contrast, all-grades ELA was 30%—equal to the district and 11 points below the state—about the same as the nearby average. In both grades, ELA was 11 points below the state. Grade-8 science was another relative strength against the district: 25% compared with 22%, though still 5 points below the state.

Science proficiency has changed little, rising from 24% in 2022–23 to 25% in 2024–25, while the state rate rose from 27% to 30%, widening the gap from 3 to 5 points. SchoolDigger places the school at the 34th statewide percentile with 2 stars in 2025–26; its percentile has fallen 22 points since 2015–16. Its student-teacher ratio, 15.1, is below the nearby average of 18.0, and its reported free/reduced-lunch rate was 58% in 2022–23. Historical SchoolDigger subgroup rankings also varied sharply: African American students’ percentile was 56 in 2017–18 and 15 in 2022–23, while the school’s overall percentile was 50 in both years; for students receiving special education, it shifted from 14 to 92 to 4 across the reported years. These subgroup snapshots are historical and do not describe current performance.

621
Students ?
15.1
Student/teacher ratio ?
$7,585
Per pupil spending ?
42.5%
Directly certified for free meals (2024-25) ?
 3333 W Banff Ln
       Phoenix, AZ  85053-4723

(602) 896-5500

District: Washington Elementary School District


Students who attend Desert Foothills Middle School usually attend:

High:    Greenway High School

Feeder schools for Desert Foothills Middle School:

Elementary:    Acacia Elementary School
    Chaparral Elementary School
    Ironwood Elementary School
    Sunburst School
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
50.2%
White:
33.0%
African American:
8.4%
more
 See top rated Arizona middle schools

 Compare Desert Foothills Middle School to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 56th percentile in 2016 → 34th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Arizona average (27% vs 37% meeting standards)
!Ranking has slipped — down 22 percentile points since 2016
!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school27%
District avg27%
Arizona avg37%
355th of 536
Arizona public middle schools ?
Bottom 34%▼ down 22 pts since 2016
From top 44% (2016) to bottom 34% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Arizona Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
4th of 5Middle Schools in the Washington Elementary School District
214th of 267Washington Elementary School District among Arizona districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202626.8355 of 53633.8%★★☆☆☆
202526.3362 of 55234.4%★★☆☆☆
202430.6336 of 55038.9%★★☆☆☆
202340.5427 of 85450.0%★★★☆☆
202233.4352 of 60541.8%★★☆☆☆
202139.1433 of 83248.0%★★☆☆☆
201935.3350 of 60542.1%★★☆☆☆
201844.2354 of 71150.2%★★★☆☆
201748.6293 of 69557.8%★★★☆☆
201647.4301 of 67755.5%★★★☆☆
201543.4258 of 52150.5%★★★☆☆
201449.7334 of 69051.6%★★★☆☆
201347.5418 of 78746.9%★★☆☆☆
201249.2388 of 77249.7%★★☆☆☆
201147.9354 of 68548.3%★★☆☆☆
201059.2255 of 69263.2%★★★☆☆
200949.3329 of 66350.4%★★★☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202318.9341 of 40014.8%★☆☆☆☆
202137.4324 of 57343.5%★★☆☆☆
201842.455 of 12556.0%★★★☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202352.2103 of 24758.3%★★★☆☆
202278.527 of 19285.9%★★★★☆
202146.0241 of 40440.3%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202185.41 of 60699.8%★★★★★

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202620.9288 of 37022.2%★☆☆☆☆
202518.3316 of 39520.0%★☆☆☆☆
202422.2281 of 38627.2%★☆☆☆☆
202343.3383 of 80652.5%★★★☆☆
202228.1344 of 49430.4%★★☆☆☆
202136.2461 of 82043.8%★★☆☆☆
201931.9298 of 46636.1%★★☆☆☆
201841.5319 of 62448.9%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202625.6237 of 33829.9%★★☆☆☆
202523.0260 of 34524.6%★☆☆☆☆
202429.1209 of 32936.5%★★☆☆☆
202337.2435 of 76042.8%★★☆☆☆
202228.5267 of 39231.9%★★☆☆☆
202142.9380 of 80252.6%★★★☆☆
201937.3224 of 38742.1%★★☆☆☆
201844.6256 of 54352.9%★★★☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202352.721 of 6467.2%★★★★☆
202132.6172 of 25733.1%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202624.3241 of 32826.5%★☆☆☆☆
202527.0238 of 34430.8%★★☆☆☆
202431.5201 of 32037.2%★★☆☆☆
202338.3405 of 71743.5%★★☆☆☆
202236.2221 of 36940.1%★★☆☆☆
201857.9155 of 50369.2%★★★☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202619.2296 of 37020.0%★☆☆☆☆
202520.3299 of 37921.1%★☆☆☆☆
202424.0267 of 37027.8%★☆☆☆☆
202334.4484 of 81040.2%★★☆☆☆
202228.5328 of 47631.1%★★☆☆☆
202142.8384 of 81853.1%★★★☆☆
201927.4296 of 43532.0%★★☆☆☆
201841.1308 of 61750.1%★★★☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202317.2351 of 3848.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202140.1373 of 65042.6%★★☆☆☆

Native American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202230.334 of 4930.6%★★☆☆☆
202149.1115 of 39070.5%★★★★☆
201891.83 of 6295.2%★★★★★

Pacific Islander

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202134.170 of 10835.2%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202315.7349 of 3633.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202170.566 of 78991.6%★★★★★
201823.4153 of 17814.0%★☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankArizona percentileRating
202621.3214 of 27020.7%★☆☆☆☆
202517.3232 of 27716.2%★☆☆☆☆
202417.2244 of 28815.3%★☆☆☆☆
202335.6425 of 67537.0%★★☆☆☆
202217.3389 of 44612.8%★☆☆☆☆
202137.7502 of 78035.6%★★☆☆☆
201918.6283 of 33716.0%★☆☆☆☆
201827.0331 of 43624.1%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2021)100th percentile+52 vs school
Homeless (2023)67th percentile+17 vs school
Asian (2023)58th percentile+8 vs school
Pacific Islander (2021)35th percentile-13 vs school
Native American (2022)31st percentile-11 vs school
Hispanic (2026)30th percentile-4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)27th percentile-7 vs school
Female (2026)22nd percentile-12 vs school
White (2026)21st percentile-13 vs school
Male (2026)20th percentile-14 vs school
African American (2023)15th percentile-35 vs school
Multi-racial (2023)9th percentile-41 vs school
Special Education (2023)4th percentile-46 vs school
By subject vs Arizona (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts30%-11 vs state
Mathematics25%-8 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Desert Foothills Middle School

Students who attend Desert Foothills Middle School usually go on to attend Greenway High School

Desert Foothills Middle School ranks 355th of 536 Arizona middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

In the 2024-25 school year, 621 students attended Desert Foothills Middle School.

Students at Desert Foothills Middle School are 50% Hispanic, 33% White, 8% African American, 4% Two or more races, 3% Asian, 1% American Indian.

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Latest Arizona data All new data »
2025–26 AASA test scoresNewOct 13, 2026
2024–25 dropout ratesDec 2, 2025
2024–25 graduation ratesNov 7, 2025
2024–25 AASA & AzSCI test scoresOct 10, 2025


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

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries 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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