Summary:
Zip code 85053 has three middle schools: Desert Foothills Middle School and Imagine East Mesa Middle serve grades 7–8, while Imagine Surprise Middle serves grades 6–8. Across the three schools, the equal-weight average is 38% proficient in all-grades English language arts (ELA) and 30% in math, each 3 percentage points below the state. Grade-specific comparisons show a stronger relative picture in math: the schools’ averages are above the state in both grade 7 and grade 8 math, but below it in ELA in both grades. The clearest overall finding is that results differ substantially by school, with East Mesa leading and Desert Foothills trailing.
Imagine East Mesa stands out at 45% in ELA and 35% in math, 4 and 2 points above the state, respectively; it also has the highest eighth-grade science result, 28%, though that is still below the 30% state rate. At the other end, Desert Foothills records 30% in ELA and 25% in math, 11 and 8 points below the state. East Mesa’s results are 15 points higher in ELA and 10 points higher in math than Desert Foothills’. Imagine Surprise falls between them overall, at 39% in ELA and 30% in math, but its grade-level results vary: grade 7 is above the state in both subjects, while grade 8 is below in both.
SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking percentiles show the biggest recent rise at Imagine Surprise, from 32 to 49 between 2023–24 and 2025–26; East Mesa moved from 61 to 62, while Desert Foothills fell from 39 to 34. East Mesa is also the smallest school, with 140 students, compared with 248 at Surprise and 621 at Desert Foothills. Ratios range from 12.4 students per teacher at Surprise to 15.1 at Desert Foothills; East Mesa’s is 12.7, so the lowest ratio does not match the highest scores here. Rankings describe relative standing, and one year of test results cannot show whether proficiency is improving.
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