Best Public Schools in Zip Code 85353

Zip code 85353 has 13 schools—eight elementary schools and five high schools—with a wide spread in reported results. Across the schools, average all-grades proficiency is 30% in English language arts (ELA) and 23% in math, compared with 41% and 33% statewide. The most important finding is that results vary sharply by school, so the area-wide averages hide a standout high school and much lower-performing schools.

University High School leads the group at 91% in ELA and 89% in math—50 and 56 percentage points above state results—and reaches 71% in 11th-grade science, 52 points above the state. SchoolDigger ranks it fourth of 256 Arizona high schools, at the 98th percentile, with five stars. Maricopa Institute of Technology is next at 58% ELA and 35% math; its science result is 33%. Among elementary schools, Arizona Desert Elementary School leads in all-grades ELA and math, at 35% and 25%. At the low end, Union Elementary School reports 10% ELA and 7% math, while Dos Rios Elementary reports 16% ELA and 7% math. In 11th-grade science, University leads; in 5th-grade science, Arizona Desert matches the state at 34%.

SchoolDigger’s recent rankings show mixed movement rather than a clear area-wide trend: among 11 schools with comparable histories, the average percentile fell by about 3 points, while the median change was zero. University gained 2 percentile points and Arizona Desert gained 2, while Maricopa Institute of Technology fell 12 and Desert Oasis Elementary School fell 19; these rankings do not establish whether test scores rose or fell. School context also varies: University has 23.1 students per teacher, compared with 14.1 at Maricopa Institute of Technology; Arizona Desert’s ratio is 19.4, versus 16.8 at Porfirio H. Gonzales Elementary School. Some high schools show a different picture on graduation: West Point High School graduated 92% of students, above the 80% state rate, despite below-state 11th-grade ELA and math results. Because schools serve different grades, broad all-grades comparisons do not capture every school’s grade-specific results.