Summary:
The 85704 zip code area in Arizona is home to two middle schools - Lawrence W Cross Middle School and La Cima Middle School, both serving grades 6-8 and part of the Amphitheater Unified District.
Based on the available data, Lawrence W Cross Middle School stands out as the higher-performing school, consistently achieving better test scores and rankings compared to district and state averages. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, 44% of 8th graders at Lawrence W Cross were proficient or better in Science, compared to 37% for the district and 30% for the state. The school has also received higher rankings from SchoolDigger, placing it in the top 25% of Arizona middle schools in recent years.
In contrast, La Cima Middle School has consistently ranked in the bottom half of the state, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. Despite spending more per student ($9,659 compared to $6,737 at Lawrence W Cross) and having a lower student-teacher ratio (13.1 compared to 20.7), La Cima's academic performance lags significantly behind its counterpart and the district/state averages. This suggests that simply increasing funding or reducing class sizes may not be enough to improve student outcomes without addressing other underlying issues.
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