Summary:
ZIP code 92253 has two La Quinta Middle and Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle, both serving grades 6–8 in Desert Sands Unified. In 2025–2026, their equal-weighted average proficiency was 33% in ELA, 19% in math and 21% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 38% and 36%. Both schools scored below the state in every subject; the most important area-wide finding is that math has the widest shared shortfall, at 20 points below the state.
La Quinta Middle stands out in ELA and math, while Paige leads in science. La Quinta’s 2025–2026 results were 37% in ELA and 27% in math, compared with Paige’s 29% and 11%—advantages of 8 and 16 points. Paige’s science proficiency was 23%, 4 points above La Quinta’s 19%. La Quinta’s math lead also appeared in every grade; in grades 6 and 7, its math results were 4 and 1 points above district results, though its grade 8 result was 3 points below.
Recent changes were mixed: La Quinta improved in all three subjects from 2024–2025, with math up 4 points, while Paige’s ELA and math each fell about 1 point and its science rose 1 point. Across both schools, ELA was essentially flat, math rose 1 point, and science rose 1 point, but the science gap with the state widened by about 2 points. SchoolDigger ranks La Quinta 1,755th of 2,703 (35th percentile, two stars) and Paige 2,316th (14th percentile, one star). La Quinta has the higher 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio, 23.4 versus 20.7; both schools report similar free/reduced lunch eligible shares that year, 85% at La Quinta and 84% at Paige.
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