Desert Shadows Middle School

Desert Shadows Middle School, a heavily attended junior high in Nogales, Arizona, run under Nogales Unified District (4457), enrolls 784 students, covering grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 59% above the state mean of about 494.

Nogales Unified District (4457) comprises 11 schools with combined enrollment of 5,696 students; Desert Shadows Middle School is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Desert Shadows Middle School records that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (99%). The wider county runs roughly 83% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Desert Shadows Middle School logs 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 23.1:1. The state averages around 17.8:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Santa Cruz County put median household income runs about $55,217, about 23% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 16% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Santa Cruz County runs 31 public schools (combined enrollment of about 10,432 students), of which Desert Shadows Middle School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Robert Bracker Elementary, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius.

The school occupies a small-town site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Desert Shadows Middle School's enrollment has expanded 7% since 2018, when it stood at 730 (now 784).

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.