Lawrence W Cross Middle School, Tucson AZ

Original Research by School Decision on Lawrence W Cross Middle School

Lawrence W Cross Middle School sits within the Amphitheater Unified District in Tucson, serving grades six through eight as a regular public school. The school occupies a campus on Chapala Drive in the northwest part of the city, an area with a mix of older residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. Tucson itself is a large desert city with a historic downtown, a major university, and wide suburban development; the school draws from a community that includes both long-established homes and newer subdivisions.

Academically, Cross Middle School shows a clear pattern. English language arts proficiency is notably strong, with all three grades performing at levels well above what is typical across the district. Math proficiency is lower and more uneven, though still respectable. Science results for eighth graders fall roughly in the middle range. When measured against other schools in Pima County, the overall proficiency across tested subjects places this school in the top quartile — a sign that student performance is consistently higher than at many neighboring schools. This is a meaningful strength for families looking for a middle school where most students meet or exceed state standards in core subjects, particularly in reading and writing.

The student body is moderately sized for a middle school in a city district. The demographic composition is predominantly White, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Asian, Black, Native American, and multiracial students. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility data are not available, so it is unclear what share of families face economic disadvantage. Information on special education identification and English learner services is also absent. A parent interested in those support structures may want to ask the school directly about how they serve students with disabilities or emerging bilingual learners, as no civil rights or discipline data are reported either.

Because Cross Middle School ends at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to examine here. The broader district context appears stable, with no major recent changes publicly reported. The housing market in the area reflects the Tucson metro pattern: home values have held fairly steady, and monthly rents are moderate relative to incomes, though affordability pressures exist as they do across much of the Southwest.

For a family weighing options, this school offers a dependable academic environment with a clear strong suit in literacy. The math results suggest room for growth, but the overall proficiency picture is favorable compared with other Pima County districts. The school’s size and composition are unexceptional for Tucson — it is neither unusually large nor unusually diverse by local standards. The missing data on economic need and special programs means a parent should not assume those are issues, but should plan to ask. This is a solid, in-district middle school for a student who would benefit from a setting where most peers are performing at or above grade level, with a teaching staff that appears to deliver above-average results by county norms.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 642%

School 42% · District 35% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 32% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 28% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 50% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 763%

School 63% · District 46% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 49% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Science

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 37% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

This schoolAmphitheater Unified District (4406), same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.