The top reported proficiency rate is 43% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Sahuarita Intermediate School
Sahuarita Intermediate School serves third through fifth graders in the Sahuarita Unified School District, a suburban district in southern Arizona that has been growing quickly as new master-planned communities fill in the desert between Tucson and the Mexican border. The school sits in a car-dependent town without a traditional downtown, where residential neighborhoods, big-box retail, and the district's campuses are spread along the I-19 corridor. The town’s explosive population growth over the past several decades has been driven by large developments like Rancho Sahuarita, Quail Creek, and Madera Highlands, and the district itself is one of the town’s largest employers.
The student body is about 360 children, a size that is manageable for an intermediate school. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment, with white students as the next largest group, and smaller numbers of students who identify as two or more races, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian. Data on how many students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch or receive special education services or English learner support was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its support programs and the share of students who need them.
On state assessments from the 2024-25 school year, the school’s results present a mixed picture. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient varied across the three grades, with the highest rate in fourth grade and lower rates in third and fifth grades. In math, proficiency rates declined across the grades, with third graders scoring highest and fifth graders scoring lowest. Science results for fifth graders were in a similar range. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among districts in Pima County, meaning it performs better than many of its county peers but not among the highest. The numbers suggest that while some students are meeting benchmarks, a substantial portion are not, particularly in math as students progress through the grades. A parent may want to look into how the school supports students who are below the proficient level and whether there are patterns in how performance changes from third to fifth grade.
The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not have a Title I designation in the available data, which may indicate the poverty rate is not high enough to receive federal Title I funding, though the exact threshold is not confirmed here. No information on course offerings, staffing ratios, or discipline was available, so those areas would need to be explored directly with the school.
Sahuarita itself is a fast-growing town with a mix of families and retirees, a high homeownership rate, and a median property value that remains below the state average, though still substantial. The school’s feeder pattern feeds into Sahuarita Middle School and Sahuarita High School, both of which are in the same district, so families considering a move to this part of town should be aware that the district has a voter-approved operations override in place, which provides supplemental funding that can affect class sizes and program availability. The housing market in the area has seen some softening recently, with home values and rents both showing a slight decline, but the area remains affordable relative to the broader Phoenix or Tucson markets.
For a family looking at this school, the key consideration is whether the academic performance profile aligns with their expectations. The school is neither a low performer nor a standout within its county. It serves a diverse student body in a growing suburban community where the economy is anchored by mining, agriculture, retail, and the school district itself. The lack of data on special education and English learner services is a gap worth investigating, as is the pattern of declining math proficiency across the grades. A parent moving into one of Sahuarita’s master-planned neighborhoods would find a school that reflects the broader community’s rapid expansion and the challenges that come with that, including the need to support a wide range of student needs with district resources that are supplemented by local taxpayer overrides.
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