Desert Foothills Junior High 3.63

Desert Foothills Junior High School, in the Washington Elementary School District, serves approximately 700 seventh and eighth grade children in the neighborhood bordered by Cactus Road on the south and Bell Road on the north, the school’s eastern boundary runs along 35th Avenue with the section from Greenway Road to Bell Road running east to the I-17. Desert Foothill’s western boundary is 51st Avenue.

Desert Foothills affords students a rich curriculum aligned to Arizona College and Career Ready Standards. The school received a “B” rating by the Arizona Department of Education for 2013-2014.

Desert Foothills offers a true middle school experience in which students are placed on an academic team consisting of five core teachers providing a school-within-a-school atmosphere. This environment provides purposeful interventions where needed and improves communication and integration. Each team of teachers builds camaraderie and infuses the DF team spirit while watching out for the students’ well-being and promoting positive youth development during the impressionable 7th and 8th grade years. All academic teams offer advanced classes in math, reading and science.

In addition, an outstanding group of special education teachers works with each team to meet the needs of students with learning disabilities in reading, writing and math. We offer READ 180, enrichment for math and language arts and Title I math for regular education students struggling with those concepts. Interventions and enrichment programs are in place to meet all of our students’ academic needs.

We strive to create a very safe environment in which all students can be academically successful and experience positive social development during their middle school years at Desert Foothills.

Desert Foothills features:

Academic teams provide school within-a school atmosphere

Advanced classes in math, reading and science

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Variety of electives

Vocal and instrumental music programs, including choir, jazz band and guitar

Extracurricular competitive sports include: boys and girls basketball, volleyball, soccer, cross country, track and field, wrestling, cheerleading and girls softball.