The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in Math. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Loma Elementary School
Loma Elementary serves the rural community of Loma, an unincorporated residential and agricultural area in northwestern Mesa County, several miles northwest of Grand Junction. The school is part of Mesa County Valley School District No. 51 and enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. After elementary school, students in the area attend middle and high school in Fruita, about five miles southeast.
The school is located within the small civic core of Loma, which spreads out along U.S. Route 6. There is no downtown district; community life centers on the Loma Community Hall, the community park, and the post office. Public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management surround the area, and the Colorado River is accessible at the nearby Loma Boat Launch State Wildlife Area. Growth in the community has been slow and modest, with a slight population increase over the past decade, and the area’s identity is oriented toward preserving its rural character.
Loma Elementary is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and small numbers of students from other racial backgrounds. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade population, so there is no graduation rate because the school does not serve high school grades. State testing data was available for the 2024-25 school year.
On the Colorado Measures of Academic Success assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Mesa County. In math, a share of students scored at the proficient or advanced level. In English language arts, a similar share met that bar. Fifth-grade science results showed that about a third of students scored at the proficient level. The school had high participation rates on all three tests. These results give a mixed picture. Proficiency rates indicate that a meaningful portion of students are meeting grade-level expectations, but they also suggest that most students are not scoring at the proficient level in these subjects. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand how instruction and support are tailored to students at different performance levels.
The district recently renewed its strategic plan for 2025 through 2030, which sets district-wide academic priorities after meeting the goals of the previous plan. This may affect curriculum and student support for Loma Elementary in the coming years.
Housing in Loma’s ZIP code has a value that sits above the Colorado state benchmark, with year-over-year price growth. The national unemployment rate has held steady near four percent. No information was available on Loma Elementary’s discipline rates, staffing ratios, chronic absenteeism, or course access, so those dimensions cannot be described. The school does not have data on special education or English learner populations in the provided materials.
This is a small elementary school in a low-density, rural setting. Families who value a small-town or agricultural environment and want their child in a school that serves only the elementary grades before moving to middle and high school in a neighboring town may find a good fit here. The proficiency results suggest a school where some students are succeeding academically and others are not, which is a pattern worth discussing directly with the school or district to understand the approach to supporting all learners.
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