Original Research by School Decision on Las Animas Junior High School
Las Animas Junior High School is a small, regular public school in the town of Las Animas, the county seat of Bent County in southeastern Colorado. The school serves only seventh and eighth graders within the Las Animas School District No. Re-1. Its setting is rural and agricultural, a compact town whose economy is tied to farming and where water access is a central and contested issue as Front Range cities acquire local water rights. The town has been losing population over recent census counts, a decline that shapes the context for its schools.
The school’s enrollment is small, a size that fits its status as the only middle-level school in a small district. Roughly half of the students are Hispanic and a little under half are White, with small numbers of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic conditions of the community.
State testing results for the most recent school year are suppressed for proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science, which means Colorado’s reporting system did not release the percentage of students scoring at proficient or above. The raw numbers show that more than half a hundred students were tested in math and English language arts, and about half that many in eighth-grade science. The school met participation rate thresholds in all three subjects, so the testing was administered. Average scale scores were reported for each subject but, without the proficiency rates, a parent cannot determine from this data alone how the school’s performance compares to state benchmarks or to other schools in Bent County. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its most recent results and how those have shifted over time.
Because Las Animas Junior High does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to consider. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no information about special education or English learner populations was available in the data reviewed. Discipline, staffing, course access, and attendance figures were also absent from the record. The district brief turned up no recent major changes or initiatives that are publicly documented.
The housing market in Las Animas is notably more affordable than state and national averages. Home values are considerably lower than Colorado’s overall median, and they have seen a modest year-over-year decline. This affordability may appeal to families looking for a lower-cost entry point in a rural setting, though the population decline and water constraints suggest limited local job growth and development.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a very small junior high in a shrinking rural town. The student body is economically diverse, the school is embedded in a tight-knit community where the high school student council organizes the annual Santa Fe Trail Day parade, and the district operates just a few schools. The missing proficiency data is the main gap. Without knowing whether students are meeting state standards in core subjects, a parent has little to go on beyond the school’s scale and setting. A conversation with the principal or a visit during a school day would be the logical next step.
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