The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Science. The lowest is 23% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Alvis Elementary
Alvis Elementary sits on Aspen Street in Clayton, a small rural town in Union County, New Mexico, near the Oklahoma panhandle. It is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fourth grade, part of the Clayton Municipal Schools district. The enrollment is small, appropriate for a town of this size, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic with a large White population and a small number of American Indian and Alaska Native students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is consistent with the economic profile of the surrounding community. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those dimensions of the school's student support picture remain unclear from this source.
State assessment results are available for the current school year in math and English language arts, covering the tested grades within the school's band. Because Alvis serves only through fourth grade, the tested population is limited to third and fourth graders. English language arts proficiency sits at a moderate level, with close to half of tested students reaching proficiency. Math proficiency is considerably lower, with roughly a quarter of tested students proficient. This is a pattern where reading outcomes outpace math outcomes, and the math results are a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school. Average scale scores and participation rates were not reported in the available data, so it is difficult to contextualize these results beyond the proficiency rates themselves. A science proficiency figure exists, but it comes from an earlier assessment cycle under a different test, and the comparability to current results is uncertain, so it is best treated as historical context rather than a current measure.
No multi-year trend data is available for this school beyond the single current-year data point, which means there is no way to read whether proficiency is improving, declining, or holding steady over time. Civil rights data, discipline information, course access details, staffing figures, and attendance metrics were all absent from the available sources. Title I status was also not reported, though given the free and reduced-price meal rate, families might reasonably ask the district about supplemental federal funding and how it supports instruction. The district brief turned up little of lasting impact regarding recent parent-relevant changes, so there is nothing concrete to relay on that front.
Clayton itself is a traditional small town with a historic Main Street, early twentieth-century commercial architecture, and some Works Progress Administration-era improvements. The downtown includes the Luna Theater, publicly reported as one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in America, with a Mission-style exterior and Art Deco interior listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The town holds an annual Independence Day parade. Walkability is largely confined to the downtown grid and adjacent residential streets, and the low population density means most daily life outside that core depends on driving.
The housing market in the Clayton area is notably affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Home values here sit well below the New Mexico statewide figure and far below the national figure, and the area has seen a modest year-over-year decline in values rather than the appreciation common in much of the country. Rent data was not available. For a family considering the area, this means housing costs are low relative to income, though the declining values may reflect limited demand or economic headwinds in the broader region. The estimated monthly mortgage cost is modest, and the price-to-income ratio is close to the national average, suggesting that homeownership is within reach for many local households.
Taken together, Alvis Elementary is a small early-grades school in an affordable rural community with a moderate reading program and a math outcome that warrants attention. The missing data across special populations, staffing, discipline, and civil rights means the picture here is incomplete, and a family evaluating this school would benefit from asking the district directly about how it supports students reading below grade level in math, what interventions are in place, and how federal funding is deployed given the economic needs of the student body.
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