The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 28% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Gadsden Elementary
Gadsden Elementary sits in Sunland Park, a small border city at the junction of New Mexico, Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico, with El Paso to the east and Ciudad Juárez to the south. The city is predominantly residential and Hispanic or Latino, with a commercial strip economy long shaped by the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino and, more recently, by a marijuana dispensary sector that draws cross-state customers from Texas. Publicly reported sources describe a high local poverty rate and a median household income well below the national figure. The city has no traditional downtown core; it was formed from three formerly unincorporated communities, Anapra, Sunland Park, and Meadow Vista, so civic and school facilities are distributed across neighborhoods rather than concentrated in one center. Mount Cristo Rey and the Rio Grande anchor the local landscape, and a branch campus of Doña Ana Community College operates in the city. Growth has been modest, with housing demand tight and vacancy rates low.
The school itself is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the Gadsden Independent School District. Enrollment is small for a school spanning that many grade levels. The student body is almost entirely Hispanic or Latino, and every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here. A parent may want to ask the school directly about special education services and English language support, since the community's demographics and border location suggest both could be relevant.
State assessment results from the most recent year are available for math, English language arts, and science. Math proficiency sits below the statewide midpoint, with a portion of tested students reaching proficiency that is modest. English language arts results are somewhat stronger, with roughly a third of students proficient. Science, tested in a single grade band with a small number of students, landed close to the English language arts figure. These results give a picture of a school where a minority of students are meeting grade-level benchmarks across all three subjects. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is not possible to say whether performance is improving or declining. Average scale scores and participation rates were also missing from the state data.
Because Gadsden Elementary does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school also does not appear in any comparison fact-set positioning it against neighbors, so no within-county or within-district comparison can be drawn here. Information on course access, staffing ratios, attendance, discipline, and Title I status was not provided. These are gaps a parent might explore with the school or district directly, since they affect day-to-day classroom experience.
The housing market around the school is relatively affordable compared with both state and national benchmarks. Home values in the school's zip code sit below the statewide typical and well below the national typical. The estimated monthly mortgage on a median-value home is moderate, and rent-to-income ratios, where data was available, suggest rentals are manageable relative to local incomes. That said, rent data was incomplete, so a full picture of rental affordability is not possible. Home values have softened slightly year over year, while state and national benchmarks have edged upward.
The district brief turned up little on recent changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or budget matters, so there is nothing to report on that front.
What the assembled picture suggests is a small, community-embedded elementary school serving a nearly uniform Hispanic or Latino student population in a border city with limited economic resources. Academic proficiency is below midpoint in math and modest in English language arts and science. Housing is affordable by state and national standards. The gaps in the data are real and span several areas parents often care about, from special populations to staffing to discipline. A family considering this school would benefit from asking the school directly about those areas, since the public data does not yet fill them in.
See more original research from School Decision →