The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in Science. The lowest is 37% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Jose Barrios Elementary
Jose Barrios Elementary sits on Little Walnut Road in Silver City, serving first through sixth graders as part of Silver Consolidated Schools. It is a regular public school, the kind of neighborhood elementary that draws from the surrounding residential streets of a small southwestern town. The enrollment is modest and spread fairly evenly across the six grade levels, so no single grade dominates. About half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which is common for the area and gives a sense of the economic mix the school works with. The student population is majority Hispanic, with a substantial White minority and a small scattering of other backgrounds. The school does not report its special education or English learner figures, so those slices of the picture are absent here.
On state assessments from the most recent year, Jose Barrios shows a split pattern. In English language arts, a majority of tested students reached proficiency, which is a solid result for an elementary school and a genuine strength. Science results were similar, with most tested students clearing the proficiency bar, though far fewer students were tested in science since that assessment touches fewer grades. Math is the softer area. Fewer than half of tested students demonstrated proficiency, and while the data does not give us trend lines to know whether this is improving or flat, the gap between math and the other subjects is wide enough that a parent may want to ask the school how it is approaching math instruction. No participation rate or average scale score was reported, and only one year of results is available, so there is no way to read direction from the numbers alone. The school does not have a graduation rate, which is expected because it does not serve high school grades.
Silver City itself is a town of layered identity. It is the Grant County seat, home to Western New Mexico University, and sits in the foothills of the Pinos Altos Range near the vast Gila National Forest. The downtown is compact and walkable, with a historic grid of restaurants, galleries, and shops that gives the place its arts-and-tourism character. Mining remains part of the economic backbone, with Freeport-McMoRan operating nearby copper operations, alongside the university, the regional medical center, and government offices as major employers. The town's population has been gradually declining rather than growing, and the housing market reflects that pressure. Home values sit well below the state and national benchmarks, and they have been softening. For families, that means housing is relatively affordable by broad standards, though the declining trajectory of values may signal limited economic momentum. The town has limited public transit, so outside the walkable downtown core, auto dependence increases.
We looked for recent district-level changes that might affect families, things like bond elections, curriculum shifts, or budget moves, and found little concrete evidence of parent-relevant changes in the available sources. The district brief came back empty on that front, so rather than speculate, we left it out. Data on staffing, attendance, discipline, course access, and civil-rights indicators was not provided for this school, and no program offerings were listed. Title I status was also not reported. These gaps mean the portrait here leans heavily on demographics, test results, and community context. A parent weighing this school would do well to ask directly about support services, enrichment offerings, and how the school addresses its math results, since those pieces are not visible in what was available.
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