The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Mendoza John F Es
Mendoza John F Elementary sits on the east side of Las Vegas, part of the Clark County School District, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, and its enrollment is mid-sized for a Clark County elementary campus. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with small representation from Black, White, Asian, multiracial, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native families. Every student at Mendoza qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school squarely in a community-serving role for families working with limited household resources. We looked for data on English learners and students with individualized education programs, but those figures were not reported, so we cannot characterize those populations here. The same is true for staffing ratios, attendance patterns, discipline data, and course access. Those gaps mean the picture of daily school life is incomplete from what is publicly available.
On state assessments, Mendoza's results tell a mixed story. In English language arts, roughly two-fifths of tested students in grades three through eight reached proficiency on the SBAC, the state's standard assessment. Math proficiency landed lower, at about a third of tested students. Science results were notably weaker, with only a small fraction of the fifth graders who sat for the exam demonstrating proficiency. Participation was strong across all three subjects, which means nearly all eligible students were tested and the results reflect the school broadly rather than a skewed subset. No multi-year trend data was available, so we cannot say whether these numbers represent improvement, decline, or stability over time. A parent weighing Mendoza may want to ask the school directly how it approaches math and science instruction and what supports are in place for students performing below grade level, since those are the areas where proficiency lagged most.
The surrounding neighborhood's housing market is relatively affordable for the Las Vegas metro area. Home values in the school's zip code sit below both the Nevada state benchmark and the national benchmark, and they have softened slightly over the past year. Rents are modest and have risen only a little, making the area one where renting remains meaningfully cheaper than carrying a mortgage at current interest rates. For families who own or are looking to buy, that affordability gap cuts both ways. Lower prices ease entry, but the recent dip in values suggests the market here has not kept pace with broader trends. The broader economic backdrop shows stable employment nationally, with unemployment holding steady, and median household incomes that have been inching up over recent years.
We searched for recent Clark County School District policy or curriculum changes that might affect families at Mendoza, but the search returned general county governance information rather than anything specific to school district operations, programs, or initiatives. So we cannot point to a district-level reform or investment that would shape the experience here in a concrete way. This is worth noting because district-level decisions around staffing, curriculum adoption, or budget priorities can matter a great deal at a school where every student is economically disadvantaged and academic outcomes are uneven.
What a family gets at Mendoza is a community-rooted elementary school serving a largely Hispanic, high-poverty student population in an affordable part of the Las Vegas metro. The school's English language arts results are the strongest signal in the data, with a reasonable share of students reaching proficiency. Math is middling, and science is a clear soft spot. Without information on staffing, programs, discipline, attendance, or specialized populations, much of what determines whether a child thrives here sits outside what the public data can show. A visit or a conversation with school leadership would help fill in the practical questions the numbers leave open.
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