The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in English language arts. The lowest is 23% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Parkway El
Parkway Elementary serves grades three through six in Monahans, a small county-seat town in West Texas anchored to the Permian Basin's oil-and-gas economy. The school is housed in a brand-new building, opened recently, that was funded through a major district bond referendum and reflects a deliberate modernization of the district's elementary facilities. The campus is designed for a student body that is currently sized at around midsize for its grade band, with a population that reflects Monahans's demographics: a majority Hispanic student body alongside a substantial white student population, with about three-fifths of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.
The academic picture is mixed. In English language arts—the stronger of the two core subjects tested here—students in grades five and six are reaching proficiency at a rate above the midpoint, with the fifth-grade cohort posting the more robust result. Reading comprehension and writing skills show solid ground. Mathematics tells a different story. Performance is lower across the board, with fifth and sixth graders meeting standards at rates that are below where the ELA cohorts sit, and fourth-grade math results particularly weak. Grade three results across both subjects come from a Spanish-language assessment and show very limited proficiency, though the tested cohort for that grade is quite small. Science proficiency, measured only in fifth grade, is low. When aggregated across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint within Ward County's districts—a meaningful position relative to its immediate peer set—but the underlying data reveals uneven performance by subject, grade, and assessment language that merits close attention from families.
The new facility itself is a tangible asset. The building is designed for current and projected enrollment, with separate learning spaces and support areas for the lower elementary grades (three and four) and upper elementary grades (five and six), each with its own cafeteria, gymnasium, and library, which reduces congestion and allows younger and older students to move through the day in distinct zones. Families relocating to or within Monahans with school-age children in this grade band will find a school that is physically modern and less crowded than many older elementary campuses.
On housing, Monahans sits at the lower end of regional values compared to the state and national benchmarks. The area supports modest homeownership with a price-to-income ratio that is favorable relative to national norms, making entry to the housing market somewhat more achievable for families, though the town's population has been flat to declining since the 2020 census and tracks the cyclical fortunes of oil-and-gas employment. Most of the housing stock dates to earlier decades, and recent new construction has been limited. The school district recently passed a major bond that raised property tax rates to fund the Parkway building and high school renovation; families should factor in that the permanent debt service represents an ongoing tax cost beyond what the property value alone would suggest.
Parkway Elementary's enrollment is stable at its current size. The school draws from a community where many families work in extraction, production, and energy services, where secondary employment comes from education, public administration, and increasingly from the district's own growth in building new campuses. The district's broader context includes active efforts at economic diversification—a hydroponic greenhouse operation and frac-sand mining have joined oil and gas—but the local economy remains cyclically vulnerable. For a parent evaluating fit, this is a new school with improving infrastructure in a town that is small, car-dependent, and built around a volatile economic base. The academic performance data shows particular softness in mathematics and science that a parent may want to look into further with the school when exploring elementary-level readiness and support structures.
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