The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Math. The lowest is 58% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Slade Elementary
Slade Elementary sits on Shield Street in Laramie, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Albany County School District #1. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet, and its enrollment is moderate for an elementary building in a district that serves a college town of Laramie's size. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic share and small proportions of multiracial, Asian, Black, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. Just under two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is neither especially high nor especially low for the area. The school does not report IEP or English-learner figures in the data provided, so families wanting to understand special-education or language-support services would need to ask the school directly.
On state testing through Wyoming's WY-TOPP assessment, Slade shows a clear pattern: results strengthen as students move up through the grades. Third-grade math proficiency sits near the midpoint, with roughly half of tested students meeting the bar, but by fourth grade the proficient share rises sharply, and by fifth grade the large majority of students are proficient. English language arts follows a similar but slightly less dramatic arc, with third grade landing above half, fourth grade dipping, and fifth grade rebounding to a strong level where more than three-quarters of students are proficient. Fourth-grade science proficiency sits in the upper-middle range. Participation rates are at or near full across every tested grade and subject, which means these results reflect nearly all eligible students. The upward trajectory from third to fifth grade is a genuinely encouraging signal, suggesting that students accumulate skills as they move through the building. The fourth-grade ELA dip is the one soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school, though the fifth-grade rebound suggests it does not become a lasting deficit. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is unclear whether this year's results are typical or part of a shift.
The school sits in a city where education is the defining industry. The University of Wyoming anchors Laramie at its center, sitting adjacent to a revived downtown with locally owned restaurants, microbreweries, shops, and public art inside historic buildings. The university, Ivinson Memorial Hospital, and the Union Pacific Railroad are the major employers, and the city retains its railroad-junction identity between the Snowy Range to the west and the Laramie Range to the east. Outdoor recreation is a defining feature of life here. The downtown and campus function as a combined center for commerce, civic life, and culture, while residential neighborhoods radiating outward are more car-dependent. Publicly reported sources describe Laramie as a growing spot for college-town culture and outdoor access, though specific data on new housing developments was not available.
Housing in Laramie's zip code is affordable relative to income. Typical home values sit near the state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio is below the national figure, meaning buying power stretches further here than in many comparable places. Renting is notably cheaper than carrying a mortgage, which gives families flexibility. Rents have risen modestly recently, while home values have been nearly flat.
The neighbor comparison for Albany County districts could not be meaningfully computed because the county contains only a small number of districts, making the cohort too small for a fair proficiency-index comparison. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, and the school has no graduation rate because it serves only elementary grades, which is expected for this grade band. The district brief returned no parent-relevant changes from recent months, so there is nothing to report on bond issues, curriculum shifts, or strategic-plan updates.
For a family weighing Slade, the picture is a solid neighborhood elementary in an affordable college town, with state test results that trend upward through the upper grades and a peer environment that reflects Laramie's mixed but not high-poverty composition. The gaps in special-population and trend data are real, and filling them in with a call to the school would round out the picture.
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