The top reported proficiency rate is 68% in English language arts. The lowest is 57% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on La Barge Elementary
La Barge Elementary is a very small kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school in the remote high-desert community of LaBarge, Wyoming, part of Sublette County School District #9. The town sits in the Green River Valley of Lincoln County along the highway corridor connecting Kemmerer to the north and Salt Lake City to the south. Ranching, oilfield work, and service industries anchor the local economy, and publicly reported income figures suggest energy-sector wages keep median household earnings high for a rural place of this size. The community has seen substantial population swings over recent census cycles, and no major residential developments appear in available sources. What this means for a parent is a school that serves a tight, small-town population where most families know one another and where class sizes are tiny by any standard.
The enrollment is small enough that each grade has only a handful of students. A little over half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is predominantly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and a few students identifying as two or more races. Data on individualized education programs and English-learner status was not available, so we cannot characterize those populations here. The school is not a charter or magnet, and its Title I status was not reported.
Academic results come from Wyoming's WY-TOPP assessment for the most recent school year. Because the school is so small, the tested counts in each grade are low, and that affects what can be reported. Third grade had only a single student tested in both math and English language arts, so proficiency was suppressed for privacy. Fourth grade math proficiency landed in a high range, with most of the small group of tested students scoring proficient. Fourth grade English language arts was also strong, with a solid majority proficient. Fifth grade results in both math and English language arts showed a smaller majority of students proficient, and the average scale scores were reported for both. Science was tested only in fourth grade, where a modest majority reached proficiency. Every grade with reported data showed full participation.
Taken together, the available proficiency rates place this school above the midpoint among districts in Lincoln County on an overall proficiency index, though the comparison set is small. The strongest signal here is fourth grade, where both math and English language arts proficiency ran high. Fifth grade results were more middling, and a parent may want to look into how the school supports the transition into upper elementary and eventually the move to middle school in Big Piney.
That transition is a defining feature of the LaBarge educational pathway. The elementary school sits in town, but once students finish fifth grade they head to Big Piney for middle school and high school, a bus ride to a neighboring community. The elementary years are spent close to home in a familiar setting; secondary education requires travel and a shift to a larger peer group.
Beyond the assessment data, there are real gaps. No staffing figures, attendance or chronic-absenteeism rates, discipline data, course-access details, or program offerings were available. The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes such as construction projects, curriculum overhauls, or budget shifts. Civil-rights and outcomes data was absent. Housing values and rental figures were not provided in the school-level data. A parent considering La Barge Elementary should treat the academic picture as partial but encouraging where it exists, and should ask the school directly about supports for upper-elementary students, special populations, and the transition to Big Piney.
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