Paso Del Norte Fine Arts Academy

Paso Del Norte Fine Arts Academy is a PK-5 elementary school in the Socorro Independent School District (Isd) in El Paso, TX, serving 862 students in a predominantly low-income community where about 72% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

This school stands out for its strong and consistent improvement over the last four years, climbing from the 34th percentile to the 57th percentile statewide and earning a 3-star rating. This upward trend outpaces nearby schools like Helen Ball Elementary, which dropped from the 66th to 48th percentile, and Benito Martinez Elementary, which has remained stagnant in the low-to-mid 40th percentile range. The school also shows notable strengths with specific student groups: its low-socioeconomic status students rank in the 70th percentile statewide, and it has a history of exceptional performance with its African American students, who ranked in the 99th percentile in 2021-2022. However, there is a widening gender gap, with male students (65th percentile) now performing significantly better than female students (49th percentile), a reversal from previous years.

Despite its arts-focused name, the school's academic performance still trails the district average (72nd percentile) in both Reading and Math across all grade levels. A critical weakness is 5th Grade Science, where only 19.57% of students were proficient in 2024-2025, compared to the district's 27.26%. The school shows relative strength in Reading over Math, with a more pronounced gap in Math proficiency. For context, the nearby Sgt Roberto Ituarte school, just 1.2 miles away, is a 5-star school ranked in the 94th percentile with proficiency rates often exceeding 70-80%, demonstrating that high achievement is possible within the same community and district.