Summary
Socorro Middle in El Paso, TX, serves 510 students in grades 6-8 within the Socorro Independent School District (Isd), a district ranked in the top 28% of Texas, though the school itself has faced significant academic challenges, with nearly 89% of its students from low-income backgrounds.
Academically, Socorro Middle has consistently ranked in the bottom 30% of Texas middle schools over the last three years, earning a 1-star rating. Its test scores are notably lower than nearby schools in the same district. For example, in 8th-grade reading, only 42.5% of Socorro students were proficient, compared to 72.9% at Col John O Ensor Middle and 76.2% at Eastlake Middle. The gap is even wider in social studies, where just 12.0% of Socorro students met proficiency, versus 57.0% at Eastlake Middle. However, there is a bright spot: 58.5% of Socorro students taking Algebra I passed the End-of-Course exam, which is above the state average of 54.0%, suggesting the school effectively accelerates some students into advanced math.
Despite low academic performance, Socorro Middle has an exceptionally low dropout rate of 0.3%, well below the district average of 1.1%, indicating strong student retention. Yet, the school struggles to support key subgroups, with performance for special education, gifted, and English language learner students dropping sharply in recent years. Socorro is part of a cluster of schools in eastern El Paso—including Salvador Sanchez Middle and Ann M Garcia-Enriquez Middle—that all serve high-poverty populations and rank in the bottom 30% of Texas, highlighting concentrated challenges in the area. While the school spends $11,513 per student, comparable to other high-need campuses, its performance lags behind more economically diverse schools just a few miles away.
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