Summary:
Snowline Joint Unified has two middle schools, Quail Valley Middle and Pinon Mesa Middle; both serve grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, both schools were below state proficiency in ELA, math, and science. Across the two schools, the average proficiency rate was 31% in ELA, 15% in math, and 26% in science, compared with state rates of 49%, 38%, and 36%. The clearest area-wide challenge is math, where the average school result was 24 percentage points below the state.
Neither school leads in every subject: Pinon Mesa was ahead in ELA by 1 percentage point and in math by 5 points, while Quail Valley led in science by 5 points. Even each subject’s stronger school remained below the state. Pinon Mesa’s sixth graders are a notable bright spot, scoring 37% in ELA and 29% in math—5 and 16 points above Quail Valley, respectively. By eighth grade, math proficiency was low at both schools: 10% at Pinon Mesa and 10% at Quail Valley, compared with 36% statewide. These differences suggest school strengths vary by subject and grade rather than pointing to one consistent top performer.
Results improved at both schools from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, with the biggest gains in science: the two-school average rose 10 percentage points in science, 3 in ELA, and 2 in math. Those gains exceeded the state’s increases in each subject, although the math gap remains largest. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings were mixed: Quail Valley went from 26 to 13 to 20 over the last three years, while Pinon Mesa moved from 24 to 21 to 24. Other reported measures offer context, not an explanation: 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 20.8 at Quail Valley and 21.4 at Pinon Mesa, and both schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–2025 (81% and 77%, respectively). In 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 27% and 28%, respectively, above the district’s 25% and the state’s 18%.
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