North Conejos School District No. Re1J

The North Conejos School District No. Re1J serves roughly 927 students across five schools in Colorado's San Luis Valley, spanning grades PK–12 with two elementary schools, a middle school, a high school, and a small alternative program. The district ranks 32nd out of 115 Colorado districts (72nd percentile, 4 stars), but that overall strength hides big differences between schools. Centauri High School is the flagship, posting a 96.2% graduation rate and a 0.0% dropout rate, while Manassa Elementary School achieved the district's highest test scores in 2024-2025 despite having the highest poverty rate (75.26% free/reduced lunch). La Jara Elementary School is the most consistent elementary performer, with 53.9% math proficiency in 2025-2026 and the district's lowest chronic absenteeism at 17.5%.

The biggest concern is Centauri Middle School, where math proficiency fell to just 20.8% in 2025-2026—nearly 17 points below the state—and 8th-grade science proficiency was 16.0%, less than half the state average of 35.4%. This stark drop from the strong elementary results suggests a transition problem around 6th grade. Science scores across the district are also highly volatile: Manassa's 5th-grade science fell from 64.1% to 22.9% in one year, and Centauri Middle's 8th-grade science dropped from 51.5% to 16.0%. While small cohorts can exaggerate swings, the pattern points to inconsistent science instruction or testing readiness.

Chronic absenteeism is a districtwide issue (22.9%) but below the state average (28.4%), with La Jara the clear outlier at 17.5%. The North Conejos Alternative Program serves a distinctly higher-need population of just 30 students, with a 15.2% dropout rate, a 72.7% graduation rate, and the district's highest student-teacher ratio at 18.4. Overall, parents should feel good about the elementary schools and Centauri High, but should watch middle school math and science closely—those are the highest-leverage areas for district improvement.