Summary:
Zip code 81125 in Center, Colorado, contains exactly one middle school: Skoglund Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 with an enrollment of 124 students and is part of the Center Consolidated School District No. 26 Jt. This is a small, high-poverty school where 93.55% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, yet it maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13.2 to 1, which may allow for more individualized attention.
Academically, Skoglund ranks in the bottom quartile of Colorado middle schools, holding a 1-star rating and a 13th-percentile rank in the most recent year. Proficiency rates are far below state averages in every subject: just 5.7% of students are proficient in math versus 37.3% statewide, 8.1% are proficient in science versus 35.4% statewide, and 24.8% are proficient in ELA versus 44.7% statewide. The school is also losing ground, with declines in all subjects from the prior year, including a dramatic drop in 8th-grade science from 18.2% to 8.1%. Grade-level ELA data shows 6th graders relatively close to the state average (34.3% vs. 41.6%), but 7th graders fall to 18.2%, a gap of more than 28 points.
Despite the academic struggles, Skoglund shows notable non-academic strengths. Its dropout rate of 1.0% is below both the district (2.7%) and state (1.6%), and its chronic absenteeism rate of 16.4% is well under the state average of 28.4% and the district's 18.3%. Because Skoglund is effectively the only middle school in the district, the district's middle-grade results mirror the school's exactly, meaning its performance carries the entire district. In short, this is a school that succeeds in keeping students present and engaged but faces a crisis in math and science proficiency that requires urgent, targeted intervention.
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