Carson City

Carson City has 9 public schools serving about 5,027 students — 7 elementary schools and 2 middle schools, with no high schools or alternative schools in this list. Elementary enrollment totals 3,340 and middle school enrollment 1,687; middle schools average 843.5 students versus 477.1 for elementary, with sizes ranging from 279 at Carson Montessori to 854 at Eagle Valley Middle School. All schools belong to the Carson City district, which ranks 7th of 12 districts at the 42nd percentile with 3 stars.

The strongest academic performers are Edith W. Fritsch Elementary, which leads with 44.8% Math, 45.2% Reading, and 35.4% Science (59th percentile, 3 stars); Al Seeliger Elementary, with the highest Reading at 46.7%, Math at 43.8%, and the lowest chronic absenteeism at 11.6%; and Carson Montessori, at 41.5% Reading and 33.3% Science with the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (21.86%). Among middle schools, Carson Middle School beats Eagle Valley Middle School in Math (29.4% vs. 20.8%), Reading (40.4% vs. 34.7%), and Science (32.4% vs. 28.7%), despite far higher chronic absenteeism (33.2% vs. 27.0%).

The biggest challenges sit with Empire Elementary (8th percentile, 0 stars, 20.2% Math, 12.9% Science), Mark Twain Elementary (23rd percentile, 1 star), and Fremont Elementary, which posts only 10.4% Science despite the highest per-student spending ($17,090) and lowest student-teacher ratio (15.3). District-wide simple averages are 32.1% Math, 38.6% Reading, and 22.8% Science — above the district in Math, even in Reading, and below in Science. Chronic absenteeism averages 20.1%, with six of the nine schools below the state's 25.5%.