Summary:
ZIP code 89502 in Reno has two public middle schools serving grades 6–8 — Edward L. Pine Middle School (740 students) and E. Otis Vaughn Middle School (554 students) — both part of the Washoe County district, which ranks in the top third of Nevada districts with 4 stars. Together the two schools enroll about 1,294 middle-grade students, and both report 100% free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. Yet both rank at the very bottom of Nevada middle schools: 147th of 148 and 143rd of 148 in 2025-26. That is a sharp contrast to sit inside a comparatively strong district.
Comparing the two directly, Vaughn spends more per student ($13,297 vs. $12,375) and has a much lower student-teacher ratio (18.1 vs. 25.5), but results differ only modestly: math 12.3% vs. 7.1%, science 12.9% vs. 11.9%, and reading 18.1% vs. 19.8%. Vaughn also has the higher chronic absenteeism rate, 40.6% versus Pine's 35.6% — both well above the 25.5% state rate. Reading is the relative bright spot at both schools, while math is the weakest area. At Pine, 6th-grade math is 11.3% while 8th-grade math is under 5%; the 7th-grade math value is suppressed by the state, so it is unknown.
Both schools have hovered near the bottom of state rankings for two straight years, and year-to-year score changes were small and mixed. Note that spending figures come from 2023-24 and staffing ratios from 2024-25, one year older than the achievement data. Taken together, these numbers show what is happening — very low proficiency, high absenteeism, and resources that are not producing proportional gains in outcomes — but they do not explain why.
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