Summary:
The Friona Independent School District (Isd) in Texas contains two elementary schools: Friona Elementary (serving grades 2-5) and Friona Pri (serving Pre-Kindergarten through 1st grade). The district ranks in the 24th percentile statewide, indicating significant academic challenges, and both schools serve a student population with a very high level of economic disadvantage.
Friona Elementary stands out as a school in academic crisis, with its state ranking dropping from the 10th percentile to the 2nd percentile over two years. Academic performance is well below state averages across all subjects. For example, only 24% of 4th graders are proficient in reading compared to 53% statewide, and just 10.94% of 5th graders are proficient in math versus 47.38% statewide. The most alarming metric is 5th-grade science, where only 5.56% of students were proficient, a 24-point gap from the state average. In contrast, Friona Pri has the highest percentage of economically disadvantaged students (87.1%) and a higher student-teacher ratio of 16.7:1, compared to 14.4:1 at Friona Elementary, despite spending more per student ($11,353 vs. $10,403).
A key takeaway is the severe drop-off in performance by 5th grade, suggesting that learning gaps become insurmountable in upper elementary grades. The science proficiency rate is critically low, indicating students may lack foundational reading and math skills needed for complex subjects. The district requires immediate, intensive intervention to address these systemic issues, as the foundational skills taught in early grades at Friona Pri are not translating into academic success at Friona Elementary.
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