Summary:
Zip code 79718, serving the rural community of Balmorhea, Texas, contains a single school, Balmorhea Independent School District (Isd) Educational Community, which serves grades PK through 12 with a total enrollment of 146 students.
As the sole school in the Balmorhea Independent School District (Isd), this school presents a unique and highly variable performance profile. It achieves standout results in several high school End-of-Course exams, with a 90% proficiency rate in Biology and a 90.91% proficiency rate in English I Reading, both far exceeding state averages. However, the school struggles significantly in elementary and middle school mathematics, with only 11.11% of 3rd graders and 7.14% of 7th graders proficient in math. The school also boasts a perfect 100% graduation rate and a 0% dropout rate, which is highly commendable given that over 83% of its students are economically disadvantaged. The school spends $21,255 per student, well above the national average, and maintains a very low student-teacher ratio of 8.1.
The most striking finding is the stark contrast between subject areas: the school consistently underperforms in math at every grade level from 3rd to 8th, often by 20-30 percentage points below the state, yet dramatically outperforms in high school science and English. A critical red flag is the 0% proficiency rate in 8th Grade Social Studies, which demands immediate investigation. While the perfect graduation and dropout rates are commendable, the low proficiency in core subjects like math raises questions about whether students are graduating with the academic skills needed for college or career. The extreme performance volatility is common in very small schools, where a single student's performance can swing proficiency percentages by 10-15 points, making year-over-year comparisons less reliable than for larger schools.
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