LA PLATA MIDDLE

Set in SILVER CITY, New Mexico, LA PLATA MIDDLE is a compact intermediate school, one of the schools within SILVER CITY. It teaches 259 students across grades 7 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 23% below the state mean of about 335.

SILVER CITY runs 9 schools in total, collectively educating 2,100 students. LA PLATA MIDDLE is one of those campuses.

On demographics, LA PLATA MIDDLE records that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 76% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school records 20% White, 2% multiracial. By comparison, Grant County as a whole is about 48% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, LA PLATA MIDDLE has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.5:1 average. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, LA PLATA MIDDLE sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 33.5%; this one delivers 35.5%.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Grant County put the typical household earns roughly $44,958 per year, roughly 31% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Grant County runs 16 public schools (combined enrollment of about 3,240 students), of which LA PLATA MIDDLE is one.

The closest other public school is SILVER HIGH, roughly 0.1 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 7 other public schools cluster around LA PLATA MIDDLE. Among the 5 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), LA PLATA MIDDLE ranks 5th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 46.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a town-center area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 13%: 298 students in 2018 compared to 259 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 71% to 76% across the same window. Class-load math has loosened: from 9.3:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the LA PLATA MIDDLE community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.