PENASCO ELEMENTARY

PENASCO ELEMENTARY is one of the very small elementary schools in HOPE, New Mexico, overseen by ARTESIA, with 19 students on its rolls from grades K through 8. That puts it 93% below the typical public school in New Mexico, which averages around 287 students.

Within ARTESIA, which oversees 10 schools and 3,729 students, PENASCO ELEMENTARY is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, PENASCO ELEMENTARY lists that 95% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder consists of 5% Hispanic. By comparison, Chaves County as a whole is about 54% White, so the school skews meaningfully more White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, PENASCO ELEMENTARY has 2 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 9.5:1. The state averages around 12.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Chaves County put the typical household earns roughly $52,938 per year, about 18% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 20% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Chaves County's 33 public schools (combined enrollment of about 10,504 students), PENASCO ELEMENTARY is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is CLOUDCROFT ELEMENTARY, roughly 32.8 miles away.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Five-year trend. PENASCO ELEMENTARY's enrollment has increased 19% since 2018, when it stood at 16 (now 19). Over the same period, the Hispanic share declined from 13% to 5%. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 7.6:1 in 2018 to 9.5:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.