Summary:
The 99623 zip code area is home to two schools - Joe Redington Senior Junior/Senior High School and Dena'ina Elementary School, both part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. While the two schools serve similar student populations, their academic performance varies significantly, with Dena'ina Elementary consistently outperforming its counterpart.
Dena'ina Elementary stands out as the stronger performing school, with higher proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Math, and Science compared to both the district and state averages. For instance, in the 2023-2024 school year, 52.17% of Dena'ina students were proficient or better in Science, compared to 46.93% for the district and 36.94% for the state. In contrast, Joe Redington Senior Junior/Senior High School has consistently lower test scores than the district and state averages across all subjects and grade levels, with its statewide ranking in the bottom half of Alaska high schools for the past 3 years.
Despite the performance gap, both schools serve economically disadvantaged student populations, with free/reduced lunch rates exceeding 65%. However, Dena'ina Elementary's higher rate of 73.56% suggests it may be serving a more economically challenged community. Interestingly, this does not appear to hinder Dena'ina's academic success, indicating the school may be employing effective strategies to support its students. The schools' similar student-teacher ratios suggest class size is not a major driver of the performance differences, which may be more closely tied to factors such as curriculum, teaching quality, and school leadership.
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