Lafe Nelson School

Summary:

Lafe Nelson School is an elementary school located in Safford, Arizona, serving 455 students in grades K-6. The school is part of the Safford Unified District, which is ranked 188 out of 288 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Lafe Nelson School's academic performance, as measured by the percentage of students proficient or better in AASA English Language Arts and Mathematics, is generally lower than the Safford Unified District and the state of Arizona averages. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, the school's 3rd-grade ELA proficiency rate was 33%, compared to the district's 38% and the state's 39%. Similarly, the school's 5th-grade Math proficiency rate was 29%, compared to the district's 21% and the state's 33%. The school's statewide ranking and SchoolDigger rating have fluctuated over the years, but generally, the school has been in the middle to lower range of Arizona elementary schools.

When comparing Lafe Nelson School to the other nearby schools in the Safford Unified District, such as Dorothy Stinson School and Ruth Powell Elementary School, the academic performance and school rankings are generally similar, with all three schools performing below the state averages in many areas. The high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at Lafe Nelson School, 55.6% during the 2022-2023 school year, may be a contributing factor to the school's lower academic performance compared to the state. Additionally, the significant differences in performance between the school's student subgroups suggest that Lafe Nelson School may need to focus on addressing the unique needs of its diverse student population.


Detail:

Public K-6

 1100 S 10th Ave
       Safford, AZ  85546-3427


(928) 348-7020

District: Safford Unified District

SchoolDigger Rank:
600th of 904 Arizona Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $4,681 Help


Students who attend Lafe Nelson School usually attend:

Middle:    Safford Middle School
High:    Safford High School

Student/teacher ratio:  20.6 Help
Number of students:  455

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
56.9%
White:
38.7%
American Indian:
1.8%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  55.6% Help


 See top rated Arizona elementary schools

 Compare Lafe Nelson School to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Lafe Nelson School ranks worse than 66.4% of elementary schools in Arizona. It also ranks last among 3 ranked elementary schools in the Safford Unified District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 27.84. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Lafe Nelson School has the smallest elementary school student body size in the Safford Unified District. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (56.9%), White (38.7%), American Indian (1.8%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 55.6% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Safford Unified District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Lafe Nelson School is 20.6, which is the lowest among 3 elementary schools in the Safford Unified District! (See more...)
Help
Compare Lafe Nelson School employs 22 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Lafe Nelson School is $4,681. 1 elementary schools in the Safford Unified District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Lafe Nelson School:

SchoolDigger ranks Lafe Nelson School 600th of 904 Arizona public elementary schools. (See Lafe Nelson School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:


Safford Unified District:

SchoolDigger ranks Safford Unified District 188th of 288 Arizona school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Your rating for Lafe Nelson School?

Rank History for Lafe Nelson School

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2009 45.81 592nd 1062 44.3%
2010 48.63 554th 1090 49.2%
2011 50.48 519th 1075 51.7%
2012 51.90 553rd 1141 51.5%
2013 52.88 552nd 1158 52.3%
2014 50.68 544th 1079 49.6%
2015 36.02 552nd 955 42.2%
2016 56.73 428th 1079 60.3%
2017 57.15 434th 1106 60.8%
2018 47.08 520th 1109 53.1%
2019 48.55 489th 1039 52.9%
2021 68.06 364th 1226 70.3%
2022 49.39 448th 1000 55.2%
2023 55.81 483rd 1245 61.2%
2024 27.84 600th 904 33.6%
See the entire list of Arizona Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 83.41 62nd 1027 94.0%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 39.48 505th 975 48.2%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 42.37 588th 1201 51.0%
2023 29.17 604th 820 26.3%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 49.14 390th 820 52.4%
2022 65.32 210th 618 66.0%
2023 57.68 385th 1116 65.5%
2024 35.44 335th 546 38.6%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 48.67 486th 1023 52.5%
2019 45.14 436th 862 49.4%
2021 74.62 285th 1219 76.6%
2022 48.79 425th 824 48.4%
2023 51.93 505th 1219 58.6%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 46.52 507th 1032 50.9%
2019 36.87 490th 850 42.4%
2021 54.82 480th 1220 60.7%
2022 43.10 473rd 830 43.0%
2023 56.06 472nd 1216 61.2%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 41.91 443rd 895 50.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 57.76 329th 911 63.9%
2019 54.81 286th 709 59.7%
2021 66.83 296th 1198 75.3%
2022 51.20 354th 716 50.6%
2023 47.78 544th 1170 53.5%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Native American students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 62.66 119th 654 81.8%
2022 67.54 30th 82 63.4%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for Native American Students!

Rank History for White students at Lafe Nelson School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AZ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 24.96 574th 720 20.3%
2019 25.57 478th 595 19.7%
2021 61.12 398th 1161 65.7%
2022 47.69 417th 800 47.9%
2023 57.62 405th 1024 60.4%
See the entire list of Best Arizona Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Arizona Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Lafe Nelson School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: Arizona Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)
100%

0%

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Reviews:
by a citizen
Saturday, October 24, 2009

Open Quote Lafe Nelson is a wonderful school. It has a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere.The teachers work very hard to provide a good education for all the children. Close Quote



Enrollment information for Lafe Nelson School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 527 12 1 282 8 n/a n/a -92 738
1989 485 12 8 262 1 n/a n/a -207 561
1990 343 14 4 220 2 n/a n/a 15 598
1991 348 22 3 246 5 n/a n/a 99 723
1992 433 37 2 287 2 n/a n/a 0 761
1993 458 15 4 307 2 n/a n/a 0 786
1994 460 14 4 300 7 n/a n/a 0 785
1995 413 6 10 307 6 n/a n/a 0 742
1996 413 6 10 307 6 n/a n/a 0 742
1997 340 13 5 296 7 n/a n/a 0 661
1998 342 14 6 277 10 n/a n/a 0 649
1999 355 16 5 291 9 n/a n/a 0 676
2000 354 18 5 310 11 n/a n/a 0 698
2001 365 18 6 301 8 n/a n/a 0 698
2002 229 16 0 244 11 n/a n/a 0 500
2003 229 16 0 244 11 n/a n/a 0 500
2004 226 21 0 239 6 n/a n/a 0 492
2005 211 21 2 248 4 n/a n/a 0 486
2006 216 14 5 228 4 n/a n/a 0 467
2007 228 18 6 245 6 n/a n/a 0 503
2008 255 18 3 255 9 n/a n/a 0 540
2009 282 16 5 258 7 n/a n/a 0 568
2010 268 17 4 256 6 n/a n/a 0 551
2011 254 16 6 266 4 0 2 0 548
2012 248 11 6 285 4 0 15 0 569
2013 225 10 4 273 7 4 17 0 540
2014 254 11 8 301 16 0 19 0 609
2015 241 14 7 276 9 0 22 0 569
2016 233 8 3 259 8 0 17 0 528
2017 235 7 3 247 12 0 16 0 520
2018 214 6 2 245 12 0 13 0 492
2019 233 4 0 252 17 0 13 0 519
2020 223 5 0 247 18 0 13 0 506
2021 164 5 1 221 9 0 11 0 411
2022 179 4 0 250 9 0 9 0 451
2023 176 4 0 259 8 0 8 0 455

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Lafe Nelson School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 738 34.8 21.2 n/a
1989 561 27.5 20.4 n/a
1990 598 28.5 20.9 n/a
1991 723 33.5 21.5 n/a
1992 761 37.0 20.5 n/a
1993 786 37.0 21.2 n/a
1994 785 37.0 21.2 n/a
1995 742 37.0 20.1 n/a
1996 742 37.0 20.1 n/a
1997 661 32.0 20.7 n/a
1998 649 31.0 20.9 n/a
1999 676 31.0 21.8 n/a
2000 698 35.5 19.7 n/a
2001 698 36.0 19.4 n/a
2002 500 26.5 18.9 n/a
2003 500 26.5 18.9 n/a
2004 492 27.5 17.9 58.9
2005 486 29.8 16.3 64
2006 467 27.6 16.9 n/a
2007 503 25.1 20.0 n/a
2008 540 28.7 18.8 63.3
2009 568 32.0 17.8 64.1
2010 551 30.9 17.8 42.3
2011 548 29.1 18.7 72.4
2012 569 29.5 19.2 41.5
2013 540 28.5 18.9 66.7
2014 609 29.0 21.0 61.1
2015 569 28.0 20.3 52.5
2016 528 24.0 22.0 66.9
2017 520 31.5 16.5 71.9
2018 492 24.5 20.0 54.9
2019 519 25.5 20.3 66.9
2020 506 24.5 20.6 60.9
2021 411 25.0 16.4 n/a
2022 451 20.0 22.5 36.1
2023 455 22.0 20.6 55.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Lafe Nelson School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 738 34.8 21.2 n/a
1989 561 27.5 20.4 n/a
1990 598 28.5 20.9 n/a
1991 723 33.5 21.5 n/a
1992 761 37.0 20.5 n/a
1993 786 37.0 21.2 n/a
1994 785 37.0 21.2 n/a
1995 742 37.0 20.1 n/a
1996 742 37.0 20.1 n/a
1997 661 32.0 20.7 n/a
1998 649 31.0 20.9 n/a
1999 676 31.0 21.8 n/a
2000 698 35.5 19.7 n/a
2001 698 36.0 19.4 n/a
2002 500 26.5 18.9 n/a
2003 500 26.5 18.9 n/a
2004 492 27.5 17.9 58.9
2005 486 29.8 16.3 64
2006 467 27.6 16.9 n/a
2007 503 25.1 20.0 n/a
2008 540 28.7 18.8 63.3
2009 568 32.0 17.8 64.1
2010 551 30.9 17.8 42.3
2011 548 29.1 18.7 72.4
2012 569 29.5 19.2 41.5
2013 540 28.5 18.9 66.7
2014 609 29.0 21.0 61.1
2015 569 28.0 20.3 52.5
2016 528 24.0 22.0 66.9
2017 520 31.5 16.5 71.9
2018 492 24.5 20.0 54.9
2019 519 25.5 20.3 66.9
2020 506 24.5 20.6 60.9
2021 411 25.0 16.4 n/a
2022 451 20.0 22.5 36.1
2023 455 22.0 20.6 55.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Lafe Nelson School

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YearPersonnel Expenditures from Federal FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from Federal FundsTotal Expenditures from Federal FundsPersonnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsNon-Personnel Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $266 (5.3%) $13 (0.3%) $544 (10.9%) $4,404 (88.5%) $294 (5.9%) $4,697 (94.4%) $4,976
2022 $236 (5.0%) $13 (0.3%) $486 (10.4%) $4,138 (88.4%) $294 (6.3%) $4,431 (94.7%) $4,680

Data source: Arizona Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Lafe Nelson School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 489th of 1039 Elementary schoolsRanks 483rd of 1245 Elementary schools
 8.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students519455
 12.3%
African American44
American Indian178
 52.9%
Asian00
Hispanic252259
 2.8%
Pacific Islander00
White233176
 24.5%
Two or More Races138
 38.5%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients66.9%55.6%
 11.3%


Schools Near Lafe Nelson School









Frequently Asked Questions about Lafe Nelson School

In the 2022-23 school year, 455 students attended Lafe Nelson School.

Students at Lafe Nelson School are 57% Hispanic, 39% White, 2% American Indian, 2% Two or more races.

Lafe Nelson School ranks 600th of 904 Arizona elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Students who attend Lafe Nelson School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Safford Middle School
High : Safford High School


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Arizona Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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