Half of the four high schools in the area made AYP this year — Mountainair and East Mountain high schools.

EMHS principal Doug Wine said his school — which boasts 75.4 and 88.4 percent of all students proficient in math and reading, respectively, and a graduation rate of 88.1 — has its own set of concerns.

"What we have to do is different. We still have work to be done," he said.

Wine said he wants to focus on college preparedness in the coming school year and working to increase achievement for every student, not just using student averages.

"I would say lets take every kid and compare them, and then we'll see if we're worth it," he said.

Wine said he is also looking at the achievement gap, a trend of Hispanic, black and American Indian students having lower graduation rates and lower percentages of proficiency in AYP results than their Anglo counterparts.

Proficiency among Hispanic students at the school are 14.6 percentage points lower in math and 4.7 points lower in reading than among Caucasian students this year. Wine said he is also comparing that to previous years, in which Hispanic students have posted higher proficiency rates.

At Mountainair High School 46.7 percent of Hispanic students were proficient, compared with 43.5 percent of all students at the school.

"We're breaking the national trend there," said Travis Dempsey, the school's principal. "It's been like that for two years … but you've got to back up and realize that we have a small population."

There were just 28 students tested, with 18 of those categorized as Hispanic. Also, in math scores, 30.4 percent of all the students were proficient, compared with 26.7 percent of Hispanic students.

The graduation rate at the school is 100 percent. Dempsey said he credits the hard work of teachers and students with his school's results.

Meanwhile, Estancia High School, which tested 52 students this year, has now failed to make AYP for the second time in a row and for the first time it is now designated as a school in need of improvement.

"We were so close to making proficiency, but we want to see growth and see all students improve on an annual basis," Superintendent Carolyn Allen-Renteria said.

In math, the high school missed AYP in all its subgroups, including Hispanics and economically disadvantaged. Scores in those two subgroups have dropped in math from last year, while students overall are up from last year, from 27.8 percent to 30 percent proficient.

In reading, overall, proficiency has increased significantly, Renteria said.

Scores were up from 34.7 percent proficient last year to 52 percent this year, and the school has a 92.2 percent graduation rate.

"Overall, we're very pleased with what teachers, students and community members are doing, but this year we are going to try to improve at all of the schools," Renteria said.

Moriarty High School missed AYP this year in eight categories and has a graduation rate of 71.6 percent.

The school's new principal, Stephanie West, said there are a number of initiatives that might change those results in the coming school year, however.

She also pointed out that student achievement is up in reading by 10 percent and in math by 7 percent for all students.

West said there will be an effort to increase student participation in the test and to get parents involved.

The Moriarty-Edgewood School District is holding a public meeting to discuss AYP results tonight from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Moriarty school board room.

There will also be a parent night, starting at the school gym, on Aug. 20 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.