Best Public Schools in Carlsbad, NM

Summary:

The city of Carlsbad, New Mexico is home to 13 schools, including 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools, and 2 alternative schools. The schools in this Carlsbad school district serve students from early childhood through high school, providing a range of educational opportunities.

Among the standout schools in Carlsbad is Carlsbad Early College High, which ranks among the top 10 high schools in the state and boasts exceptional test scores, with 76.19% of 11th graders proficient or better in science, 71.43% in English Language Arts, and 42.86% in mathematics. The school also has a high 4-year graduation rate of 78%. Another high-performing school is Desert Willow Elementary, which ranks among the top 100 elementary schools in the state and has strong performance in both English Language Arts and Mathematics.

The data also reveals significant variation in school performance across the district, with some schools, such as Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus, struggling with lower proficiency rates. This suggests opportunities for the district to learn from the high-performing schools and implement best practices to ensure all students have access to a quality education, regardless of their socioeconomic status or the school they attend.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SAT School Day English Language Arts (2025)	SAT School Day Mathematics (2025)	NM-ASR Science (2025)			NM-MSSA English Language Arts (2025)							NM-MSSA Mathematics (2025)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SAT School Day English Language Arts 11th Grade	SAT School Day Mathematics 11th Grade	NM-ASR Science 5th Grade	NM-ASR Science 8th Grade	NM-ASR Science 11th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 4th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 5th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts All Grades	NM-MSSA Mathematics 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 4th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 5th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 6th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 7th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 8th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics All Grades	Total
Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus	Public	6-8	301 South Alta Vista St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	740	49	15.0	34.3%	146 (19.7%)	8 (1.1%)	569 (76.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (1.8%)	15.7	174^th of 192 public middle schools	9.4%		13.2	152^nd of 165 public middle schools	7.9%	22				18.2					31.4	28.6	23.5	27.8				23.3	14.6	8.0	15.3	$9,597
Carlsbad High	Public	9-12	3000 West Church	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	1,685	86	19.6	22.0%	478 (28.4%)	30 (1.8%)	1,118 (66.4%)	19 (1.1%)	11 (0.7%)	4 (0.2%)	25 (1.5%)	21.3	104^th of 131 public high schools	20.6%		30.5	104^th of 172 public high schools	39.5%		27.0	6.2			33.0															$10,383
Early Childhood Education Center	Public	PK-K	1801 West Lea St.	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3300	207	11	18.0	9.7%	41 (19.8%)	2 (1.0%)	159 (76.8%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)								(n/a)																				$10,395
Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus	Public	6-8	800 West Church St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	908	48	18.8	21.7%	350 (38.5%)	7 (0.8%)	513 (56.5%)	11 (1.2%)	7 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	16 (1.8%)	59.7	63^rd of 192 public middle schools	67.2%		53	40^th of 165 public middle schools	75.8%	23				49.3					46.9	45.7	59.5	50.6				36.3	30.2	33.2	33.3	$9,503
Monterrey Elementary	Public	K-5	1600 Johnson St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3309	366	22	16.6	28.1%	113 (30.9%)	1 (0.3%)	244 (66.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	55.5	115^th of 345 public elementary schools	66.7%		67.2	108^th of 413 public elementary schools	73.8%	7			35.9			38.1	49.2	56.6				47.5	34.9	18.5	60.4				36.5	$9,032
Sunset Elementary	Public	K-5	923 North Walter St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	438	26	16.9	28.3%	108 (24.7%)	5 (1.1%)	316 (72.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	40.8	184^th of 345 public elementary schools	46.7%		58.2	138^th of 413 public elementary schools	66.6%	46			37.5			42.7	43.0	46.1				43.9	26.8	22.6	20.2				23.1	$8,498
Jefferson Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	101 South Canal St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	215	19	11.3	59.1%	72 (33.5%)	0 (0.0%)	121 (56.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.8%)								(n/a)							36.8	32.0		47.6	55.0	40.2							12.8	$8,598
Carlsbad Early College High	Public	9-12	1500 University Dr	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-9415	200	14	14.2	10.0%	79 (39.5%)	4 (2.0%)	106 (53.0%)	7 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	94	10^th of 131 public high schools	92.4%		89.5	16^th of 172 public high schools	90.7%	6	71.4	42.9			76.2															$8,500
Desert Willow Elementary	Public	K-5	2100 Primrose St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3310	667	45	14.9	22.0%	149 (22.3%)	6 (0.9%)	495 (74.2%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (1.0%)	61.3	93^rd of 345 public elementary schools	73.0%		47.7	182^nd of 413 public elementary schools	55.9%	89			30.8			66.3	60.0	51.4				58.8	33.7	35.8	30.8				33.6	$8,800
Ocotillo Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2106 Captain Williams Ln	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 628-4498	621	38	16.4	20.1%	192 (30.9%)	5 (0.8%)	388 (62.5%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (3.5%)	45.7	164^th of 345 public elementary schools	52.5%		70.2	97^th of 413 public elementary schools	76.5%	67			31.5			48.3	52.0	30.4				44.2	32.8	30.4	22.8				29.0	$8,453
Edison Elementary	Public	1-5	406 N. Alameda Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 628-4498	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Cottonwood Elementary	Public	K-5	1609 W Lea Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3304	684	44	15.4	28.1%	99 (14.5%)	7 (1.0%)	558 (81.6%)	5 (0.7%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	8 (1.2%)	52.4	128^th of 345 public elementary schools	62.9%		45.2	198^th of 413 public elementary schools	52.1%	70			26.9			35.7	57.5	43.5				45.9	27.8	50.7	35.9				38.5
Carlsbad Enrichment Center	Public, Alternative	1-12	406 N. Alameda Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3300	170	11	16.0	36.5%	49 (28.8%)	4 (2.4%)	116 (68.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)								(n/a)

Cities Near Carlsbad

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Loving	11.67 mi	3	56^th
Artesia	31.2 mi	9	26^th
Lake Arthur	42.05 mi	3

See the top NM New Mexico cities

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

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.