Best Public Schools in Columbus, NM

Columbus, New Mexico has just one school in this data set: Columbus Elementary, an elementary school serving grades PK–5 with 483 students. It is part of Deming Public Schools. There are no middle or high schools in the city, so all comparisons must be against district and state averages. The school serves a very high-poverty population: 99.38% of students receive free or reduced lunch, and the student–teacher ratio is 14.6. The district is ranked 72 of 87 in the state (17th percentile, 1 star), and Columbus Elementary itself is ranked 293 of 346 for 2025–2026 (15th percentile, 1 star).

In 2025–2026, Columbus Elementary’s strongest results are in 5th grade math and science. Fifth grade math proficiency is 46.15% on NM Combined and 45.31% on NM-MSSA, about 12 percentage points above both the district (34.23% NM Combined) and the state (33.85% NM Combined). Fifth grade science is 35.38% on NM Combined and 35.94% on NM-ASR, also above the district (24.18%) and state (31.97%). However, English Language Arts (ELA) is a clear weakness across all grades: 17.57% proficient on NM Combined vs district 33.9% and state 43.34%. Third grade ELA is 13.64% and fourth grade ELA is 14.29%, roughly 30–36 points below the state. Fifth grade ELA is better at 26.15% but still below district and state. Math overall is near the state average (25.23% vs 25.54%) and above the district (22.21%), with a large jump between 4th grade (15.38%) and 5th grade (46.15%).

Year-over-year, absolute scores improved. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, ELA all grades rose from 14.43% to 17.73% on NM-MSSA; math all grades rose from 18.41% to 25.0%; and 5th grade science rose from 19.23% to 35.94% on NM-ASR, a notable turnaround. Yet the school’s rank percentile fell from 27 to 15, meaning it lost ground relative to other schools. For parents, the key takeaways are: Columbus Elementary faces significant challenges in ELA, especially in grades 3 and 4, but has real strengths in 5th grade math and science. The high poverty rate is important context, and the absolute improvements suggest some positive momentum even though the school remains low-ranked within a low-ranked district.