Middle Schools in Penasco

Summary:

The small town of Penasco, New Mexico is home to a single public middle school, Penasco Middle, which serves grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 69 students. While the school has seen improvements in its ranking over the past few years, moving from 93rd out of 239 schools in 2022-2023 to 64th out of 192 schools in 2024-2025, it still faces some academic challenges.

Penasco Middle School's performance in English Language Arts (ELA) is slightly below the state average, with proficiency rates of 40% compared to the state's 44.19%. However, the school's 8th-grade ELA proficiency rate is higher than the state average at 57.89% versus 46.45%. In Mathematics, the school's proficiency rates are significantly lower than the state average, at just 10% compared to 26.81%. On the other hand, Penasco Middle School's 8th-grade Science proficiency rate is higher than the state average, at 52.63% versus 34.46%.

One notable factor about Penasco Middle School is its high percentage of free and reduced-price lunch recipients, at 97.1% for the 2023-2024 school year. This suggests that the school serves a predominantly low-income student population, which can present unique challenges and resource needs. Additionally, the school's student-teacher ratio of 30.1 is higher than the state average, which may also be a contributing factor to its academic performance. Despite these challenges, Penasco Middle School has shown signs of improvement, and continued efforts to address areas of weakness, such as Mathematics proficiency, could help the school further enhance its overall performance and ranking among New Mexico middle schools.

District Detail

13 School Rd
Penasco, NM 87553

(575) 587-2230

SchoolDigger Rank:
34^th of 82 New Mexico districts

See the 2025 New Mexico District rankings!

Grades served: PK, KG-12
Students: 276

Primary Schools: 1
Middle Schools: 1
High Schools: 1
Alternative Schools: 0

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				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	NM-ASR Science 8th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts All Grades	NM-MSSA Mathematics All Grades	Total
Penasco Middle	Public	6-8	13 School Rd	Penasco	87553	Taos County	Penasco	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 587-2230	74	5	15.5	100.0%	3 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	64 (86.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (5.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (4.1%)	57.2	64^th of 192 public middle schools	66.7%		39.7	75^th of 165 public middle schools	54.5%	11	52.6	37.9	57.9	40.0	10.0	$13,109

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Espanola	11.36 mi	15
Taos	13.42 mi	10	37^th
Taos International School	14.46 mi	1
Vista Grande High School	15.18 mi	1
Taos Academy	15.2 mi	1	16^th

See the top NM New Mexico districts

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.