Elementary Schools in Portales

Summary:

The Portales school district in New Mexico is home to three elementary schools: James Elementary, Valencia Elementary, and Brown Early Childhood Center. These schools serve students from pre-kindergarten through 4th grade and are part of the Portales school district, which is ranked 51 out of 82 districts in the state.

Among the three schools, Valencia Elementary stands out as the top performer. It consistently ranks in the top 50% of New Mexico elementary schools and has the highest test scores in the district, with 48.34% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 31.72% proficient or better in Mathematics. Additionally, Valencia Elementary has a lower student-teacher ratio of 89.2 compared to the other two schools.

While James Elementary and Brown Early Childhood Center have their own strengths, such as Brown Early Childhood Center's lower student-teacher ratio of 44.4, the overall academic performance of the Portales school district is below the state average, indicating room for improvement across the district's schools.

District Detail

501 South Abilene
Portales, NM 88130

(575) 356-7000

SchoolDigger Rank:
51^st of 82 New Mexico districts

See the 2025 New Mexico District rankings!

Grades served: PK, KG-12
Students: 2,518

Primary Schools: 3
Middle Schools: 2
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-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-MSSA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 4th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts All Grades	NM-MSSA Mathematics 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 4th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics All Grades	Total
Valencia Elementary	Public	3-4	1415 South Globe	Portales	88130	Roosevelt County	Portales	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 356-7090	366	34	10.8	100.0%	92 (25.1%)	8 (2.2%)	252 (68.9%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.5%)	54.4	119^th of 345 public elementary schools	65.5%		53.4	154^th of 413 public elementary schools	62.7%	35	42.5	54.8	48.3	32.2	31.2	31.7	$9,182
Brown Early Childhood Center	Public	PK-K	520 West 5th St	Portales	88130	Roosevelt County	Portales	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 356-7075	332	35	9.4	100.0%	90 (27.1%)	11 (3.3%)	218 (65.7%)	3 (0.9%)	3 (0.9%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.8%)								(n/a)							$12,057
James Elementary	Public	1-2	701 West 18th St	Portales	88130	Roosevelt County	Portales	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 359-3675	364	35	10.4		88 (24.2%)	5 (1.4%)	260 (71.4%)	3 (0.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)								(n/a)							$10,366

Districts nearby

District	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Floyd	14.73 mi	3	26^th
Clovis	16.34 mi	16	57^th
Dora	16.36 mi	2	9^th
Texico	21.76 mi	3	7^th
Elida	24.45 mi	2

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.