Summary:
Portales Municipal Schools in New Mexico includes two middle-level schools — Lindsey-Steiner Elementary, serving grades 5–6 with 376 students, and Portales Junior High, serving grades 7–8 with 326 students — together enrolling 702 students in a district rated 61st of 87 statewide, at the 30th percentile with 2 stars. Both schools have nearly universal free/reduced-lunch eligibility (99.73% and 99.69%), and their student/teacher ratios differ (13.4 versus 9.0).
Lindsey-Steiner Elementary is the stronger math performer: 35.58% all-grade NM-MSSA math proficiency versus 27.61% in the district and 27.85% statewide. Its 5th graders exceed the state in ELA (+5.36 points), math (+1.74 points), and science (+7.64 points). Its weak spot is 6th grade ELA at 31.01% versus 39.14% statewide, an 8.13-point deficit. Portales Junior High's clearest strength is 8th grade science (36.77% versus 34.33% statewide, also above state in 2024–2025). But its all-grade math is 19.57% against 27.85% statewide, with 7th grade math at 18.60% versus 27.10%; 8th grade math is essentially at state level (20.65% versus 20.50%). Both schools trail the state in all-grade ELA.
Science is the shared bright spot, while math is the sharpest divider — a 16.01-point gap between the schools at the all-grade level. Portales Junior High declined from 67th percentile/3 stars in 2023–2024 to 42nd percentile/2 stars in 2025–2026, and both schools' individual histories sit above the district's 30th percentile/2-star rating. The smaller classes at Portales Junior High do not translate into higher outcomes in this snapshot. Because the schools serve different grade bands, grade-level comparisons are more informative than all-grade ones, and year-over-year changes reflect different cohorts of students rather than the same students improving or declining.
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