Navajo Elementary

Navajo Elementary is a PK–5 school serving 344 students in the South Valley area of Albuquerque, New Mexico, at 2936 Hughes Rd SW, within Albuquerque Public Schools — a district that itself ranks mid-to-low in the state, with the school sitting well below even that benchmark. The most important thing for families to know is how long this has been the case: across roughly a decade, Navajo Elementary has finished in the bottom 1–5% of New Mexico schools in nearly every year, with only two exceptions, and in 2025–2026 it ranks 346th of 346 ranked schools statewide — last in the state.

Achievement is very low. On 2025–2026 state tests, 18.35% of students were proficient in English language arts and 5.73% in math, against district and state figures of about 44.6% and 27.8%. Math is the sharper weakness: statewide, math proficiency runs at roughly 62% of ELA proficiency, but at Navajo it is only about 31% of ELA, so math lags far more than it does elsewhere. Science is reported only as under 20%. Poverty is close to absolute here at 99.71% free/reduced lunch, but that does not distinguish Navajo from its neighbors — nearby Maryann Binford Elementary, Kit Carson Elementary, Pajarito Elementary and Atrisco Elementary are all essentially identical on that measure, yet post higher math results.

The closest, most directly comparable school, Barcelona Elementary (0.95 miles away), reaches 30.12% ELA proficiency and 34.48% in 5th-grade science, above district and state. Two nearby charter schools serving the same community and poverty level go much further: Mission Achievement And Success 2.0 posts 67.55% ELA and 39.86% math, and Rio Grande Academy Of Fine Arts posts 54.35% ELA. One relative bright spot: Navajo's English learner students rank around the 21st percentile, far above the school's overall standing.