Christine Duncan Heritage Academy

Christine Duncan Heritage Academy is a PK–8 school at 1900 Atrisco Dr. NW on Albuquerque's West Side, serving 534 students in Albuquerque Public Schools and standing out as one of the few nearby public campuses that carries students all the way through 8th grade. Its 2025–26 results place it 270th of 346 New Mexico schools (22nd percentile, 1 star) and 55th of 87 in the district — below average, though 270th is its best showing in more than a decade, and its reading and math scores have risen faster than the state's since 2022–23.

Compared with its closest neighbors, the school looks stronger than its overall rank suggests. Among the traditional APS elementaries nearby — Chaparral Elementary, Cochiti Elementary, Painted Sky Elementary, Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary, Lavaland Elementary and Reginald Chavez Elementary — it posts the highest English/language arts proficiency (36.07%) and nearly the highest math. Grades 3 and 4 are at or above district levels: 3rd-grade reading (43.4%) edges the district, and 4th-grade reading (48.15%) beats every nearby traditional APS campus. English learners are the clearest bright spot, ranking at the 55th percentile with 3 stars — up from the 7th percentile three years earlier and above the school's own overall standing. Low-income students (31st percentile) also outrank the school as a whole.

Science is the big outlier: 9.52% proficiency against roughly 33% for the district and state, last among all 10 comparison schools, and the only subject slipping over time. The middle grades drag most — 5th-grade reading sits about 19 points below the district, and grades 6–8 trail by 4–14 points in both reading and math. Female students rank at the 15th percentile versus 27th for male students, the one persistent gap. For context, two nearby campuses — Montessori Of The Rio Grande (92nd percentile) and Horizon Academy West (89th) — are among the state's strongest, while Marmon and Painted Sky rank near the bottom.