Spartan Learning Academy

Spartan Learning Academy is a small two-grade middle school serving 276 students in grades 7–8 in Bernalillo, New Mexico, a community just north of Albuquerque and near Rio Rancho, and it is the only middle school in Bernalillo Public Schools, a district ranked 82nd of 87 districts statewide. Over the past ten reported years, the school has never exceeded the 32nd percentile in statewide rankings. In 2025–26, it ranked at the 18th percentile with 1 star.

Academically, English language arts is the clearest bright spot. The school’s ELA proficiency is 36.4%, slightly above the district but below the state, and its 7th-grade ELA result of 41.28% is above the district and within about 6 points of the state. Math is the defining crisis: only 8.79% of students are proficient, 8th-grade math is under 5%, and the school ranks last in math and 8th-grade science among 11 nearby schools. Science proficiency is 13.28%, about 21 points below the state. Compared with Bernalillo Elementary, just 0.15 miles away, the school is stronger in ELA by about 8.4 points but weaker in math. Mountain View Middle, only 2.22 miles away, ranks at the 87th percentile with 45.43% math proficiency, and Eisenhower Middle and Desert Ridge Middle—also high-poverty schools—reach the 93rd–94th percentile. That contrast suggests the gap is not explained by poverty alone.

The 8th-grade year is a particular weak point: ELA falls to 32.31%, math drops below 5%, and science—tested only in 8th grade—lands at 13.28%. ELA improved from 26% in 2022–23 to 41.02% in 2024–25 but slipped to 36.4% in 2025–26. Some groups do better than the school’s overall rank, including English learners and special-education students, while female and low-income students rank below average. Despite a favorable 10.5 student-teacher ratio—lower than most neighboring schools—results remain weak. Overall, Spartan Learning Academy shows real ELA strength, but math, 8th-grade readiness, and science need urgent attention.