Summary
Capitan High is a small, rural public high school serving grades 9–12 with 134 students at 519 Smokey Bear Blvd in Capitan, New Mexico, and it is the only high school in Capitan Municipal Schools — so the district's high-school numbers are this school's numbers. For 2025–26, Capitan High ranked 58th of 132 New Mexico high schools (56th percentile, 3 stars), placing it squarely in the middle. Looked at over a decade, the school has drifted from the high 70s percentile (2014–16) to the mid-50s and mid-60s, with one striking exception: 2023–24, when it leaped to the 87th percentile (22nd of 172, 4 stars) before settling back. Because grades hold only about 37–39 students each, a single student can shift a proficiency rate by roughly 2.6 to 3.6 percentage points, so single-year swings deserve caution.
Graduation is the school's strongest, most consistent result: 90.4% in 2024–25 against 80.6% statewide — up 15.8 points in five years. That edges Ruidoso High (89.3%) and clearly tops Carrizozo High (80.1%). Eleventh-grade science is also a genuine bright spot, at 43.24 versus the state's 34.27 — roughly nine points above. Instruction is unusually small-scale, with 8.2 students per teacher, about half Ruidoso High's 16.5 and close to Carrizozo High's 7.4. Students from low-income families have historically performed well here, ranking at the 80th, 83rd and 77th percentiles across three separate reporting years — each time above the school's overall standing.
Mathematics is the clear weak spot. Eleventh-grade math is reported only as under 20%, compared with state figures of 12.72% and 12.53%, so the exact level isn't public but it trails the state. Language arts sits modestly below state as well, where Ruidoso High holds a slight edge. Special education is the weakest subgroup result on record — 42nd of 58, 28th percentile, 2 stars in 2021–22 — though that is a single, dated observation. Carrizozo High's 2025–26 school-level scores are suppressed, so a direct math comparison isn't possible, and Capitan High outranks Ruidoso High in every overlapping year.
Thank you for your feedback!