Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus

Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus is a middle school in Carlsbad, New Mexico, serving roughly 740 students in grades 6–8 as part of Carlsbad Municipal Schools. Despite the "Sixth Grade Academy" name, the school's profile covers grades 6 through 8, and its results include all three grade levels.

The school currently ranks near the bottom of New Mexico middle schools: 177th of 191 in 2025–2026, at the 7th percentile with 0 stars — down from the mid-20s percentile range in 2021–2023. Proficiency is low across core subjects, with all-grade Language Arts at 25.38%, Mathematics at 11.7%, and 8th-grade Science at 15.57%. Math is the deepest concern: 7th-grade math is 9.78% and 8th-grade math is 6.6%, both under 10% proficient. The school trails its own district in every major subject — 11.7% in math versus 24.63% for the district and 25.54% for the state — even though the district itself sits near the state average.

Comparisons with nearby schools are striking. Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus, about a mile away in the same district, ranks at the 55th percentile with 3 stars, with Language Arts at 44.4% and math at 28.68%. Loving Middle, in Loving Municipal Schools, ranks at the 71st percentile with 4 stars, despite a much higher free/reduced lunch rate (83.12% versus 34.32%) and a far smaller enrollment. Class size does not explain the gap either: Alta Vista's student-teacher ratio of 15 is lower than Pr Leyva's 18.8. The 7th-grade Language Arts result of 34.67% is the relative bright spot, though it still trails both district and state. Subgroup effectiveness ranks are broadly low, suggesting school-wide challenges rather than one isolated issue.