Carlsbad High

Carlsbad High is a large public high school in Carlsbad, New Mexico, serving grades 9–12 with 1,685 students—by far the biggest campus in this comparison. It belongs to Carlsbad Municipal Schools, a district ranked 53rd of 87 in New Mexico at the 39th percentile with 2 stars. The school itself ranks 109th of 132 statewide in 2025–2026, placing it in the 17th percentile with 1 star. That is a step down from 2023–2024, when it reached the 40th percentile, though it remains above its 2016–2017 low of the 8th percentile.

The school's profile is mixed. A clear strength is its 2024–2025 graduation rate of 90.5%, above the district's 86.3% and the state's 80.6%, and a substantial improvement over 62.6% in 2020–2021. Academics are the weak spot: 11th-grade proficiency trails the district and state in every reported subject. Math is the sharpest concern, with just 5.37% proficient in NM Combined Mathematics and 5.43% in SAT Math—less than half the state's rates. Language arts (25.42%) and science (22.16%) also lag roughly 10–12 percentage points behind state averages.

Nearby schools highlight contrasts. Carlsbad Early College High, only 0.76 miles away in the same district, ranks 19th of 132 with 4 stars and posts much higher proficiency (74.42% in ELA, 27.91% in math), though it is far smaller at 200 students and serves a lower-poverty population. Loving High, 14.38 miles away, ranks 103rd with 1 star and has a 95.11% free/reduced lunch rate—yet its science scores and overall rank edge slightly past Carlsbad High's. Subgroup effectiveness rankings are low across nearly every reported group, with none above the 16th percentile.