Hurley Elementary

Hurley Elementary is a PK–5 school serving 114 students at 300 Carasco Ave in Hurley, New Mexico, a small mining-town community in the Cobre Consolidated Schools district.

The most striking thing about this school is how far it has come. In 2022-23 it ranked 246th of 435 New Mexico elementary schools — the 43rd percentile. By 2025-26 it ranked 18th of 346, the 95th percentile with 5 stars, roughly the top 5% of elementary schools in the state. That climb happened while its student-teacher ratio dropped to 8.9, the smallest of any school in this comparison group. In 2025-26, 88.37% of students were proficient in English language arts, more than double the state rate of 43.34% and far above every nearby school — the next closest, Jose Barrios Elementary, sits at 57.35%, while Bayard Elementary and Central Elementary are far below that. Fifth-grade science is another standout at 75% proficient, against a district rate of 45.31% and a state rate of 31.97%. Just two years earlier, all-grades science was 22%, below the state's 34%.

Math is a different story. At 37.21% proficiency, Hurley is still above its district (16.82%) and the state (25.54%), and 4th grade math at 47.06% is more than double the district's 22.22%. But math slipped about 10 points from 47.83% the prior year even as reading surged, and two of three grade levels were suppressed by the state, so that figure rests on a narrow base. Nearby G.W. Stout Elementary (38.86%) and Jose Barrios Elementary (37.5%) are essentially level with Hurley in math, so the school's edge over neighbors is concentrated in literacy and science. Note also that 100% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, yet the school's low-income students ranked at the 92nd percentile statewide, and its special education students at the 91st percentile. With only 114 students, year-to-year swings are expected — but the multi-year direction is clear.