Eutimio Salazar Elementary

Eutimio Salazar Elementary is a PK–6 school at 1000 Zuni Ln in Espanola, New Mexico, serving roughly 339 students as part of Espanola Public Schools, where nearly all children come from low-income households — 95.87% qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25.

The school currently sits at the very bottom of New Mexico's ranked schools: 335th out of 346 in 2025-26, which is the 3rd percentile with a zero-star rating. That continues an uninterrupted four-year slide, from the 30th percentile in 2022-23 to 22nd, then 10th, and now 3rd. Reading proficiency is 22.92%, below the district's 27.64% and well below the state's 43.34%. Math is the sharper concern at 9.28% — only about 36% of the state rate of 25.54%, and just under the district figure of 10.02%. Nearby schools serving similarly low-income populations do better: Hernandez Elementary, about 1.6 miles away, posts 26.19% in math and 32.56% in reading with 97.65% low-income students, while San Juan Elementary reaches 29.49% in reading. Since poverty rates across these campuses are within a few points of each other, the spread in results points to school-level factors rather than student intake alone.

One bright spot: sixth-grade reading is 33.33%, the only grade at Salazar that exceeds its district benchmark and close to the state figure. Science is reported only as under 20%, so it cannot be confirmed as a weakness, and grade-level math for grades 3–6 is likewise given only as bounds (under 10% or under 20%). Class size is mid-pack, with a 12.9 student-to-teacher ratio. Subgroup rankings generally mirror the school's overall standing and are low. Also note that Los Ninos Elementary's 51.35% reading figure comes from a PK–K campus and is not comparable to grade 3–6 tested schools.