Summary
Santa Teresa Middle is a grades 7–8 school in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, serving 528 students as part of Gadsden Independent Schools, where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The district ranks 54th of 87 statewide (38th percentile, 2 stars), yet Santa Teresa Middle itself ranks 65th of 191 schools (66th percentile, 3 stars) for 2025–2026 — a strong rebound from 106th of 192 (45th percentile, 2 stars) in 2024–2025. From 2014–2015 through 2018–2019 the school was consistently a 4-star school in the 70th–80th percentile, so this is a recovery that has not yet returned to its earlier peak.
Compared with the two nearby middle schools in the same district, Santa Teresa Middle stands out. In Language Arts (NM Combined), it scored 56.33%, versus 36.52% at Chaparral Middle and 36.46% at Gadsden Middle, against a state rate of 43.34%. In mathematics it scored 28.90%, versus 19.57% and 15.80% (state 25.54%), and in 8th-grade science 41.40% on NM-ASR, versus 26.17% and 22.61% (state 34.33%). Enrollment and staffing are broadly similar — 528 students at Santa Teresa, 546 at Chaparral and 650 at Gadsden, with student-teacher ratios near 13–14 — so the differences are not a matter of size or class size.
English Language Arts and science are the clearest strengths: ELA proficiency is about 12 points above the state, and 8th-grade science about 7 points above. Mathematics is the weaker subject, especially in grade 8, and the school's all-grade NM-MSSA math rate (28.98%) trails its district (32.47%). Among student groups, results for low-income students (88th percentile, 4 stars) are a standout, and special education students improved to the 54th percentile in 2023–2024 from 29th in 2022–2023. English Language Learner students ranked in the 14th percentile in 2024–2025, a dip worth monitoring, and military-connected students also ranked low, though that is a small group. Overall, the school produces strong relative results despite high poverty.
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