John F. Kennedy Middle

John F. Kennedy Middle is a grades 6–8 school with 648 students at 600 South Boardman Dr in Gallup, New Mexico, part of Gallup-McKinley City Schools, a below-average district in a high-poverty region. It is the largest of the three middle schools compared here, and 87.5% of its students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024–25, down from higher figures in prior years (a decline that may reflect reporting or eligibility changes). Staffing was 21.8 students per teacher in 2023–24. After a decade low of the 14th percentile in 2024–25, the school rose to the 38th percentile (119th of 191, 2 stars) in 2025–26 — its best result in four years, though still below its own 2021–22 peak.

Reading and writing is the clear strength: 44.3% of students were proficient in English language arts, essentially matching the state (44.66%) and beating the district (39.37%). Math is the opposite story — 13.42% proficient, roughly half the district and state rates and the weakest result in this comparison set. The gap between the two subjects is about 31 points, roughly double the district's and the state's gap. Grade level matters a lot here: 7th-grade ELA (51.41%) is above both district and state, while 8th-grade ELA (37.11%) is below both, and only about one in ten 8th graders is proficient in math.

Location and poverty do not explain the difference from nearby schools. Gallup Middle is 1.35 miles away, serves similar grades with slightly lower poverty, and outperforms JFK in every reported subject and grade — including 8th-grade ELA at 61.54% versus 37.11%. Chief Manuelito Middle splits the difference: JFK is about 8 points better in ELA but about 9 points worse in math. The recent improvement is real but one-subject only: ELA rose from 32% to 43.85% between 2022–23 and 2025–26, with nearly all of that gain landing in a single year, while math fell from 19% to 13.29%. Also worth verifying: Gallup Middle reports 8.2 students per teacher in 2024–25 against JFK's most recent figure of 21.8 — a ratio far outside the norm for a 480-student school. The key question for next year is whether math moves at all.