Magdalena High

Magdalena High is a small public high school in Magdalena, NM, serving grades 9–12 with about 100 students as part of Magdalena Municipal Schools, a high-poverty district in a rural area near Socorro. It is much smaller than nearby Socorro High, which has 378 students and belongs to Socorro Consolidated Schools. Because Magdalena High has only 100 students, its year-to-year test scores, rankings, and subgroup results can swing widely; a few students can change a percentage by several points.

In 2025–26, Magdalena High ranked 82nd of 132 schools in New Mexico (38th percentile, 2 stars), while its district ranked 38th of 87 (56th percentile, 3 stars). Nearby Socorro High ranked 67th of 132 (49th percentile, 3 stars), and its district ranked 43rd of 87. Magdalena High’s recent history is volatile: it was 61st of 172 in 2023–24 (65th percentile) but 135th of 177 in 2021–22 (24th percentile). On current tests, Magdalena High’s 11th-grade ELA was 28% versus the state’s 36.78%, and science was 32% versus the state’s 34.02%. Socorro High was near the state in ELA and above the state in science and math. Magdalena High’s 2025–26 math scores were suppressed by the state, so math performance is unknown, not a demonstrated weakness.

Graduation is a relative strength. Magdalena High’s latest school-level rate was 85.5% in 2023–24, above the state’s 78.0%, and it was 90.0% in 2021–22 versus the state’s 76.0%. Socorro High’s latest reported rate was 75.8% in 2024–25, below the state’s 80.6%. Both schools serve very high-poverty populations; Magdalena High’s free/reduced lunch rate was 100% in 2024–25, and its student-teacher ratio was 10.2, lower than Socorro High’s 11.9. In 2023–24, Magdalena High had notably strong results for low-income students, though small cohorts mean those results should be watched over multiple years. Recent momentum favors Socorro High, while Magdalena High’s graduation record and lower ratio are positives for families to weigh.