Santa Rosa High

Santa Rosa High is a small rural public high school serving roughly 193 students in grades 9–12 in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, a community where nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch (98.96% to 100% in recent years). It is the only high school in Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools, and because there are no other schools within 20 miles, the most useful comparison for families is the New Mexico state average. The Santa Rosa High profile shows a school that has changed significantly over the past decade.

Academically, the school has been declining for about ten years rather than having one bad year. From 2015-16 through 2018-19 it sat at the 58th–68th percentile of New Mexico high schools with 3 stars — average to above average for the state. Since then the slide has been steady: 52 → 33 → 30 → 23 → 19 → 6, with 2025-26 marking the first zero-star year on record and a rank of 124th of 132. Every reported subject falls below the state average: 11th-grade language arts at 22.44% versus 36.78% statewide, science at 19.23% versus 34.02%, and math at under 5% versus 12.72% for 11th grade and 25.54% across all grades. Math is the weakest area by the widest margin.

The school's clearest strength is its graduation rate: 91.7% in 2024-25, compared with 80.6% statewide, and it has beaten the state by 11 to 16 points for three straight years. At the same time, the student-teacher ratio has fallen to 8.5:1 (from 12.8:1 in 2022-23) even as results worsened, suggesting staffing alone has not changed outcomes. One pattern worth watching: female students ranked in the 1st percentile statewide (94th of 95) in 2025-26 while male students ranked in the 32nd percentile, and a similar large gap appeared in 2022-23. Overall, families should weigh a genuine completion strength against proficiency that sits near the bottom of the state, with math the most urgent concern.