Summary:
ZIP code 87109 in northeast Albuquerque contains 10 schools serving roughly 4,566 students across an unusually wide mix of grade spans — PK–5, K–8, PK–10, 6–12 and 9–12 — with four elementary schools, four high schools, two alternative programs, and no standalone middle school. Six schools belong to Albuquerque Public Schools, while Cottonwood Classical Prep, Explore Academy, Aces Technical Charter School and The Great Academy each operate as their own district. Enrollment ranges from 59 students to 1,413, a 24-fold spread.
Two schools stand out statewide. Cottonwood Classical Prep ranks first among New Mexico high schools, with a 96.7% graduation rate and 11th-grade ELA of 90%. New Mexico International School ranks in the top 2% of elementary schools, at 81.35% ELA proficiency. Two high-poverty schools beat the odds: Dennis Chavez Elementary, where 99.45% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch yet proficiency runs about 20 points above the state, and Nex Gen Academy, with 88.38% FRL and a 90.7% graduation rate. Explore Academy, the largest school in the ZIP, graduates 91.5%. By contrast, Health Leadership High School graduates 51.3% and reports all proficiency under 20%, while The Great Academy has every test score suppressed by the state, so its academics cannot be judged.
Across the ZIP, math is the consistent weak spot — every school with reported data scores higher in ELA than in math. Poverty does not decide outcomes here: schools with nearly identical FRL rates land anywhere from the 22nd to the 92nd percentile. Student–teacher ratios, which cluster tightly between about 6 and 16, show no clear relationship to results.
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