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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 87124

New rankings! New Mexico test scores for the 2025-26 school year were just released — SchoolDigger posted updated rankings TODAY.

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At a glance

Schools

8,956

Students

Districts

5-star schools

Top rankedRio Rancho Cyber Academy3^rd of 132 New Mexico high schools

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Biggest riser

Explore Academy - Rio Rancho up 21 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Independence High School 8.1 students per teacher

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Newly ranked this year

Rio Rancho Cyber Academy

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

4★

3★

2★

1★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked New Mexico schools →

Summary:

ZIP code 87124 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico contains 13 schools serving about 8,956 students — 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 4 high schools (including two combined 6-12 campuses), with no alternative schools listed. Most schools belong to Rio Rancho Public Schools, while The Ask Academy and Explore Academy - Rio Rancho each operate as their own district.

The biggest standouts are the two small 6-12 academies. Rio Rancho Cyber Academy, with only 133 students, ranks 3 of 132 high schools (98th percentile, 5 stars) and posts the ZIP's strongest proficiency: 78.57% in language arts, 48.21% in math, and 77.42% in science, with a 90.0% graduation rate. The Ask Academy ranks 11 of 132 (92nd percentile, 5 stars) with 68.42% in language arts, 46.81% in math, and a 91.2% graduation rate. Among traditional schools, Ernest Stapleton Elementary is the strongest elementary (39 of 346, 89th percentile, 4 stars; 66.67% language arts, 48.51% math), while Rio Rancho High is the largest school at 2,568 students and ranks 34 of 132 with above-state results.

Several schools need attention. Puesta Del Sol Elementary (1 star, 25th percentile) and Maggie Cordova Elementary School (2 stars) trail state averages in all subjects, and Independence High School has a 63.7% graduation rate with language arts and math under 20%. Eagle Ridge Middle has slipped from 4 stars to 3. Math is the weaker subject almost everywhere, and free/reduced-lunch rates do not by themselves predict results — Cyber Academy reports 100% yet ranks at the top. Note that some figures are suppressed or given as bounds.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				SAT School Day English Language Arts (2026)		SAT School Day Mathematics (2026)		NM-ASR Science (2026)				NM-MSSA English Language Arts (2026)							NM-MSSA Mathematics (2026)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients (2025)	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SAT School Day English Language Arts 11th Grade	SAT School Day English Language Arts All Grades	SAT School Day Mathematics 11th Grade	SAT School Day Mathematics All Grades	NM-ASR Science 5th Grade	NM-ASR Science 8th Grade	NM-ASR Science 11th Grade	NM-ASR Science All Grades	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 4th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 5th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NM-MSSA English Language Arts All Grades	NM-MSSA Mathematics 3rd Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 4th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 5th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 6th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 7th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics 8th Grade	NM-MSSA Mathematics All Grades	Total
Rio Rancho Elementary	Public	K-5	4601 Pepe Ortiz Rd SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 892-0220	486	30	15.9	100.0%	109 (22.4%)	6 (1.2%)	305 (62.8%)	2 (0.4%)	21 (4.3%)	0 (0.0%)	43 (8.8%)	44.1	179^th of 346 public elementary schools	48.3%		41.6	182^nd of 345 public elementary schools	47.2%	3					35.9				50.6	49.4	41.0				47.2	21.5	29.2	37.2				29.3	$9,461
Puesta Del Sol Elementary	Public	K-5	450 Southern Blvd SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 994-3305	539	29	18.3	99.8%	106 (19.7%)	4 (0.7%)	377 (69.9%)	3 (0.6%)	17 (3.2%)	2 (0.4%)	30 (5.6%)	26.3	261^st of 346 public elementary schools	24.6%		24.7	262^nd of 345 public elementary schools	24.1%	1					24.0				32.9	48.1	29.8				37.4	21.4	26.9	24.0				24.5	$8,908
Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	2287 Lema Rd SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(505) 892-1100	805	37	21.5		221 (27.5%)	9 (1.1%)	469 (58.3%)	14 (1.7%)	13 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (9.8%)	70.2	46^th of 191 public middle schools	75.9%		68.6	48^th of 192 public middle schools	75.0%	2						53.6						48.7	62.8	57.4	56.3				33.2	41.7	37.6	37.5	$7,577
Martin King Junior Elementary	Public	K-5	1301 Nicklaus Dr SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 892-2575	569	31	18.1	100.0%	138 (24.3%)	16 (2.8%)	347 (61.0%)	24 (4.2%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	39 (6.9%)	62.9	92^nd of 346 public elementary schools	73.4%		58.9	106^th of 345 public elementary schools	69.3%	14					29.5				62.8	64.6	51.4				58.9	48.7	31.7	39.1				39.6	$7,579
Ernest Stapleton Elementary	Public	K-5	3100 Stapleton Ave NE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 891-8473	798	42	18.9		250 (31.3%)	3 (0.4%)	449 (56.3%)	3 (0.4%)	21 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (9.0%)	84.2	39^th of 346 public elementary schools	88.7%		78.3	51^st of 345 public elementary schools	85.2%	12					48.7				66.4	70.7	64.5				67.4	42.7	51.8	50.7				49.1	$8,890
Eagle Ridge Middle	Public	6-8	800 Fruta Rd	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 892-6630	732	52	14.1	100.0%	190 (26.0%)	8 (1.1%)	457 (62.4%)	2 (0.3%)	16 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	59 (8.1%)	58.7	66^th of 191 public middle schools	65.4%		67	51^st of 192 public middle schools	73.4%	15						53.9						48.7	57.9	46.7	51.0				31.6	35.1	24.6	30.5	$8,176
Rio Rancho High	Public	9-12	301 Loma Colorado Dr NE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(505) 896-5600	2,568	130	19.7		696 (27.1%)	46 (1.8%)	1,538 (59.9%)	39 (1.5%)	68 (2.6%)	2 (0.1%)	179 (7.0%)	71.8	34^th of 132 public high schools	74.2%		75.8	28^th of 131 public high schools	78.6%	6	57.3		19.6				60.2																$7,582
Independence High School	Public	9-12	421 Quantum Rd NE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 338-4658	156	19	8.1	100.0%	21 (13.5%)	0 (0.0%)	110 (70.5%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.7%)								(n/a)	< 20%	< 20%	< 20%	< 20%			37.8																$10,601
Maggie Cordova Elementary School	Public	K-5	1500 Veranda Rd SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 994-0229	608	41	14.6	100.0%	136 (22.4%)	9 (1.5%)	415 (68.3%)	2 (0.3%)	10 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	35 (5.8%)	34.7	219^th of 346 public elementary schools	36.7%		45.8	163^rd of 345 public elementary schools	52.8%	56					26.2				42.9	46.8	29.8				40.6	30.5	28.4	27.4				28.9	$8,930
Rio Rancho Cyber Academy	Public, Virtual	6-12	1330 Jackie Rd SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	Yes	No	(505) 892-7222	133	14	9.4	100.0%	61 (45.9%)	2 (1.5%)	61 (45.9%)	1 (0.8%)	6 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.5%)	98.2	3^rd of 132 public high schools	97.7%					(n/a)	80.0					75.0	80.0	77.4				66.7	≥ 80%	81.3	78.1					61.5	50.0	51.2	$8,965
Joe Harris Elementary	Public	K-5	2100 10th Street SE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Rio Rancho Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 896-0706	574	32	17.9		131 (22.8%)	7 (1.2%)	371 (64.6%)	10 (1.7%)	11 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (7.7%)	67.6	78^th of 346 public elementary schools	77.5%		67.5	82^nd of 345 public elementary schools	76.2%	4					39.4				61.6	68.3	49.0				59.6	39.0	38.5	39.4				39.0
The Ask Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	4550 Sundt Rd NE	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	The Ask Academy	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(505) 891-0757	558	43	13.0	17.7%	194 (34.8%)	11 (2.0%)	264 (47.3%)	7 (1.3%)	5 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	77 (13.8%)	93.2	11^th of 132 public high schools	91.7%		98.1	2^nd of 131 public high schools	98.5%	9	72.1		41.0			57.6	68.8	62.0				63.9	69.2	69.7	67.7				60.8	44.2	39.4	48.0	$7,130
Explore Academy - Rio Rancho	Public, Charter	K-8	6090 Zenith Court	Rio Rancho	87124	Sandoval County	Explore Academy - Rio Rancho	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(505) 306-5283	430	31	13.8	33.0%	150 (34.9%)	8 (1.9%)	201 (46.7%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	65 (15.1%)	70.7	67^th of 346 public elementary schools	80.6%		64.8	88^th of 345 public elementary schools	74.5%	21					48.5	72.0		62.7	65.9	83.3	57.6	47.9	50.0	56.0	61.1	36.4	43.3	39.4	29.2	28.0	18.0	32.3

Cities Near Zip Code 87124

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Rio Rancho	0.65 mi	24	23^rd
Albuquerque	3.85 mi	213	44^th
Corrales	5.11 mi	1	12^th
Los Ranchos De Albuquerque	6.49 mi	2	74^th
Bernalillo	8.89 mi	6	75^th

See the top NM New Mexico cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Mexico Public Education Department.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.