Best High Schools in Zip Code 87740

ZIP code 87740, which covers Raton, New Mexico, has exactly one high school: Raton High, the sole campus in Raton Public Schools. Because there is only one school here, there is no local peer to compare against — the useful benchmarks are the district, the state, and the school's own past years. Raton High serves grades 7 through 12 with about 350 students and a student–teacher ratio of 14.8 to 1. Nearly every student — 98.86% — qualifies for free or reduced lunch, so this is a school educating an almost entirely economically disadvantaged population.

The strongest results come from the middle grades. Seventh graders score 51.92% proficient in English Language Arts versus 46.99% statewide, and eighth graders reach 55.56% versus 43.85% — about 12 points above the state. Seventh grade math is 39.22% versus 27.1% statewide, roughly 12 points higher. The school also graduates 89.4% of its students, well above New Mexico's 80.6% rate, and science results sit close to or above district averages. In the most recent year, NM-MSSA English Language Arts jumped from 37.86% to 53.61% and math from 15.53% to 27.08%.

The concern is grade 11, where the same school falls sharply behind. Eleventh grade Language Arts on the NM Combined measure is 20.97% versus 36.78% statewide, and SAT School Day ELA is 19.67% versus 37.07% — about half the state rate. Eleventh grade math is under 10% on both the NM Combined and SAT measures, below the state's 12.55% and 12.72%. Raton High's statewide rank has also slipped, from the 51st percentile in 2023–24 to the 38th and then the 30th. In short: students here are graduating at high rates and doing well in grades 7–8, but grade 11 proficiency, especially in math, remains the clear challenge.