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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 88220

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

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At a glance

Schools

6,901

Students

Top rankedCarlsbad Early College High19^th of 132 New Mexico high schools

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Biggest riser

Cottonwood Elementary up 29 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Jefferson Montessori 11.3 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

4★

3★

1★

0★

4 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

See the top-ranked New Mexico schools →

Summary:

ZIP code 88220 is home to 12 schools serving roughly 6,900 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, all within Carlsbad Municipal Schools, a district ranked 53rd of 87 in New Mexico at the 39th percentile with 2 stars. The group includes six elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools, and two alternative settings — and performance varies widely, from 0-star to 4-star schools within the same district.

Carlsbad Early College High is the clear standout: 19th of 132 high schools, 86th percentile, 4 stars, with 11th-grade proficiency of 74.42% in language arts and 72.73% in science, far above state averages, plus an 89.6% graduation rate. Among elementary schools, Cottonwood Elementary (71st percentile, 4 stars) and Monterrey Elementary (70th percentile, 4 stars) are strongest, both above district and state in language arts and math, with Cottonwood improving steadily over three years. Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus is the stronger middle school at 55th percentile and 3 stars, though its rank has slipped over three years. Desert Willow Elementary and Ocotillo Elementary are solid 3-star schools.

At the other end, Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus ranks 177th of 191 (7th percentile, 0 stars), with language arts at 25.38%, math at 11.7%, and 8th-grade math at only 6.6%. Sunset Elementary fell from the 67th to the 14th percentile and now holds 1 star. Carlsbad High is large at 1,685 students but ranks in the 17th percentile with 1 star; its 11th-grade math proficiency is 5.37%, yet its 90.5% graduation rate is above district and state. Carlsbad Enrichment Center has a 58.7% graduation rate, and its test scores are suppressed. Jefferson Montessori reports science under 20%. Math is the weakest subject across the ZIP, and student-teacher ratio alone does not explain results.

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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
Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus	Public	6-8	301 South Alta Vista St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	740	49	15.0	34.3%	146 (19.7%)	8 (1.1%)	569 (76.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (1.8%)	12.3	177^th of 191 public middle schools	7.3%		15.7	174^th of 192 public middle schools	9.4%	3						15.6						21.7	34.7	19.3	25.4				18.6	9.8	6.6	11.7	$9,597
Carlsbad High	Public	9-12	3000 West Church	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	1,685	86	19.6	22.0%	478 (28.4%)	30 (1.8%)	1,118 (66.4%)	19 (1.1%)	11 (0.7%)	4 (0.2%)	25 (1.5%)	19.4	109^th of 132 public high schools	17.4%		21.3	104^th of 131 public high schools	20.6%	5	27.4		5.4				22.4																$10,383
Early Childhood Education Center	Public	PK-K	1801 West Lea St.	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3300	207	11	18.0	9.7%	41 (19.8%)	2 (1.0%)	159 (76.8%)	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)								(n/a)																							$10,395
Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus	Public	6-8	800 West Church St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	908	48	18.8	21.7%	350 (38.5%)	7 (0.8%)	513 (56.5%)	11 (1.2%)	7 (0.8%)	4 (0.4%)	16 (1.8%)	48.2	85^th of 191 public middle schools	55.5%		59.7	63^rd of 192 public middle schools	67.2%	22						39.8						42.4	54.6	37.9	45.3				30.8	36.7	19.8	29.3	$9,503
Monterrey Elementary	Public	K-5	1600 Johnson St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3309	366	22	16.6	28.1%	113 (30.9%)	1 (0.3%)	244 (66.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.6%)	59.3	105^th of 346 public elementary schools	69.7%		55.5	115^th of 345 public elementary schools	66.7%	10					42.1				47.5	51.8	58.9				52.6	33.9	19.6	60.7				38.0	$9,032
Sunset Elementary	Public	K-5	923 North Walter St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	438	26	16.9	28.3%	108 (24.7%)	5 (1.1%)	316 (72.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	20.2	299^th of 346 public elementary schools	13.6%		40.8	184^th of 345 public elementary schools	46.7%	115					22.2				38.6	46.8	17.8				33.0	29.8	14.3	11.1				17.0	$8,498
Jefferson Montessori	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	101 South Canal St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	Yes	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-3300	215	19	11.3	59.1%	72 (33.5%)	0 (0.0%)	121 (56.3%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (9.8%)								(n/a)								< 20%							24.7							10.1	$8,598
Carlsbad Early College High	Public	9-12	1500 University Dr	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 234-9415	200	14	14.2	10.0%	79 (39.5%)	4 (2.0%)	106 (53.0%)	7 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	87.1	19^th of 132 public high schools	85.6%		94	10^th of 131 public high schools	92.4%	9	74.4		27.9				72.7																$8,500
Desert Willow Elementary	Public	K-5	2100 Primrose St	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3310	667	45	14.9	22.0%	149 (22.3%)	6 (0.9%)	495 (74.2%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (1.0%)	52.9	132^nd of 346 public elementary schools	61.8%		61.3	93^rd of 345 public elementary schools	73.0%	39					33.0				49.2	53.5	42.6				48.3	35.9	32.3	41.7				36.8	$8,800
Ocotillo Elementary	Public	PK, KG-5	2106 Captain Williams Ln	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 628-4498	621	38	16.4	20.1%	192 (30.9%)	5 (0.8%)	388 (62.5%)	11 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (3.5%)	48.4	156^th of 346 public elementary schools	54.9%		45.7	164^th of 345 public elementary schools	52.5%	8					35.1				52.8	57.9	35.1				49.0	29.2	29.0	37.2				31.7	$8,453
Edison Elementary	Public	1-5	406 N. Alameda Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	No	(575) 628-4498	0	0			0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Cottonwood Elementary	Public	K-5	1609 W Lea Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3304	684	44	15.4	28.1%	99 (14.5%)	7 (1.0%)	558 (81.6%)	5 (0.7%)	4 (0.6%)	3 (0.4%)	8 (1.2%)	60.4	99^th of 346 public elementary schools	71.4%		52.4	128^th of 345 public elementary schools	62.9%	29					34.6				47.4	61.1	48.9				52.7	32.2	44.3	42.9				40.1
Carlsbad Enrichment Center	Public, Alternative	1-12	406 N. Alameda Street	Carlsbad	88220	Eddy County	Carlsbad Municipal Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(575) 234-3300	170	11	16.0	36.5%	49 (28.8%)	4 (2.4%)	116 (68.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)								(n/a)

Cities Near Zip Code 88220

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Carlsbad	1.12 mi	14	39^th
Loving	11.67 mi	3	56^th
Artesia	31.2 mi	9	26^th
Lake Arthur	42.05 mi	4

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.