The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Reginald Chavez Elementary
Reginald Chavez Elementary sits on Mountain Road in northwest Albuquerque, in the part of the city near Old Town where the historic plaza pattern still shapes the street grid. The school is a regular public elementary serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, part of Albuquerque Public Schools, one of the largest districts in the country. The campus is small for an elementary school, with enrollment spread across a pre-K class and single-grade sections from kindergarten through fifth. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with small numbers of children from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. Every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which marks this as a community-serving school in a working-income neighborhood. The school does not carry a charter or magnet designation. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those population shares remain unknown here.
State assessment results from the most recent year paint a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students reached proficiency, which sits below where most families would want their child to be but above the school's own results in other subjects. Math proficiency was considerably lower, with only a small fraction of students meeting that bar. Science results, based on a much smaller group of tested students in the upper elementary grades, were lower still. Average scale scores and participation rates were not available in the data provided, so it is not possible to compare this school against state averages or look at growth from prior years. A parent weighing this school may want to ask the administration directly about what the current improvement plan looks like, particularly in math, and how the school supports students who arrive below grade level.
The neighborhood around the school tells its own story. This stretch of Albuquerque sits near Old Town, where San Felipe de Neri Church anchors the original Spanish villa layout, and the Rio Grande bosque runs nearby as a preserved cottonwood corridor. The broader city is sprawling and car-oriented, organized into quadrants by Central Avenue and the railroad tracks, with walkable nodes concentrated at Old Town Plaza, downtown along Central, and the Nob Hill area near the University of New Mexico. Major employers across the metro include Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, UNM, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and the school district itself, along with a growing film and media presence anchored by a Netflix production hub. The city's population has been roughly flat to slightly declining in recent years, with development pushing outward across the Northeast Heights, West Side, and Southeast Mesa.
Housing in the school's zip code sits in a moderate range relative to state and national benchmarks. Typical home values here run above the state level but below the national figure, and rents are affordable enough that renting costs less per month than carrying a mortgage at current rates. The price-to-income ratio for buyers sits above what most households would consider easy, reflecting the broader reality of home prices rising faster than wages. For families renting in the area, the cost burden looks more manageable.
The district brief returned no recent parent-relevant changes, whether policy, curriculum, referendum, or staffing, so there is nothing to report on that front. The school's Title I status, discipline data, staffing levels, attendance patterns, and program offerings were also absent from what was provided, which leaves gaps in understanding the full scope of student support. What the available data does show is a small, community-rooted elementary school serving a predominantly Hispanic, high-poverty student body, with English language arts as its relative bright spot and math as a clear area of concern. Families considering this school would benefit from a direct conversation with the principal about academic interventions, teacher experience, and what the classroom experience looks like day to day.
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