The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tomasita Elementary
Tomasita Elementary sits on the northeast side of Albuquerque, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within Albuquerque Public Schools. The enrollment is small for an elementary school of its grade band, with most students concentrated in the upper elementary grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of American Indian or Alaska Native, White, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Nearly every student qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, which marks this as a school serving an economically disadvantaged community.
State assessment results from the most recent school year show a mixed academic picture. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students in grades three through eight reached proficiency, which is below what state targets typically call for but still represents the school's relative bright spot. Math proficiency was considerably lower, with only a small fraction of tested students scoring proficient or above. Science results, based on a smaller testing pool, fell in the lowest reported band. A parent considering this school may want to look into how the school is responding to these results, particularly in math, and what interventions or supports are in place. Only one year of assessment data was available, so no trend can be drawn yet.
Several data points that would help round out the picture were missing. The school did not report individualized education program rates or English learner rates, so the share of students receiving special education services or language support is not reflected here. No information on staffing, discipline, attendance, course access, or school-level programs was provided. The school's Title I status and locale classification were also absent from the available data.
The surrounding community is Albuquerque itself, New Mexico's largest city and a sprawling, car-oriented place defined by its quadrant grid system. The school's address on Tomasita Street NE places it in the northeast quadrant, an area generally associated with residential neighborhoods and commercial corridors. Albuquerque's economy rests on several large anchors: Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, the University of New Mexico, Presbyterian Healthcare Services, and state and city government. A growing film and media sector, including a Netflix production hub, has added another dimension. The city's population has been roughly flat to slightly declining in recent years, with development spreading outward across the Northeast Heights, West Side, and Southeast Mesa. Walkable street life tends to cluster in specific nodes like Old Town, Downtown along Central Avenue, and the Nob Hill area near UNM, while much of the city is built around wide arterials and strip commercial development.
For families thinking about housing near the school, the local zip code's typical home value sits below the national benchmark but modestly above the state benchmark, and recent values have edged up only slightly year over year. Renting is meaningfully cheaper than carrying a mortgage at current interest rates, with the estimated monthly mortgage payment running well above typical rent. The rent-to-income ratio is moderate, while the price-to-income ratio is somewhat elevated. For a family weighing whether to buy or rent in this area, renting currently looks more affordable on a monthly basis.
We looked for recent district-level changes in Albuquerque Public Schools that might affect families, such as policy shifts, curriculum updates, or funding decisions, but the search returned nothing substantive, so that material was left out rather than guessed at.
Taken together, Tomasita is a small, high-poverty neighborhood elementary school in a large, diverse city with a relatively affordable housing market on the renting side. Its ELA results outpace its math and science results, but all three sit at levels that suggest academic challenges. Families drawn to the area for its affordability and proximity to Albuquerque's northeast neighborhoods may want to ask the school directly about its instructional approach, available supports, and any plans for improvement, since the publicly available data, while useful, leaves several questions open.
See more original research from School Decision →