The top reported proficiency rate is 15% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Wherry Elementary
Wherry Elementary sits on the southeast side of Albuquerque, physically located on Kirtland Air Force Base. That placement is a defining fact. The school is part of Albuquerque Public Schools, one of the largest districts in the country, but its setting inside a major federal military installation gives it a different character from most schools in the system. Kirtland is the largest installation in Air Force Global Strike Command, and it shares the southeast quadrant with Sandia National Laboratories, one of the country's three nuclear security labs. Families connected to the base, to Sandia, or to the surrounding southeast Albuquerque neighborhoods are the likely population this school draws from.
Albuquerque itself is New Mexico's largest city, sprawling across the high desert with the Rio Grande running through its center and the Sandia Mountains rising to the east. The city is car-oriented and spread across four quadrants. Walkable street life clusters in Old Town, Downtown, and the Nob Hill area near the University of New Mexico. The southeast quadrant, where Wherry is located, mixes residential neighborhoods with large federal campuses and commercial corridors. The city has been roughly flat in population, with a modest decline in recent estimates, while development activity has focused on affordable housing initiatives, a growing film and media sector, and technology work anchored by the national labs.
Wherry serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and operates as a regular public school. It is a small school for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the early grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller groups of American Indian or Alaska Native students, students of two or more races, white students, Black students, and Asian students. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is consistent with a school serving a community where economic need is high. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available, so those populations cannot be characterized here.
Academic results from the most recent state assessments are low across all tested subjects. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was well below what most schools in the state achieve. In math, the proficiency rate was lower still, among the weakest results a school in New Mexico would post. Science results fell into a reported range that also sits at the bottom of the state's distribution. The school tests students in grades three through five on the state's regular assessments, and pre-kindergarten through second grade are not included in those results because those grades are not tested.
Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to report. Whether these results represent a persistent pattern or a single year's outcome cannot be determined from what was provided. A parent looking at Wherry would want to understand from the school directly what supports are in place for reading and math growth, what intervention or tutoring programs exist, and how the school serves students who are performing below grade level. The low proficiency numbers are a fact of the current record, and they point to a school where academic outcomes are a central concern.
The school's location on a military base may shape its student population in ways that standard data fields do not capture. Military-connected schools often deal with student turnover as families transfer, and that can affect both academic continuity and school culture. The available data did not include information on student mobility, discipline, staffing ratios, attendance, or course access, so those dimensions cannot be described. Program offerings were not provided either, so whether Wherry has any specialized academic, arts, or counseling programs beyond the standard elementary curriculum is unknown.
Albuquerque Public Schools is a large, distributed district with schools across all quadrants of the city. The district brief returned no recent parent-relevant changes such as curriculum updates, bond issues, or policy shifts. This means there is nothing specific to relay about district-level initiatives that might affect Wherry in the near term.
For a family connected to Kirtland or living in the surrounding southeast Albuquerque area, Wherry is a small, neighborhood-serving elementary school with a diverse, high-need student body and current academic results that lag well behind state norms. The military base setting is distinctive and may offer a tighter community feel than a typical urban school. At the same time, the proficiency data is clear and a parent would be right to ask hard questions about academic growth and support before enrolling.
See more original research from School Decision →