The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Painted Sky Elementary
Painted Sky Elementary sits in the northwest quadrant of Albuquerque, part of the sprawling Albuquerque Public Schools district that spreads schools across every quadrant of a large, car-oriented city. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade on Gavin Drive NW, in a part of the metro defined by residential neighborhoods west of the Rio Grande and near the West Mesa and Petroglyph National Monument. Housing in the school's zip code sits below the national benchmark for typical home values, with rents that have edged down slightly over the past year, making the area relatively accessible compared with pricier parts of the metro. The broader city has seen roughly flat to slightly declining population, and development activity has centered on affordable housing initiatives and a growing film and media sector rather than rapid expansion.
The student body is large for an elementary school. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places Painted Sky firmly in the category of schools serving a high-poverty community. Hispanic students make up the overwhelming majority of enrollment, with smaller groups of white and Native American students and a handful of children from other backgrounds. This is a predominantly Latino school reflecting the broader demographics of Albuquerque's west side. We looked for data on English learners and students receiving special-education services, but those figures were not available in the provided records, so we cannot characterize those populations here.
On state assessments administered through New Mexico's NM-MSSA and NM-ASR tests, the most recent results show a mixed but generally below-midpoint academic picture. In English language arts, roughly a third of tested students reached proficiency, which is the school's strongest subject result. In math, the share of proficient students was considerably lower, with about one in five testing at or above grade level. Science results, which in New Mexico are typically assessed at the elementary level in a single benchmark grade rather than across every grade, landed at a similar level to math. These results sit below what most families would consider a middle-performing school. A parent may want to look into how the school supports students who are not yet at grade level, particularly in math, and what interventions or tutoring options are available.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate or advanced course data to assess. Because the tested grades begin at third grade, the pre-kindergarten through second-grade classrooms are not reflected in state proficiency results, and the data says nothing directly about those early years.
Albuquerque Public Schools is one of the larger districts in the country, and schools within it vary widely. We searched for recent district-level changes such as curriculum updates, policy shifts, or funding measures that might affect Painted Sky directly, but the available research returned nothing specific. The district brief was effectively empty on parent-relevant changes, so we left that out rather than guess.
The surrounding community context is worth understanding. Albuquerque is New Mexico's largest city, anchored by Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, the University of New Mexico, and a growing film industry. The city is car-dependent overall, with walkable nodes concentrated in Old Town, Downtown along Central Avenue, and the Nob Hill area near UNM. Painted Sky's northwest location puts it among residential neighborhoods rather than near those pedestrian-oriented districts, and daily life for families here likely revolves around driving to school, work, and errands.
What Painted Sky offers is a regular public elementary education in a high-poverty, predominantly Hispanic community within a large urban district. The academic results are a soft spot, particularly in math and science, and the ELA numbers, while stronger, still leave most students below proficiency. For a family considering this school, the key questions are about classroom support, early-grade instruction quality, and how the school plans to lift achievement. The housing market around it is relatively affordable for Albuquerque, which may matter to families weighing where they can afford to live.
See more original research from School Decision →