The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 26%.
Original Research by School Decision on La Tierra Montessori School of the Arts and Sciences
La Tierra Montessori School of the Arts and Sciences was a charter school in Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico, that served students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The most important fact for any family reading this is that the school is no longer operating. The New Mexico Public Education Commission voted to revoke its charter, effective July 1, 2023, and the school did not reopen for the following academic year. An appeal upheld the revocation, with the reviewing body finding the decision was supported by substantial evidence.
The reasons behind the closure are a matter of public record and bear directly on how a parent should read this school's history. The Public Education Commission cited the school's failure to conduct tribal consultation with Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, safety concerns, inadequate accommodations for students with disabilities, and contract violations. The state Public Education Department separately suspended the school's finance board and took control of its public school funds after the school failed to submit a budget and faced the expiration of its lease. These are serious findings, and any family looking into this school's record should weigh them carefully.
The school's academic results from the 2022-23 testing cycle, the last full year before closure, paint a difficult picture. In math, proficiency was reported in the lowest range the state tracks, with only a single student testing proficient out of the group assessed. In English language arts, roughly a quarter of tested students reached proficiency. Science results were suppressed due to the small number of students tested, so no reading is available there. These outcomes were well below what families would hope to see, even in a small school where a few individual students can shift the overall picture considerably.
The school's Montessori identity was part of what drew families, but the Public Education Commission's findings referenced concerns about whether the school was delivering an education faithful to Montessori philosophy. For a parent who values that pedagogical approach, this gap between stated mission and reported practice is worth understanding.
Ohkay Owingeh itself is a Tewa-speaking pueblo and federally recognized tribe, with a deep cultural and civic life centered on its historic plaza, the San Juan Bautista Church, and traditional practices including agriculture and ceremonial events. The pueblo sits contiguous with the city of Española and is a short drive north of Santa Fe. Major employers include the tribal government, the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council, the Ohkay Casino, and the Oke-Oweenge Crafts Cooperative. Publicly reported sources note that students in the broader community attend schools in the Española Public Schools district, and the pueblo operates its own Head Start program. A family seeking alternatives would likely look to those options.
Enrollment and demographic data for the school were not available in the records provided, so it is not possible to describe the student composition, the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, or the presence of students with individualized education programs or English learners from the data on this page. Given that the school served a small number of students, these gaps partly reflect the scale of the institution. Similarly, no data on staffing, discipline, course access, or program offerings was available, and no housing or economic context specific to the school was provided.
The comparison fact-set used to position this entity against neighboring districts was not available, so there is no relative placement to report. What the record does provide is a clear account of a small charter school that closed under serious circumstances, with academic results that were weak and governance concerns that were severe. A parent researching this school is most likely doing so to understand what happened or to compare it with other local options, and the evidence here points toward exploring the Española Public Schools district or other area schools for current enrollment needs.
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