The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus
Carlsbad Intermediate School, known as the PR Leyva Campus, sits on West Church Street in the city of Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico. It is a regular public middle school serving grades six through eight as part of Carlsbad Municipal School District. The school draws from a community shaped by oil and gas extraction in the Permian Basin, potash mining east of town, and tourism anchored by Carlsbad Caverns National Park a short drive southwest. The Pecos River winds through the northern part of the city past a downtown cluster of civic buildings, and the broader community is largely car-dependent across a sprawling footprint. A recent energy-sector boom has brought new families and employment to the area, and the school district is itself one of the larger local employers.
The campus serves a student body that is majority Hispanic, with a substantial white population and very small representation across other racial and ethnic groups. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which is a moderate share for the region. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so a parent looking for details on special-population services would want to ask the school directly.
On the most recent New Mexico state assessments, ELA stands out as the school's relative strength. Roughly half of tested students reached proficiency in reading and writing, and science results were close behind, with nearly half demonstrating proficiency. Math is the weaker area, with about a third of students scoring proficient or above. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly what supports or interventions are in place for students who enter middle school below grade level in math. Only a single year of assessment data was available, so there is no trend to describe. Average scale scores and participation rates were also not reported, which limits how much one can read into these results beyond the proficiency snapshot.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report and no AP or career-credit pathway data attached to this campus. Program offerings, course access details, staffing figures, discipline data, and attendance rates were all absent from the available data, so a family would need to contact the school or district for specifics on electives, extracurriculars, teacher experience, and school climate. Civil-rights data was also not provided.
At the district level, one publicly reported change stands out for elementary families: Joe Stanley Smith Elementary School was closed, which has affected school assignments and neighborhood options. No other recent district policy or fiscal changes could be confirmed from available sources. For a middle-school family, that closure is unlikely to have a direct effect, but it speaks to shifting enrollment patterns in a growing community.
Housing in the Carlsbad zip code is relatively affordable compared with state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit below the New Mexico median and well below the national figure, and rents are modest. The ratio of home price to income suggests buying is within reach for many local households, though mortgage rates at current levels make the monthly cost meaningfully higher than renting. This is a market shaped by energy-industry cycles, so families considering a move should weigh that volatility.
What a family gets at PR Leyva is a mid-sized, traditional public middle school in a small energy-boom city with a diverse student body, solid reading and science results, and a math proficiency level that lags. The missing program, staffing, and climate data means the picture is incomplete, and a visit or call to the school would fill in the gaps that matter most for a middle-school decision.
See more original research from School Decision →