The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Des Moines High
Des Moines High sits in one of New Mexico's smallest incorporated places, a village in Union County surrounded by cattle ranches and dominated by Sierra Grande, a massive shield volcano rising just a few miles to the southwest. The school serves grades seven through twelve and is the educational anchor of the Des Moines Municipal School District, whose offices share the same Des Moines Avenue address. For a family considering this school, the setting is the first thing to understand: this is deeply rural high-plains country, at elevation, far from any commercial corridor or suburban amenity. The village has been losing population for decades, and publicly reported data suggests that trend is projected to continue. Housing here is sparse, with a high vacancy rate and only a handful of renter-occupied units, so a family moving in would likely be buying rather than renting, and the pool of available homes is thin.
The school itself is very small for a secondary school serving six grade levels. Enrollment is modest enough that each grade contains only a handful of students. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic minority and a single Black student. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is low for New Mexico, which stands out in a state where many rural schools serve higher-poverty populations. The village's median household income sits at a moderate level relative to the region. No data on English learners or students with individualized education programs was available, so those populations are not characterized here.
On state assessments, the picture is encouraging but limited. Among the tested grade band, which for this school means grades seven and eight, proficiency in both math and English language arts was strong, with a clear majority of tested students reaching proficiency in each subject. Science proficiency for that same band was suppressed, likely because the number of tested students was too small to report reliably. A broader view of all tested grades at the school shows different results, with English language arts proficiency at a moderate level, math lower, and science notably strong. The discrepancy between the two summaries probably reflects how different grade groups are aggregated, but either way the school appears to perform reasonably well in science and English language arts while math is the softer area. With such a small number of tested students, any single year's results can swing considerably, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school rather than read too much into one year's figures.
Several categories of data that would help a parent round out the picture were not available. No graduation rate was reported, though that gap may reflect the small graduating class size or reporting rules for very small schools. No information on course access, Advanced Placement, career pathways, or dual-credit offerings was provided, and no staffing data was available. No discipline or attendance figures appeared in the record. No civil-rights data was reported for this school. No neighbor comparison was generated, so the school cannot be positioned against nearby districts in this narrative. The district brief search turned up no recent changes of lasting impact, which is consistent with a district this size: stability is the norm rather than disruption.
What a family can take from the available record is a portrait of a very small, stable, rural secondary school in a community that has been quietly shrinking for generations. The academic results that do exist are generally positive, particularly in science and English language arts, with math as the area to watch. The peer environment is intimate by necessity, the setting is isolated by most families' standards, and the economic profile of the student body suggests a community that is modest but not distressed. For a family already rooted in this corner of Union County, or drawn to rural life and a school where every teacher likely knows every student, Des Moines High offers that experience in an extreme form. For a family weighing access to specialized programs, competitive athletics, or a broader peer cohort, the limitations are structural and worth understanding before committing.
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