CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY

CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY is an elementary school of high-enrollment scale in RIO RANCHO, New Mexico, one of the schools within RIO RANCHO, serveing 640 students in grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 287 students per school, that is 123% above typical.

RIO RANCHO comprises 20 schools with combined enrollment of 16,461 students; CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY is among them.

On the student-mix side, CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY lists that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 58% of enrollment; the rest is composed of 24% White, 10% multiracial, 3% Native American, 3% Black. By comparison, Sandoval County as a whole is about 40% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 38 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 16.7:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 12.9:1 average. Roughly 100% of students at CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 33.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 33.3%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Sandoval County put median household income runs about $86,636, roughly 34% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Across Sandoval County's 49 public schools (combined enrollment of about 22,445 students), CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: COLINAS DEL NORTE ELEMENTARY, around 1.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY. Among the 4 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), CIELO AZUL ELEMENTARY ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 41.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 19%: 794 students in 2018 compared to 640 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 33% to 24% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 14.9:1 in 2018 to 16.7:1 today.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.