PENASCO MIDDLE

Located at 13 SCHOOL RD, in PENASCO, New Mexico, PENASCO MIDDLE is a tiny 6-8 campus that enrolls 74 students (grades 6 through 8), one of the schools within PENASCO. By comparison, New Mexico's public schools average about 335 students each, so PENASCO MIDDLE sits 78% smaller than that benchmark.

Within PENASCO, which oversees 3 schools and 276 students, PENASCO MIDDLE is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, PENASCO MIDDLE logs that nearly all students (86%) are Hispanic. Beyond that, the school logs 5% Native American, 4% White, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 51% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, PENASCO MIDDLE has 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 15.5:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 12.5:1, putting PENASCO MIDDLE higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 100% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Taos County (around 89%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, PENASCO MIDDLE sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 33.4%; this one delivers 41.8%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Taos County indicate median household earnings sit near $58,950, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 12%. PENASCO MIDDLE is one of 23 public schools in Taos County (combined enrollment of about 3,727 students).

PENASCO HIGH is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 2 other public schools cluster around PENASCO MIDDLE. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts PENASCO MIDDLE at 2nd of 5; the average score across the group is 37.1%.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count rose 30%: 57 students in 2018 compared to 74 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share declined from 12% to 4%. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 10.1:1 in 2018 to 15.5:1 today.

On this page, the feed for PENASCO MIDDLE typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.