VALLEY ELEMENTARY

VALLEY ELEMENTARY, a tiny elementary campus in RIBERA, New Mexico, operated by WEST LAS VEGAS, hosts 56 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 80% smaller than the typical public school in New Mexico, which averages around 287 students.

WEST LAS VEGAS runs 10 schools in total, collectively educating 1,601 students. VALLEY ELEMENTARY is one of those campuses.

Demographically, VALLEY ELEMENTARY shows that nearly all students (88%) are Hispanic. The remainder reads as 5% White, 4% Native American. By comparison, San Miguel County as a whole is about 75% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, VALLEY ELEMENTARY records 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 7.3:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 12.9:1 average. Roughly 100% of students at VALLEY ELEMENTARY qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

In the broader community, San Miguel County reports that median household earnings sit near $49,431, roughly 27% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 18%. VALLEY ELEMENTARY is one of 19 public schools in San Miguel County (combined enrollment of about 3,156 students).

VALLEY MIDDLE is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 27%: 77 students in 2018 compared to 56 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment declined from 92% to 88% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 7.3:1 today.

On allk12, the feed for VALLEY ELEMENTARY typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.