NCES CCD 2024-25 13 schools NM

Best-Resourced Schools in Carlsbad, NM

Compiled from official source data by .

13 public K-12 schools in Carlsbad from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
13
Schools
7,217
Students
45.8/100
Avg Resource Index
18.4:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Resource breadth with tighter class loads

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Carlsbad has more public-school enrollment than 70% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Carlsbad's average Resource Investment Index ranks above most listed cities even though its student-teacher ratio is on the more crowded side of the national city distribution. That is a useful mismatch, not a contradiction: counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance can lift the composite while classroom staffing remains comparatively tight. Families should inspect the component scores on each school profile instead of reading the city index as a shorthand for small classes.

A full K–12 ladder sits inside the city boundary

Carlsbad's list includes 5 elementary, 2 middle, and 2 high-school campuses, plus 4 combined-grade records. The city average spans every major grade stage, so the ranked table is more informative when read within level than as one interchangeable queue.

The composite and staffing measures point in different directions

Carlsbad's average Resource Investment Index sits at the 73rd percentile, while its teacher-staffing measure sits at the 23rd percentile. The 50-point percentile gap is a reminder that the index is not a class-size score: counselors, gifted-program reporting, and attendance also affect it. Compare those components directly when two schools have similar index totals; the same headline score can arise from a different mix of reported resources.

City enrollment
Top 30%
School count
Top 28%
Resource Index average
73rd percentile
Teacher staffing
23rd percentile

Carlsbad High accounts for 23.3% of all Carlsbad public-school enrollment

That concentration means Carlsbad-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Carlsbad school enrollment varies 9.9× across entities

Carlsbad school enrollment ranges from 170 students (lowest) to 1,685 students (highest), a spread of 1,515 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Carlsbad operates one school district — a single-district system

Carlsbad's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Carlsbad student-teacher ratio is 18.4:1 — high (typically associated with larger urban scale or staffing constraints that have widened the headcount gap)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Ocotillo Elementary 66
2. Desert Willow Elementary 65
3. Sunset Elementary 58
4. Monterrey Elementary 58
5. Carlsbad Early College High 54
6. Carlsbad Enrichment Center 51
7. Hillcrest Preschool 47
8. Cottonwood Elementary 43
9. Early Childhood Education Center 41
10. Carlsbad Sixth Grade Academy - Alta Vista Campus 37
11. Carlsbad High 26
12. Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus 26
13. Jefferson Montessori 23

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Carlsbad

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Jefferson Montessori 56.1/100
  2. 2 Carlsbad Early College High 56.1/100
  3. 3 Carlsbad Intermediate School - Pr Leyva Campus 53.2/100
  4. 4 Ocotillo Elementary 51.2/100
  5. 5 Carlsbad High 47.8/100

What do families ask about schools in Carlsbad?

Which Carlsbad school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Ocotillo Elementary has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Carlsbad schools in this federal-data comparison at 66/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Carlsbad, NM? ▼

Carlsbad has 13 public schools with a total enrollment of 7,217 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 18.4:1.

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195 schools
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45 schools
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23 schools
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Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in New Mexico →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.