Desert Star Elementary
Public elementary school, kindergarten to grade 5 · Alamogordo, New Mexico
Desert Star Elementary in Alamogordo, New Mexico enrolled 466 students in 2024-25 with 30.0 full-time teachers, 15.5 students per teacher against the New Mexico elementary-school median of 12.4. It ran a schoolwide Title I program in 2021-22; every student eats free under the Community Eligibility Provision (2024-25). On the state tests, 29% of its students tested were proficient in reading in 2021-22 and 15% proficient in math in 2022-23 (New Mexico: 33.8% and 24.4%).
NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 · Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22 · Title I status CCD 2021-22 · method
Enrollment held steady from 2022-23 to 2024-25; full-time teachers rose 25%
464 students in 2022-23, 463 students in 2023-24, 466 students in 2024-25. Full-time teachers went from 24.0 to 30.0.
The numbers as a table
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Per teacher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 464 | 24.0 | 19.3 |
| 2023-24 | 463 | 28.0 | 16.5 |
| 2024-25 | 466 | 30.0 | 15.5 |
15.5 students per teacher, a higher ratio than 85 of every 100 New Mexico elementary schools
Among the 426 New Mexico elementary schools that reported teachers for 2024-25 the median is 12.4; the national median for elementary schools is 14.6. A ratio counts every teacher, so it is not the size of a class.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data membership and staff files, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25; the comparison counts schools with a 2024-25 teacher count and a ratio from 3 to 99 (lower values are reporting errors).
One counselor per 482 students in 2021-22
In the 2021-22 civil rights collection Desert Star Elementary enrolled 482 students and had 1.0 counselor (full-time equivalent); it reported 1 out-of-school suspensions that year.
- Advanced Placement coursesNone
- Gifted and talented programYes
- Counselors (FTE)1.0, one per 482 of the 482 students enrolled in 2021-22
- Out-of-school suspensions1
- Chronically absent48.5% (2022-23)
Who attends
55.8% of students were Hispanic, 29.6% White, 7.9% of two or more races in 2024-25.
- Hispanic55.8%
- White29.6%
- Two or more races7.9%
- Black4.3%
- Asian1.3%
- American Indian1.1%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22; chronic absenteeism from EDFacts 2022-23; every count and the counselor ratio are for that school year. Who attends: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25, membership by race and ethnicity.
State test results, 2021-22 and 2022-23
The students tested at Desert Star Elementary scored proficient or above: 29% in reading in 2021-22 and 15% in math in 2022-23, against 33.8% in reading in 2021-22 and 24.4% in math in 2022-23 across New Mexico. Each state writes its own test and sets its own proficiency bar, so compare these within New Mexico, not across states. ED Data Express holds no district results after 2021-22, so the district column gives its 2021-22 figure.
| Subject and year | This school | Its district | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and language arts, 2021-22 | 29% | 36% | 33.8% |
| Math, 2022-23 | 15% | 27% (2021-22) | 24.4% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results 2021-22 and 2022-23, all students, from ED Data Express (2021-22 through the Data Rescue Project archive); for 2022-23 ED published math by school and reading only by state: ED shows school and district results as ranges (for example 20-24%) to protect small groups.
Elementary schools in Alamogordo
6 public elementary schools in Alamogordo report 2024-25 enrollment; Desert Star Elementary is the largest.
| School | Students | Per teacher | Free lunch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Star Elementary | 466 | 15.5 | 100.0% |
| Sunset Hills Elementary | 436 | 13.6 | 100.0% |
| Sierra Elementary | 284 | 17.2 | 99.6% |
| Buena Vista Elementary | 222 | 14.8 | 100.0% |
| Yucca Elementary | 179 | 11.2 | 100.0% |
| North Elementary | 159 | 10.6 | 100.0% |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25.
What to look at next about Desert Star Elementary
- Yucca ElementaryThe nearest public elementary school, 0.5 miles away: 179 students, 11.2 per teacher (2024-25).0.5 mi
- Sunset Hills ElementaryThe next nearest public elementary school, 1.1 miles away: 436 students, 13.6 per teacher (2024-25).1.1 mi
- Compare Desert Star Elementary with Yucca ElementaryStudents, teachers, meals, test results and who attends, side by side.
- How much Alamogordo Public Schools spends per student$13,655 per student on current operations in fiscal year 2022-23 (U.S. $16,260), with its revenue sources and teacher pay.$13,655
- The largest public schools in New MexicoDesert Star Elementary is the number 63 by size of 443 New Mexico elementary schools open in 2024-25.#63 of 443
- New Mexico schools by students per teacher15.5 students per teacher here against the New Mexico median of 12.4 for elementary schools.15.5:1
- Find the school district for an addressA home's district, not its city, decides which public schools it can enroll in.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (locations, enrollment, teachers); NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23. Distances are straight lines between the schools' NCES coordinates, not travel routes.
Questions about Desert Star Elementary
How many students attend Desert Star Elementary?
466 in the 2024-25 school year, according to the NCES Common Core of Data; 464 in 2022-23. It is an elementary school in Alamogordo, NM.What is the student-teacher ratio at Desert Star Elementary?
15.5 students per full-time teacher (2024-25); the New Mexico median for elementary schools is 12.4. A ratio counts every teacher, so it is not the size of a class.Is Desert Star Elementary a Title I school?
Desert Star Elementary ran a schoolwide Title I program in 2021-22, the last year NCES published school Title I status.How do students at Desert Star Elementary do on state tests?
The students tested at Desert Star Elementary scored proficient or above: 29% in reading in 2021-22 and 15% in math in 2022-23, against 33.8% in reading in 2021-22 and 24.4% in math in 2022-23 across New Mexico. New Mexico's own test sets what proficient means, so results compare within the state, not across states. Source: U.S. Department of Education, EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22 and 2022-23; ED publishes school results as ranges to protect small groups.What district is Desert Star Elementary in?
Alamogordo Public Schools, NCES district ID 3500030. The first seven digits of the school's NCES ID 350003000012 are the district's.
Reading these figures: how to choose a school district, what Title I means and what an absenteeism rate means. They are for information and are not a substitute for the school's or district's own records.
Sources
Every federal file behind this record
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2024-25: directory, membership, staff and lunch files. nces.ed.gov
- NCES Common Core of Data, 2021-22 school characteristics: Title I status. nces.ed.gov
- Civil Rights Data Collection, 2021-22: AP courses, gifted programs, counselors, discipline. civilrightsdata.ed.gov
- EDFacts, 2022-23: chronic absenteeism. ed.gov
- EDFacts state assessment results, 2021-22 and 2022-23: reading and math proficiency for the school, its district and its state (ED Data Express). eddataexpress.ed.gov
- NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, fiscal year 2022-23: district spending and revenue. nces.ed.gov
- U.S. Census Bureau geocoder and TIGER school districts: the district boundary used by the district finder. census.gov
Source: NCES Common Core of Data Directory, membership, staff and lunch files · 2024-25
Source: Civil Rights Data Collection School-level files (AP, gifted, counselors, discipline) · 2021-22
District spending on the district page is from the NCES F-33 finance survey, fiscal year 2022-23.