Zia Middle

Summary:

Zia Middle is a public middle school located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 688 students. The school is part of the Las Cruces school district, which is ranked 63 out of 119 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger. Unfortunately, Zia Middle has consistently ranked in the bottom half of New Mexico middle schools over the past several years, with a current ranking of 185 out of 235 schools and a 1-star rating.

Zia Middle consistently underperforms compared to the Las Cruces and New Mexico state averages in standardized test scores across all subjects and grade levels. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 29% of Zia Middle students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 39% for Las Cruces and the state. In Mathematics, the proficiency rate was just 13% at Zia Middle, compared to 23% for Las Cruces and 25% for the state. The school also struggles to support the academic achievement of various student subgroups, ranking in the bottom quartile of New Mexico middle schools for female, male, Hispanic, and White students, and particularly low for English Language Learners and Special Education students.

Interestingly, Zia Middle's performance is significantly lower than that of nearby middle schools in the Las Cruces district. For example, Camino Real Middle, located just 5.75 miles away, outperforms Zia Middle by a wide margin, with 55% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and 30% in Mathematics. Additionally, Zia Middle's ranking and star rating have steadily declined over the past decade, suggesting that the school is struggling to address its academic challenges effectively.


Detail:

Public 6-8

 1300 West University Ave
       Las Cruces, NM  88005


(575) 527-9475

District: Las Cruces

SchoolDigger Rank:
185th of 235 New Mexico Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $8,805 Help


Students who attend Zia Middle usually attend:

High:    Arrowhead Park Early College High School
    Las Cruces High

Feeder schools for Zia Middle:

Elementary:    Central Elementary
    Mesilla Elementary
    Mesilla Park Elementary
    Tombaugh Elementary

Student/teacher ratio:  17.4 Help
Number of students:  688

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
77.5%
White:
17.9%
African American:
2.3%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  100% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Zia Middle ranks worse than 78.7% of middle schools in New Mexico. It also ranks last among 8 ranked middle schools in the Las Cruces School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 23.93. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (77.5%), White (17.9%), African American (2.3%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 100% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the lowest percentage in the Las Cruces School District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Zia Middle is 17.4. 5 middle schools in the Las Cruces School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Zia Middle employs 39.4 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Zia Middle is $8,805, which is the 4th highest among 8 middle schools in the Las Cruces School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Zia Middle:

SchoolDigger ranks Zia Middle 185th of 235 New Mexico public middle schools. (See Zia Middle in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Las Cruces:

SchoolDigger ranks Las Cruces 63rd of 119 New Mexico school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Zia Middle

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2005 69.92 38th 157 75.8%
2006 65.83 43rd 156 72.4%
2007 58.34 60th 171 64.9%
2008 50.59 75th 172 56.4%
2009 42.16 99th 178 44.4%
2010 51.91 72nd 179 59.8%
2011 48.06 80th 173 53.8%
2012 50.77 78th 178 56.2%
2013 52.61 75th 193 61.1%
2014 60.48 69th 222 68.9%
2015 44.17 96th 207 53.6%
2016 41.26 106th 208 49.0%
2017 42.27 97th 176 44.9%
2018 40.81 100th 186 46.2%
2019 28.93 142nd 200 29.0%
2022 17.04 191st 232 17.7%
2023 30.00 160th 239 33.1%
2024 23.93 185th 235 21.3%
See the entire list of New Mexico Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 9.84 96th 97 1.0%
2024 10.00 89th 91 2.2%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 46.73 22nd 44 50.0%
2022 19.21 53rd 58 8.6%
2023 28.50 56th 100 44.0%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 32.84 114th 168 32.1%
2019 20.59 150th 175 14.3%
2022 20.84 167th 223 25.1%
2023 34.45 143rd 227 37.0%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 37.30 97th 156 37.8%
2019 31.66 108th 160 32.5%
2022 16.48 172nd 220 21.8%
2023 21.32 181st 213 15.0%
2024 24.73 172nd 217 20.7%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 58.26 12th 52 76.9%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 40.91 82nd 151 45.7%
2019 22.53 122nd 152 19.7%
2022 15.34 170th 213 20.2%
2023 34.58 135th 221 38.9%
2024 21.15 178th 219 18.7%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 40.36 21st 38 44.7%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 36.38 95th 149 36.2%
2019 25.65 117th 150 22.0%
2022 12.02 178th 214 16.8%
2023 20.57 167th 204 18.1%
2024 19.37 176th 206 14.6%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for Pacific Islander students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 36.45 5th 6 16.7%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for Pacific Islander Students!

Rank History for White students at Zia Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 53.29 49th 120 59.2%
2019 34.38 85th 121 29.8%
2022 25.37 146th 187 21.9%
2023 25.32 169th 229 26.2%
2024 22.50 144th 181 20.4%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: New Mexico Public Education Department, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Zia Middle Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 



Data source: New Mexico Public Education Department

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Enrollment information for Zia Middle

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1990 378 14 8 603 10 n/a n/a 0 1013
1991 405 13 13 659 9 n/a n/a 0 1099
1992 433 16 17 666 4 n/a n/a 0 1136
1993 423 18 23 707 9 n/a n/a 0 1180
1994 370 9 15 601 5 n/a n/a 0 1000
1995 363 8 26 649 10 n/a n/a 0 1056
1996 363 8 26 649 10 n/a n/a 0 1056
1997 348 12 24 671 8 n/a n/a 0 1063
1998 314 16 9 616 17 n/a n/a 0 972
1999 330 14 1 617 19 n/a n/a 0 981
2000 299 13 14 584 2 n/a n/a 0 912
2001 292 8 17 556 3 n/a n/a 0 876
2002 252 11 10 593 12 n/a n/a 0 878
2003 252 11 10 593 12 n/a n/a 0 878
2004 219 7 8 620 8 n/a n/a 0 862
2005 242 9 16 583 6 n/a n/a 0 856
2006 218 5 19 601 7 n/a n/a 0 850
2007 211 8 12 626 7 n/a n/a 0 864
2008 226 13 11 626 9 n/a n/a 0 885
2009 205 16 15 638 8 n/a n/a 0 882
2010 207 15 19 642 13 0 0 0 896
2011 198 15 15 643 14 1 0 0 886
2012 182 24 10 615 14 1 0 0 846
2013 168 22 9 610 11 0 0 0 820
2014 160 14 7 591 12 0 0 0 784
2015 158 7 5 592 12 2 0 0 776
2016 155 12 6 604 8 5 0 0 790
2017 135 9 7 571 8 2 0 0 732
2018 126 11 5 549 7 2 1 0 701
2019 137 13 3 567 5 3 2 0 730
2020 141 13 2 543 3 6 3 0 711
2021 130 18 3 550 2 4 8 0 715
2022 109 15 2 533 3 4 6 0 672
2023 123 16 3 533 4 2 7 0 688

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Zia Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 1013 53.0 19.1 n/a
1991 1099 56.5 19.4 n/a
1992 1136 60.1 18.9 n/a
1993 1180 64.6 18.3 n/a
1994 1000 51.5 19.4 n/a
1995 1056 59.5 17.7 n/a
1996 1056 59.5 17.7 n/a
1997 1063 64.5 16.5 n/a
1998 972 59.5 16.3 n/a
1999 981 59.0 16.6 47.2
2000 912 60.6 15.0 44.4
2001 876 60.1 14.6 48.4
2002 878 55.1 15.9 59.5
2003 878 55.1 15.9 59.5
2004 862 54.0 16.0 61.5
2005 856 55.2 15.5 58.4
2006 850 55.5 15.3 60.4
2007 864 58.1 14.9 49.3
2008 885 56.0 15.8 53.4
2009 882 57.9 15.2 57
2010 896 56.9 15.7 59.3
2011 886 57.9 15.2 58.7
2012 846 51.0 16.5 59.1
2013 820 49.7 16.4 63.2
2014 784 50.2 15.6 63
2015 776 51.0 15.2 64.6
2016 790 49.0 16.1 65.9
2017 732 45.1 16.2 61.2
2018 701 42.7 16.3 67.9
2019 730 42.8 17.0 66.6
2020 711 44.8 15.8 100
2021 715 40.3 17.7 100
2022 672 41.9 16.0 100
2023 688 39.4 17.4 100

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Zia Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 1013 53.0 19.1 n/a
1991 1099 56.5 19.4 n/a
1992 1136 60.1 18.9 n/a
1993 1180 64.6 18.3 n/a
1994 1000 51.5 19.4 n/a
1995 1056 59.5 17.7 n/a
1996 1056 59.5 17.7 n/a
1997 1063 64.5 16.5 n/a
1998 972 59.5 16.3 n/a
1999 981 59.0 16.6 47.2
2000 912 60.6 15.0 44.4
2001 876 60.1 14.6 48.4
2002 878 55.1 15.9 59.5
2003 878 55.1 15.9 59.5
2004 862 54.0 16.0 61.5
2005 856 55.2 15.5 58.4
2006 850 55.5 15.3 60.4
2007 864 58.1 14.9 49.3
2008 885 56.0 15.8 53.4
2009 882 57.9 15.2 57
2010 896 56.9 15.7 59.3
2011 886 57.9 15.2 58.7
2012 846 51.0 16.5 59.1
2013 820 49.7 16.4 63.2
2014 784 50.2 15.6 63
2015 776 51.0 15.2 64.6
2016 790 49.0 16.1 65.9
2017 732 45.1 16.2 61.2
2018 701 42.7 16.3 67.9
2019 730 42.8 17.0 66.6
2020 711 44.8 15.8 100
2021 715 40.3 17.7 100
2022 672 41.9 16.0 100
2023 688 39.4 17.4 100

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Zia Middle

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2019 $8,805

Data source: New Mexico Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Zia Middle

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 142nd of 200 Middle schoolsRanks 160th of 239 Middle schools
 4.1%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
6th Grade Language Arts (Zia Middle)2920.2
 8.8%
   6th Grade Language Arts (Las Cruces)3329.7
 3.3%
   6th Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3132.9
 1.9%
6th Grade Mathematics (Zia Middle)1217.2
 5.2%
   6th Grade Mathematics (Las Cruces)1725.5
 8.5%
   6th Grade Mathematics (New Mexico)1932.5
 13.5%
7th Grade Language Arts (Zia Middle)2226.7
 4.7%
   7th Grade Language Arts (Las Cruces)3031.3
 1.3%
   7th Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3134.8
 3.8%
7th Grade Mathematics (Zia Middle)1010.9
 0.9%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Las Cruces)1618.4
 2.4%
   7th Grade Mathematics (New Mexico)1924.8
 5.8%
8th Grade Language Arts (Zia Middle)2117.7
 3.3%
   8th Grade Language Arts (Las Cruces)3131.8
 0.8%
   8th Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3133.2
 2.2%
8th Grade Mathematics (Zia Middle)1411.1
 2.9%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Las Cruces)1717.4
 0.4%
   8th Grade Mathematics (New Mexico)2019.7
 0.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students730688
 5.8%
African American1316
 23.1%
American Indian54
 20%
Asian33
Hispanic567533
 6%
Pacific Islander32
 33.3%
White137123
 10.2%
Two or More Races27
 250%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients66.6%100%
 33.4%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Zia Middle

In the 2022-23 school year, 688 students attended Zia Middle.

Students at Zia Middle are 77% Hispanic, 18% White, 2% African American, 1% Two or more races.

Zia Middle ranks in the bottom 21.3% of New Mexico middle schools.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Mexico Public Education Department.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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