R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Summary:

R.M. Sweeney Elementary is a public elementary school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, serving grades PK-5 with 276 students. The school is part of the Santa Fe school district, which is ranked 85 out of 119 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

R.M. Sweeney Elementary consistently performs significantly below the state and district averages in standardized test scores across all subjects and grade levels. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 10% of students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 39% at the state and district levels. Similarly, only 9% were proficient or better in Mathematics and Science, compared to 25% and 36% statewide, respectively. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 10-15% of all elementary schools in New Mexico over the past several years, with a ranking of 420 out of 433 schools in the 2023-2024 school year. The school's performance is particularly concerning for Hispanic students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who rank in the bottom 10% of schools in both English Language Arts and Mathematics.

While the nearby schools in the Santa Fe district also struggle academically, Chaparral Elementary and Amy Biehl Community School outperform R.M. Sweeney Elementary by a significant margin in all subject areas. Despite being a long-standing school, R.M. Sweeney Elementary has not shown any meaningful improvement in its academic performance or statewide ranking over the past decade. The high concentration of students from low-income families, as indicated by the free and reduced-price lunch rates, may be a significant factor contributing to the school's poor academic performance.


Detail:

Public PK, KG-5

 501 Airport Rd
       Santa Fe, NM  87505


(505) 467-1500

District: Santa Fe

SchoolDigger Rank:
420th of 433 New Mexico Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $9,008 Help


Students who attend R.M. Sweeney Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Edward Ortiz Middle
High:    Capital High

Student/teacher ratio:  11.8 Help
Number of students:  276

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
96.7%
White:
2.2%
African American:
0.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  100% Help


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 Compare R.M. Sweeney Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details R.M. Sweeney Elementary ranks worse than 97% of elementary schools in New Mexico. It also ranks 18th among 19 ranked elementary schools in the Santa Fe School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 8.79. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (96.7%), White (2.2%), Asian (0.4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 100% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at R.M. Sweeney Elementary is 11.8, which is the 5th best among 19 elementary schools in the Santa Fe School District. (See more...)
Help
Compare R.M. Sweeney Elementary employs 23.2 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at R.M. Sweeney Elementary is $9,008. 17 elementary schools in the Santa Fe School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

R.M. Sweeney Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks R.M. Sweeney Elementary 420th of 433 New Mexico public elementary schools. (See R.M. Sweeney Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:


Santa Fe:

SchoolDigger ranks Santa Fe 85th of 119 New Mexico school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for R.M. Sweeney Elementary

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Compare

Rank History for all students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2005 17.56 353rd 389 9.3%
2006 14.01 369th 390 5.4%
2007 25.06 325th 398 18.3%
2008 22.99 344th 405 15.1%
2009 21.37 356th 411 13.4%
2010 12.93 394th 419 6.0%
2011 12.45 381st 402 5.2%
2012 13.23 376th 398 5.5%
2013 12.49 390th 412 5.3%
2014 16.30 405th 442 8.4%
2015 19.42 380th 421 9.7%
2016 17.36 372nd 410 9.3%
2017 15.41 341st 374 8.8%
2018 14.68 348th 383 9.1%
2019 15.72 360th 396 9.1%
2022 7.25 403rd 420 4.0%
2023 8.13 426th 435 2.1%
2024 8.79 420th 433 3.0%
See the entire list of New Mexico Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 10.20 83rd 83 0.0%
2019 22.83 84th 98 14.3%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 17.65 321st 356 9.8%
2019 18.97 323rd 361 10.5%
2023 7.53 418th 426 1.9%
2024 8.13 230th 237 3.0%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 13.21 2nd 2 0.0%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 11.79 324th 339 4.4%
2019 22.51 280th 343 18.4%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 16.30 308th 333 7.5%
2019 9.90 324th 337 3.9%
2023 9.27 408th 414 1.4%
2024 13.60 382nd 410 6.8%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 14.71 302nd 329 8.2%
2019 18.88 281st 320 12.2%
2022 4.79 350th 389 10.0%
2023 7.24 392nd 395 0.8%
2024 8.77 383rd 390 1.8%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools NM State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 63.18 96th 325 70.5%
2023 7.27 407th 413 1.5%
See the entire list of Best New Mexico Elementary 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.

R.M. Sweeney Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 



Data source: New Mexico Public Education Department

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)
100%

0%

0%

0%

0%

  

Reviews:
by a teacher
Saturday, February 11, 2017

Open Quote There is a strong group of parents who are advocating for high quality instruction. Close Quote



Enrollment information for R.M. Sweeney Elementary

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1990 223 5 1 492 9 n/a n/a 0 730
1991 223 0 0 415 0 n/a n/a 0 638
1992 162 9 2 482 2 n/a n/a 0 657
1993 129 0 2 515 3 n/a n/a 0 649
1994 126 2 2 526 8 n/a n/a 0 664
1995 102 1 4 492 16 n/a n/a 0 615
1996 102 1 4 492 16 n/a n/a 0 615
1997 90 5 5 496 10 n/a n/a 0 606
1998 84 0 8 520 15 n/a n/a 0 627
1999 73 1 9 574 19 n/a n/a 0 676
2000 67 0 9 578 23 n/a n/a 0 677
2001 54 1 9 591 15 n/a n/a 0 670
2002 30 0 9 577 15 n/a n/a 0 631
2003 30 0 9 577 15 n/a n/a 0 631
2004 23 0 2 386 6 n/a n/a 0 417
2005 27 0 1 362 11 n/a n/a 0 401
2006 27 3 0 494 4 n/a n/a 0 528
2007 24 4 0 532 9 n/a n/a 0 569
2008 20 0 0 491 6 n/a n/a 0 517
2009 17 1 3 651 10 n/a n/a 0 682
2010 20 3 6 631 10 0 0 0 670
2011 15 0 2 530 11 0 0 0 558
2012 42 2 3 514 5 0 1 0 567
2013 33 4 2 519 7 0 1 0 566
2014 37 2 1 579 12 1 2 0 634
2015 24 1 0 454 11 0 0 0 490
2016 17 1 1 444 9 0 0 0 472
2017 22 1 1 420 7 0 0 0 451
2018 20 2 2 441 5 1 0 0 471
2019 13 0 2 438 7 2 0 0 462
2020 12 2 2 380 5 0 0 0 401
2021 11 2 2 358 4 0 0 0 377
2022 7 7 1 291 0 1 0 0 307
2023 6 1 1 267 0 1 0 0 276

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 R.M. Sweeney Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 730 35.1 20.7 n/a
1991 638 33.5 19.0 n/a
1992 657 34.5 19.0 n/a
1993 649 36.4 17.8 n/a
1994 664 34.1 19.5 n/a
1995 615 35.2 17.5 n/a
1996 615 35.2 17.5 n/a
1997 606 35.3 17.2 n/a
1998 627 34.0 18.4 n/a
1999 676 34.0 19.9 75.4
2000 677 39.9 17.0 69.7
2001 670 54.0 12.4 86
2002 631 40.5 15.6 98.6
2003 631 40.5 15.6 98.6
2004 417 30.4 13.7 94.2
2005 401 30.4 13.2 97.5
2006 528 33.8 15.6 99.2
2007 569 35.6 16.0 98.9
2008 517 34.7 14.9 99.4
2009 682 43.7 15.6 99.6
2010 670 40.2 16.6 99.6
2011 558 34.6 16.1 99.1
2012 567 37.8 15.0 86.9
2013 566 37.0 15.2 98.8
2014 634 39.1 16.2 99.5
2015 490 36.0 13.6 81.4
2016 472 35.0 13.4 100
2017 451 31.2 14.4 99.8
2018 471 30.5 15.4 100
2019 462 25.2 18.3 100
2020 401 26.4 15.1 100
2021 377 23.2 16.2 100
2022 307 21.2 14.4 99
2023 276 23.2 11.8 100

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 R.M. Sweeney Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 730 35.1 20.7 n/a
1991 638 33.5 19.0 n/a
1992 657 34.5 19.0 n/a
1993 649 36.4 17.8 n/a
1994 664 34.1 19.5 n/a
1995 615 35.2 17.5 n/a
1996 615 35.2 17.5 n/a
1997 606 35.3 17.2 n/a
1998 627 34.0 18.4 n/a
1999 676 34.0 19.9 75.4
2000 677 39.9 17.0 69.7
2001 670 54.0 12.4 86
2002 631 40.5 15.6 98.6
2003 631 40.5 15.6 98.6
2004 417 30.4 13.7 94.2
2005 401 30.4 13.2 97.5
2006 528 33.8 15.6 99.2
2007 569 35.6 16.0 98.9
2008 517 34.7 14.9 99.4
2009 682 43.7 15.6 99.6
2010 670 40.2 16.6 99.6
2011 558 34.6 16.1 99.1
2012 567 37.8 15.0 86.9
2013 566 37.0 15.2 98.8
2014 634 39.1 16.2 99.5
2015 490 36.0 13.6 81.4
2016 472 35.0 13.4 100
2017 451 31.2 14.4 99.8
2018 471 30.5 15.4 100
2019 462 25.2 18.3 100
2020 401 26.4 15.1 100
2021 377 23.2 16.2 100
2022 307 21.2 14.4 99
2023 276 23.2 11.8 100

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 R.M. Sweeney Elementary

Help

YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2019 $9,008

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

Impact of COVID-19 on R.M. Sweeney Elementary

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 360th of 396 Elementary schoolsRanks 426th of 435 Elementary schools
 7%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Language Arts (R.M. Sweeney Elementary)2310.2
 12.8%
   3rd Grade Language Arts (Santa Fe)3232.6
 0.6%
   3rd Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3031.8
 1.8%
4th Grade Language Arts (R.M. Sweeney Elementary)97.8
 1.2%
   4th Grade Language Arts (Santa Fe)2833
 5%
   4th Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3035.2
 5.2%
4th Grade Mathematics (R.M. Sweeney Elementary)67.8
 1.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Santa Fe)2322.9
 0.1%
   4th Grade Mathematics (New Mexico)2724.5
 2.5%
5th Grade Language Arts (R.M. Sweeney Elementary)2312.5
 10.5%
   5th Grade Language Arts (Santa Fe)3233.9
 1.9%
   5th Grade Language Arts (New Mexico)3335.7
 2.7%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students462276
 40.3%
African American01
American Indian70
 100%
Asian21
 50%
Hispanic438267
 39%
Pacific Islander21
 50%
White136
 53.8%
Two or More Races00
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients100%100%


Schools Near R.M. Sweeney Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about R.M. Sweeney Elementary

R.M. Sweeney Elementary ranks in the bottom 3.0% of New Mexico elementary schools.

Students who attend R.M. Sweeney Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Edward Ortiz Middle
High : Capital High

Students at R.M. Sweeney Elementary are 97% Hispanic, 2% White.

In the 2022-23 school year, 276 students attended R.M. Sweeney Elementary.


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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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