Taos Municipal Schools report mixed academic progress and a small enrollment dip

Principals from Taos Middle School and Taos High School and Superintendent Dr. Antonio Leighton Jr. presented the district's end-of-year student outcomes at the Taos Municipal Schools Board of Education meeting on June 10.

Taos Middle School Principal Linda Martinez told the board the campus recorded a 32% decrease in recorded behavioral incidents and a 31% decrease in suspensions year over year, which she attributed to clearer incident logging in Panorama, restorative practices and increased trusted adults and after-school opportunities funded by Community Schools. Martinez said the middle school reported 24% of students in reading as proficient or advanced (Tier 1) and 51% in Tier 3 (two or more grade levels below) and that the site has added intervention staff, including teacher Ben Ogrren, who will move into the Read 180 intervention class next year. "I never knew what I didn't know until I knew I didn't know it," Martinez quoted Ogrren saying about his readiness to teach intervention content.

At Taos High School, Principal Emmy Martinez Deera highlighted cohort gains on local short-cycle assessments (8'12% growth for some groups), 116 AP exams taken (scores pending), and a graduating class she reported as 187 students. She credited Gear Up and local partners for a PSAT boot camp and said the district distributed about $350,000 in local scholarships this year.

Superintendent Dr. Antonio Leighton Jr. presented districtwide data showing the district finished the year with 1,733 students, a decline of 31 students from the previous year's 1,764. "We ended with 1,733 as our enrollment," Dr. Leighton said, and he noted preliminary attendance exceeded the 90% target (about 90.2%). He reviewed longitudinal math and reading proficiency charts and described a strategic-planning goal of roughly 5 percentage points of improvement per year as an aspirational target; he cautioned that official state 2025-26 scores had not yet been released.

Board members pressed principals on literacy supports for third graders and the availability of Read 180 and Math 180 intervention classes at the middle school. Martinez confirmed staffing changes during the year (a long-term substitute followed by a certified hire) and said the site is now staffed for Read 180. Members praised newly piloted programs such as a middle-school "lifesavers" health pathway and a high-school wellness room supported by a TA Community Foundation grant.

The board asked staff to continue refining data presentations and to return with updated state proficiency data once it is released. The district also flagged planned next steps on a possible Air Force JROTC site decision expected in July and summer workshops on literacy strategies for board consideration.