Best Schools in Gallup, New Mexico

Gallup, New Mexico has 18 ranked public schools spanning elementary through high school. The city's average score is 5.0 out of 10, and only 1 school — 6% of the total — clears the 7-point threshold. That puts Gallup well below typical national performance benchmarks, and parents should enter this market with clear expectations about what the landscape offers.

Lincoln Elementary stands well apart from every other school in the city, scoring 8.5 out of 10. It is Gallup's only top-tier school and the strongest option for families with young children by a wide margin. The next-ranked school, Hozho Academy, scores 6.5 — a full two points lower. Twin Lakes Elementary follows at 6.4, Six Directions Indigenous School (a high school) scores 6.1, and John F. Kennedy Middle rounds out the top five at an even 6.0. All five top-ranked schools cluster within half a point of each other below Lincoln, which underscores how singular Lincoln's performance is.

The broader picture is less encouraging. Fourteen of Gallup's 18 schools score below 6.0, meaning the city's performance is heavily concentrated in the low-to-mid range. Elementary-age families have the most defensible options — two of the top three schools serve that grade band. Middle and high school choices narrow significantly: Kennedy Middle and Six Directions are the highest-performing options at their levels, but both sit right at the city average or just above it.

For parents making practical decisions: if Lincoln Elementary falls in your attendance zone, prioritize it. Families outside that zone should look hard at Hozho Academy as an alternative-model option scoring above the city average. For middle and high school, the performance gap between Gallup's top schools and the rest of the country is real — parents weighing a move here should compare these scores directly against districts in neighboring cities before committing. The 94% of Gallup schools that score below 7.0 makes individual school selection more consequential here than in higher-performing markets.