Rio Rancho Public Schools is dedicated to helping every student gain the knowledge and skills needed to adapt to a changing world and become a productive citizen. The Rio Rancho community insists on safe, clean, functional schools where where students can learn effectively and demands that students meet high expectations in the areas of academic achievement,character, behavior, and career readiness. To further these goals, the district encourages parent involvement and community and business partnerships.

There are two new elementary schools to serve our city's growing population open in 2008. Cielo Azul Elementary will serve the fast-growing Northern Meadows community. Sandia Vista Elementary will serve portions of the Enchanted Hills neighborhood and the new Lomas Encantadas neighborhood just ot the south. Meanwhile, construction continues on the new Sue V. Cleveland High School opening in the fall of 2009. Already the school's three story main classroom building and other facilities are a dominating presence on the landscape to the east of the City Center. The new school was conceived and designed with 21st century skills in mind. Like Rio Ranch High School, Cleveland High will offer students a choice of career-based academies in engineering, the sciences, liberal arts and performing arts.

Rio Rancho High School is especially well known for excellence in science,enginering, and student research. In 2004 Rio Rancho High was one of eight schools nationally named a Microsoft Center of Innovation school. The school has sent students to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for the past six years. Rio Rancho High won the state championships in robotics for the seventh time and sports medicine in 2008 The high school also captured state championships in volleyball, girls soccer, wrestling and district championships in nine sports.

Rio Rancho students can take advantage of a strong curriculum including a wide selection of advanced placement courses and concurrent enrollment and duel credit opportunities at the University of New Mexico, Central NM Community College and other institutions.

To succeed in high school and beyond, students must have a solid foundation. Rio Rancho's 10 elementary schools laid that foundation with special emphasis on math, reading and other literacy skills. All elementary schools offer full day kindergarten programs and have full time librarians and music, technology, arts, and physical education programs. Rio Rancho's Shining Stars Pre-school helps three and four-year olds learn the reading readiness and social skills that they need to be prepared for kindergarten. It primarily serves students who are developmently delayed and students with disabilities, but also accepts typically developing four-year olds selected through a lottery system.

At the community's three middle schools students are taught math, science, and humanities by a team of teachers who work together to provide an integrated program. Middle school students also take elective cources geared to the needs of young adolescents. Rio Rancho Mid-High School's campus serves the district's eighth and ninth-graders. The Mid-High's programs are designed to meet the special academic needs of students making transition from childhood to adolescence, and from lower grades to high school.

RRPS offers several other educational opportunities for secondary students. The Rio Rancho Cyber Academy provides classes on line featuring live interaction with teachers as well as self paced computer courses. Cyber Academy students are often high achieving young people , who do well with a program that combines rigor with flexability. Independence High School offers an option for students seeking extra support so they can earn a high school diploma. Among its programs IHS provides day care services and parenting classes for young families and flexible schedules for students required to work. Independence also partners with CNM to offer careers education programs in film, culinary arts, and health care.

Rio Rancho Public Schools is the state's third largest school district with 15,600 students. Since the district was founded in 1994, Its rapid growth has paralleled that of the city of Rio Rancho. The district has maintained high academic standards while building and opening eleven new campuses in twelve years. This rapid expansion has been suported through voter-approved bond levies, corporate and government partnerships, and state funding.