Dear East Mountain Community,
We’ve never been a school that stood still. We’ve built, we’ve grown and we’ve answered every challenge with the same conviction: our students deserve the best. Today, we take the next step.
We are no longer just East Mountain High School.
We are East Mountain.
Because what we are building here is bigger than a single grade level, bigger than a single building, bigger even than the name we’ve carried with pride for decades. We are a seamless, high-quality, grades 6–12 pathway for families who want more than just a school; they want a place that will challenge, support, and know their child.
This change isn’t about rebranding. It’s about our shared responsibility. Since the pandemic, record enrollment and waitlists have told us what families already knew: that East Mountain offers something rare in public education. When so many families ask for a spot at the table, we don’t respond with smaller dreams. We expand the table.
That’s why we’ve launched new transportation routes and free meals for every student, because campus accessibility matters. That’s why, this late fall and winter, development begins on a new building that will welcome our very first 6th-grade class by Fall of 2026. By Fall 2027, that site will grow into a full middle school, and with it, a stronger, more seamless experience for every family that calls East Mountain home. The research is clear: students learn and achieve more in schools with wider grade spans, as shown by the top 6-12 schools locally and nationally. There is less bullying, greater social-emotional development, and higher academic achievement.
And we’re expanding while staying true to what has made us who we are. Recently named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Best High Schools in America and ranked by Niche for the third consecutive year as the #1 charter school in New Mexico, East Mountain is proving that excellence and equity are not opposites. They are inseparable.
Here’s the most exciting part: the lottery for our first 6th-grade class opens on October 1. And one simple application means seven years of guaranteed excellence; seven years in the top public school in New Mexico; seven years of challenge and community; seven years of being part of something extraordinary.
This is our invitation to the community. Help us spread the word. Visit our new website at eastmountain.org. Current 5th-grade families should join us on October 22nd at 5pm to find out more about our middle school program. All the details and FAQ’s related to the new grades can be found on our new website.
We are East Mountain. And we’re just getting started.
Excitedly,
Trey Smith, Executive Director
