SILVER CITY >> Lisa Ortega started syncopated clapping as a hundred squirming youngsters joined in with her and slowly settled down. They were sprawled across the cafeteria floor of Sixth Street Elementary School where Ortega is principal, some visiting from El Grito Head Start down the street. All had come to see state Sen. Howie Morales, who ran for governor last year on a platform of education reform. He had launched his campaign from this same school where he’d once been a student.

On Monday morning it appeared Morales was not there to give a political message, at least not directly. He wanted to recognize an award that had been given to the Sixth Street School by the New Mexico Senate, and to present certificates to each of the students. The occasion for the award was that a company based in Pittsburgh known as Niche has ranked Sixth Street Elementary School the 21st best elementary school in New Mexico. Niche, which devotes itself primarily to rating colleges and universities, has begun to extend its research to public schools.