Cleveland High Sets Record 91.5% Graduation Rate, New RRPS Superintendent Celebrates

V. Sue Cleveland High School's Class of 2025 posted a 91.5% graduation rate, the highest in the school's recorded history and nearly 16 percentage points above the New Mexico statewide average of approximately 76%. The milestone gave new RRPS Superintendent Dr. Robert "Robby" Dodd something to celebrate on his first official day: when posing for photos with school mascots, he and student body leaders shouted "91.5!" instead of "cheese."

Dodd, who officially started April 6, 2025, deliberately chose Cleveland High as his first school visit of the day. The 91.5% figure represented a 4.5-point jump from the prior year's 87% rate and marked the completion of what Dodd called Phase 1 of his 100-Day Entry Plan: "honoring the past."

The record carries particular weight given who the school is named after. Dr. V. Sue Cleveland, the district's founding superintendent, retired March 27, 2025, after 32 years at the helm of Rio Rancho Public Schools, the longest tenure of any public school superintendent in New Mexico history. She built RRPS from its founding in February 1994, when it had 5,900 students across seven schools, into a system serving more than 16,000 students on 21 campuses. Dodd is only the second person ever to hold the superintendent title in the district's 31-year history.

He came to RRPS from Montgomery County Public Schools in Rockville, Maryland, a top-ranked district nationally, where he spent 32 years and most recently served as director of school leadership and improvement. The five-member RRPS Board of Education unanimously appointed him in December 2024 following a national search, and he spent the month before his start date shadowing Cleveland to orient himself to the role.

Cleveland High's record rate outpaced the district-wide RRPS graduation figure of 89.4% for 2025. Across all 21 schools, RRPS posted 53.9% literacy proficiency and 34.5% math proficiency, outperforming comparable districts including Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Cleveland High, with an enrollment of approximately 2,625 students in grades 9 through 12, is ranked 27th among all New Mexico high schools by U.S. News & World Report.

Dodd's entry plan reaches further ahead. Phase 2, "building the present," will include meetings with external stakeholders and a community survey. Phase 3, "inventing the future," targets the academic gap with Los Alamos Public Schools, which leads RRPS in reading by 19.6%, math by 24.5%, and graduation by 8%.

The leadership transition drew measured praise locally. Rio Rancho District 4 City Councilor Paul Wymer said of Dodd: "He's very ambitious, very outgoing. I think he'll fit right in, but there will never be another Sue Cleveland." The RRPS Board of Education honored Cleveland with a formal resolution crediting her "stable, student-centered leadership to Rio Rancho schools for more than three decades."

Students at Cleveland High responded warmly to the new superintendent. "I know we were kind of hoping for him to be really involved with us," one student said. Dodd offered a direct answer: "It's all about the kids. I'm going to be in schools very frequently.