New Mexico legislators are working on bills that will have an impact on education in general and Albuquerque Public Schools in particular, Superintendent Scott Elder says. “The Roundhouse can feel like it’s a world away, but the decisions our lawmakers and the governor make there are incredibly important and affect each and every one of […]
Education
After months of searching, APS school board hires a familiar face to lead the district
School board members have selected Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey as the next superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools. Her selection, by a unanimous vote, was announced at a press conference this morning, concluding a search that began in October. Board of Education President Danielle Gonzales noted that the search included numerous meetings and listening sessions, as […]
After 10 hours of deliberations, superintendent vote pushed to next week
Albuquerque will have to wait until next week to find out who will be running its public schools. The board’s executive session lasted more than 10 hours on Wednesday before a vote to table the decision. A candidate needs at least four votes from the seven-member board before moving forward to discussing an employment contract, […]
Superintendent finalists meet with APS employees and community members
A total ban on students’ mobile phones is not coming to Albuquerque Public Schools. The two finalists for the district’s superintendent position ruled out such a move during a public forum Tuesday at which they answered questions from APS employees. Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey and Dr. Thomas Ahart also said that the solution to school […]
Superintendent finalists make pitch to students
The process of selecting a replacement for outgoing Superintendent Scott Elder is nearing its end, with finalists Dr. Thomas Ahart and Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey fielding questions from Albuquerque Public Schools students this morning. The finalists Durán Blakey is the district’s chief of operations and has previously served as an associate superintendent in the district. […]
New data shows a quarter of NM kids in poverty
Lowering New Mexico’s chronic childhood poverty rate continues to be a hard nut to crack, but advocates see some promise in new data and public policy initiatives. The annual “Kids Count” report issued Jan. 22 by New Mexico Voices for Children (NMVC) shows that almost a quarter of the state’s kids are stuck in poverty […]
And then there were two
Albuquerque Public Schools announced today that one of the three superintendent finalists chosen by the Board of Education last week, has withdrawn from the search. Mason Bellamy, who currently serves as the Chief of Academics and Schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools, informed the search firm over the weekend that he is no longer pursuing […]
APS narrows superintendent search to three
After about three hours of second-round virtual interviews, in an executive session that began shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday and ended at about 1:45 p.m., the APS Board of Education chose Thomas Ahart, Mason Bellamy and Gabriella Durán Blakey as finalists for the APS superintendent post. The three were among four semi-finalists, including Channell Segura, and […]
Former parent donates $1 million to Bosque School
Parents and students beware: local schools may soon be scheduling more parent-teacher conferences. That’s because at least one of those meetings turned into a lifelong love of the school and a $1 million gift from a former parent. Warren Hartman attended Bosque School, the private westside college preparatory school, from 2007-2014 but his mother, Jenny […]
Spurred by school shooting fears, APS rolls out new crisis alert system
After an eight-month long wait, Albuquerque Public Schools says it’s ready to roll out a new crisis alert system. Centegix CrisisAlert system is a safety alert system that would give APS staff the ability to summon help from anywhere on campus. Crisis alerts in Albuquerque schools During a safety drill in 2022, APS discovered a […]