Superintendent's News
APS Connects: A Message from Supt. Elder
In his weekly message to employees, APS Superintendent Scott Elder writes the connections we make with students, families, colleagues, and the community.
Teacher Danielle Henderson says the Pledge of Allegiance with student Alex Kenney at the Stephen Moody Education Complex (formerly Aztec Complex).
I like seeing the 2022-2023 Albuquerque Public Schools wall calendar hanging in classrooms and offices across the district. It's been spotted in other places around town, too. Dentists, doctors, and real estate offices. Breakrooms. Hanging on refrigerators and bulletin boards in homes.
It's a handy tool chock-full of helpful information and dates, including holidays, breaks, grading periods, APS-sponsored athletic competitions, art shows, performances, and more.
But what I like most about the calendar are the photographs. Each month's featured photo depicts the strong bond between our students and staff. Together, they read, solve problems, practice, create, explore, connect. These glimpses in time represent the everyday happenings in schools across APS, where educators foster passion, fuel curiosity, and transform lives.
The photos reflect this year's calendar theme, APS Connects, emphasizing the strong relationships between our students and their school community. We're all about making connections in Albuquerque Public Schools, and not just in the classroom, where every lesson—every interaction—provides an opportunity for students to connect cognitively, emotionally, physically, or socially to the world around them. As the pictures in the calendar show, we make connections outside the classroom and beyond the school day, too.
We also connect with APS families, colleagues, and neighbors. In doing so, we forge relationships that build a solid foundation for our students.
Relationships are two-way streets, so I encourage you to keep the lines of communication open this school year. Texts, emails, phone calls, and messaging apps are good ways to stay in touch.
So is social media. That's why we are extending the calendar theme to social media, launching a campaign using the hashtag #APSConnects. We have encouraged schools, departments, and partners to use #APSConnects when posting to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook so we can like and share. Don't forget to tag @ABQschools and me, too, @SuptABQschools. I've been delighted by the positive messages I've seen scrolling through my Twitter feed during the first weeks of school. Let's keep it up. And stay connected.