Albuquerque Public Schools
Celebrating a New Chapter at Duranes
In her weekly message, Superintendent Durán Blakey discusses the significance of the district’s first early childhood center.
I was thrilled to join students, teachers and families at Duranes on Thursday evening to celebrate the official opening of our District’s first-ever early childhood center!
This milestone is significant for two key reasons.
First, it’s an investment in our youngest learners and will help more children enter kindergarten ready to learn while providing families with increased access to educational services in their community. Studies have consistently shown that students who attend high-quality preschool programs are more prepared for school and experience substantial learning gains in comparison to similar children who don’t attend preschool. A review of that research published by the Learning Policy Institute a few years ago highlighted positive effects on children’s early literacy and mathematics skills, two of the key areas we’re focused on improving at APS.
Second, this new center is a direct result of our right-sizing efforts and demonstrates how we are strategically repurposing facilities to better align with student and community needs. Rather than maintaining underutilized space, we are creating new opportunities for families.
The opening of Duranes reflects our broader commitment to ensuring that our facilities are being used in ways that maximize opportunities for students, strengthen neighborhood schools, and support the long-term sustainability of our district. It's an example of how we can thoughtfully adapt to changing enrollment patterns while continuing to invest in programs that have a meaningful impact on student outcomes.
We opened the Duranes Early Childhood Center as a full inclusion campus. Four of the classrooms we’ve opened at the school are dedicated to New Mexico Pre-K and five to special education preschool. And we have the capacity to expand to 12 classrooms.
Another great part of this project is that it’s designed as a lab school in collaboration with the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College. Plus, the center features a full-time community school impact coordinator and a dedicated Child Find team, ensuring families have direct, easy access to early intervention resources and essential support services.
This project was made possible by the support of our voters and the state. Working alongside SMPC architects and Bradbury Stamm construction, we replaced the old main building with a bright, modern 36,463-square-foot facility using our APS "kit of parts" model. We invested about $36 million into transforming this historic 1947 site.
The new space includes 12 classrooms grouped into three distinct clusters, each with its own dedicated playground and shared space, plus brand-new administration, wellness, and cafeteria wings. We also preserved and refreshed over 10,000 square feet of existing space to house a teacher resource center, after-school program areas, and dedicated offices for our speech pathologists, social workers, and psychologists.
This initiative aligns seamlessly with our state's ongoing efforts to expand pre-K and early childhood opportunities across New Mexico. State investments in early education reflect a clear understanding that early intervention yields profound, long-term dividends for our children. At APS, we share this unwavering commitment to laying a strong foundation for future student success.
Enjoy your weekend!