Albuquerque Public Schools
Making Progress on Better Communication
In her weekly message, Superintendent Durán Blakey highlights a powerful new communications platform APS is launching and honors New Mexico’s Teacher of the Year.
When I took over as superintendent a little more than two years ago, one of the first things I did was launch a listening tour. I visited all of our schools during my first year and engaged with families and the broader Albuquerque community to gauge what we were doing well and what we needed to improve.
One of the concerns I heard often was that we needed to do a better job of communicating with our community and our employees and telling our success stories. I heard something similar from my Parent Advisory Committee, which pointed out that many families were overwhelmed by the sheer number of communications tools we were using at the district, school and even classroom level.
I took those suggestions to heart and began working with my team on ways to improve communications throughout the district. Make no mistake, it’s a gigantic task given that we have 140+ schools, more than 60,000 students, 75,000 parents and guardians and more than 11,000 employees.
But just because something is hard doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t tackle it. So we’ve been chipping away at it piece by piece, and I’m happy to say we’ve been making progress.
I mention this now because we’re in the process of transitioning to a new districtwide communications tool called ParentSquare. In the coming days, we’ll begin sending out notices of shelters-in-place and emergency notifications through ParentSquare. The Communications team will also be using ParentSquare to send out staff and family newsletters. The plan is for school offices to begin using the new platform in January, and to roll it out districtwide for the 2027-2028 school year.
My hope is that once we’ve fully launched it, a family will no longer have to be on ClassDojo for one of their kids and Remind for another child, all the while receiving weather closing notices and emergency notifications from SchoolMessenger and newsletters from the Emma platform.
We were looking for an easy to use platform, and several people who had used ParentSquare in other districts love it. One of the things I really like about it is that school and class rosters are preloaded, which will save time for teachers. Just as important are the safety features built into the system. ParentSquare is designed specifically for schools, protecting student and family information while enabling better oversight of school communications.
This is the latest in a series of moves we’ve made to improve communications.
Shortly after I was selected as superintendent, we launched Let’s Talk, an online customer service tool that is making it easier for our staff, families and members of the public to ask questions, request information, or share feedback about district operations. We strive to respond within 48 hours.
We also launched two new staff newsletters to keep our employees informed of important things happening throughout the district.
We’ve made a more concerted effort to tell our story and celebrate the great things happening at APS. And, as school districts across the state and country lose enrollment, we’ve been working hard to help our schools market themselves.
I will be the first to admit that we haven’t fully solved the problem, but we continue to chip away at it. Our team is striving to get better every day.
Before I sign off, I want to give a big congratulations to Volcano Vista High School teacher Kristin Garletts, who has been selected as the 2027 New Mexico Teacher of the Year by the New Mexico Public Education Department! She was honored during a school assembly on Oct. 2. Kristin is a ninth-grade English language arts and journalism teacher who is loved by her students and colleagues.
Enjoy your weekend.