ABQ: We Have a Name for Our Newest School

Located in the shadows of the three volcanoes on Albuquerque's westside, Tres Volcanoes Community Collaborative School will open this fall.

Our newest school has a name: Tres Volcanoes Community Collaborative School.

Our newest school has a mascot: Magma.

And our newest school has colors: red, gray and white.

Tres Volcanes Community Collaborative School will open its doors this fall to about 600 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Eventually, it could accommodate as many as 1,600 K-8 students on Albuquerque's burgeoning westside near I-40 and 98th Street (across the street from Nusenda Community Stadium).

The school will alleviate crowding at Jimmy Carter Middle School and Painted Sky and S.R. Marmon elementaries. Fifth graders at the two elementaries will make up the first mid-school class at Tres Volcanes. They will be the first seventh graders in the 2019-20 school year, and the first eighth-graders in 2020-21.

Those students got to choose the mascot and the colors for their new school. Principal Monica Garciasalas traveled to the two elementary schools in late January to pre-register the students and let them vote on their mascot and colors.

Garciasalas also sought input from the community before a name was chosen for the school. Several meetings were held and surveys conducted. 

The school will focus on blended learning with an emphasis on technology. Its modern design lends itself to collaborative and project-based learning.

The $50 million school has more than 245,000 square feet that include 74 classrooms, multiple gyms, a large cafeteria with a wall of windows looking out on the Sandia Mountains and an expansive multi-media room. Elementary students will be housed downstairs; the mid-school will be located on the second floor.

It was designed by Jon Anderson Architecture. The General Contractor is Bradbury Stamm Construction. More than 150 people are working to build the school which expected to be completed this summer.