Community Gets Behind-the-Scenes Look

Posted October 29, 2024, 3:55 PM. Updated October 29, 2024, 4:00 PM.

Tour showcased some of district's newest facilities.

Community members got an insider’s look at some of the facilities that make a 68,000-student school district run – while also getting to meet some of Albuquerque’s best teachers and youngsters – during a tour hosted by APS Capital Master Plan Executive Director Kizito Wijenje and Superintendent Gabriella Blakey.

The tour featured behind-the-scenes walkthroughs of some of the newest additions to the district’s facilities: the APS School Police Command Center, the J. Patrick Garcia Transportation and Educational Complex and the Food and Nutrition Services Building.

But in a bus tour that lasted for about half a day, business leaders, elected officials, four school board members and district officials also got a look at the new facility that houses Arroyo del Oso Elementary School and visited with students at both the Career Enrichment Center and Early College Academy, where recent upgrades have made them among the most highly sought after magnet high school programs in the district.

District officials talked about the key improvements in safety, health, nutrition and education the newer buildings – made possible by the passage of previous bond issues – have made. They also led attendees through the processes that make it possible to feed and transport tens of thousands of Albuquerque kids each day.

Among the topics at several stops were the realities that face schools each day, some prompting improvements in security measures. They also discussed changes in students’ educational needs over the years, making multi-faceted programs like those offered at the Career Enrichment Center and Early College Academy so popular.

“We’re excited to show off these facilities because there’s a lot that goes on at APS that some people might not see from the outside,” Dr. Blakey said. “When people get a look at not just our facilities, but get to meet the people who work and learn in them, I think they come away impressed.”