Albuquerque Public Schools
Del Norte at 60: Still the Same Old Family Feeling
The school will commemorate the milestone with several events over the next few weeks.
Del Norte High School’s roots are located in what was a lonely patch of Albuquerque mesa – so removed from houses, roads, or businesses that it seemed unlikely anything could ever grow there.
But a sense of family took hold in 1964, and continues to this day, as Del Norte prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Now surrounded by busy streets and busier lives, the Knights have been through much since the first classes of sophomores and juniors arrived at the still-under-construction campus in the fall of ‘64. But if the seeds from those early days can’t easily be seen – only the original gymnasium complex remains from the school’s original plant – what they’ve flowered into is obvious and real.
“What makes Del Norte special today is the same diversity that was embraced then,” said current Principal Ed Bortot, noting a variety of special, student-focused offerings such as AVID, eSports, Capstone, and a focus on paid student internships that can lead to lifelong careers. “Del Norte has given voice to faculty through a collaborative culture and shared leadership and to students through shared leadership and a principal’s advisory board.”
Though the programs have changed since ‘64 – the year the Beatles took America by storm – there remains a palpable sense of togetherness. That’s particularly true among alumni, students, and former teachers and administrators who fondly remember their time on what would eventually become one of the busiest corners in New Mexico, the intersection of Montgomery and San Mateo boulevards.
“It’s a family feeling,” said former Del Norte Principal Martha Bass, who headed the school from 1987-1997. “The Del Norte community is more like a family than any other school I’d been in, whether it was parents, teachers, or kids who went there.”
Bass knows a lot about it: she succeeded her late husband, the popular and respected Elmer Bass, as Del Norte’s top administrator.
Martha Bass was principal at Del Norte when the school celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1989, recalling an assembly that brought its viewers through the passage of time.
The past is prologue: For the next several weeks, Del Norte will mark year No. 60, first at a Saturday morning football game against Manzano in which the Knights’ undefeated state championship team in 1974 – considered by some experts as one of the best in city history – will take a bow.
But there will be other events as well, notably from Sept. 30-Oct. 4. The school’s teaching staff will direct its lesson plans toward a look at the many decades Del Norte has been in existence.
But if Del Norte has been steeped in history, it’s also had a focus on the here and now. One graduate, Janet Saiers, class of 1966, recalls how her days there weren’t sheltered from a world consumed by Vietnam and the winds of change.
“To me,” she said, “Del Norte represents a slice, an important slice, of Albuquerque.”
Adds current AlumKnights President Rebecca Bejcek: “What made Del Norte special back then was that it had a diverse population and it was basically in the middle of the city and everyone wanted to be here. It didn't look like an ordinary high school, nor did the faculty teach like it was an ordinary high school. It was built to allow innovation and encourage creativity. There was a constant effort to make Del Norte a student-centered school. The curricular philosophy encourages each student to progress as far as they can rather than to absorb a prescribed package of course content.”
Toward that end, Del Norte grads, teachers, and administrators have become staples in this community and others – some heading big businesses and public institutions; others becoming key players in the lives of future generations.
Ask a Del Norte grad about the past, and they rave about teachers like Jackie Graham or Percy Larranaga or Virginia Cravens, just as today’s students are tied to the people leading them into the second quarter of the 21st century. The teachers have names like Jonathan Hagmaier, Christine Beverly and Marta Anderson. There are others, of course.
Is Del Norte the same today as it was when it stood alone in the desert? Of course not. Rebuilt more than a decade ago and a community school since 2022, it’s modern and diverse – arms open to what’s next. After 60 years, “next” is always on the horizon.
“We always want to make sure students are the focus,” Bortot said.
Key Events for Del Norte High’s 60th Anniversary
Saturday, Sept. 7, 11 a.m., Milne Stadium, Del Norte vs. Manzano, a celebration of the Knights’ 1974 state football champions
Homecoming Week
Sept. 30-Oct. 4
- Teachers will be gearing lesson plans based on different decades through Del Norte’s 60-year history
- Each department will be celebrating a different decade.
- Homecoming assembly on Oct. 4
- Del Norte's memorabilia and mini footballs will be given to the crowd at the conclusion of the homecoming football game
- Del Norte’s alumni association, called the AlumKnights, will have merchandise for purchase
Celebrating Del Norte’s opening
Oct. 5, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Performances by the school’s musical groups, with visits from school board members and top APS administrators
- Tours of the school will be held, plus a silent auction