APS Welcomes Students Back to School on Aug. 7

Posted July 28, 2025, 2:50 PM. Updated July 28, 2025, 2:50 PM.

Here's what to expect in the new school year.

Do all students return to class on Aug. 7?

The first day of school for first- through 12th-grade students is Aug. 7. Pre-K and kindergarten students start on Aug. 11.

When do teachers return to school?

The first day back for teachers is Aug. 1. District leaders have partnered with the Albuquerque Teachers Federation and the City of Albuquerque to host the 2025 APS Rising: Back to School Conference at the Albuquerque Convention Center for more than 6,000 school administrators, teachers, counselors, nurses and other educators. This is the first event of its kind in the modern history of APS.

What’s the key focus this year?

In early 2023, the APS Board of Education adopted four goals: improving reading and math proficiency rates, preparing students for life after graduation, and equipping them with the life skills they need to be successful. Interim goals have been established to keep the district on track, and APS has been meeting them. The theme for the new school year is APS Rising, a nod to the district's success and building momentum.

What are the big changes for APS this school year?

There are many.

APS is partnering with Arizona State University on "The Next Education Workforce Initiative," a pilot program at six middle schools: Wilson, Tony Hillerman, Hoover, LBJ, Grant and Hayes. This initiative seeks to improve student outcomes and teacher satisfaction by creating a more student-centered learning environment and fostering greater teacher collaboration. The goal is to address the historical loss of students during the transition from fifth to sixth grade.
The district is also launching the "Academies of Albuquerque" at three high school campuses – Highland, Manzano and Cibola – with plans to eventually implement the model at all comprehensive APS high schools. This model allows students to choose career pathways aligned with state workforce needs, offering engagement through community business partners and an industry lens for core subjects.
APS is expanding its popular Coronado Dual Language Magnet. The school has moved from its downtown location to what had been the Taft Middle School campus in the North Valley. The school will welcome its first-ever sixth-grade class this school year, with plans to add a seventh-grade class next year and an eighth-grade class the following year.
The district is opening a new APS International High School downtown to support refugee and immigrant students. Educators at the new school will help students develop English skills and adapt to a new culture.
Students who had been in the Taft Middle School boundary can now attend Taylor and Garfield middle schools. District leaders expect that combining Taft and Taylor will create a more robust middle school with more opportunities for students.

What can parents do to help their students succeed?

We’re urging parents and guardians to commit to having their children in school every day. Last school year, 28% of APS students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 10% or more of their school days. Our students can’t succeed if they don’t come to school. This is a problem APS and school districts across the country have been grappling with for years.

With cases of measles on the rise in New Mexico, what do families need to know?

Measles can cause serious health problems. The best way to protect students is to ensure they are fully vaccinated. APS requires the measles vaccine for PreK-12 students unless the Department of Health has granted an exemption. The vaccination rate among APS students for all required vaccinations is currently 92%. School nurses constantly monitor for illness outbreaks. Given the cases of measles in our state in recent months, there will be heightened vigilance for those symptoms.

What should families know about school meals?

All APS students can get free breakfast and lunch at school, thanks to a law enacted by state lawmakers and the governor a few years ago. APS Food & Nutrition Services served about 5.8 million school lunches and 3.9 million breakfasts last year. Go to the MealViewer website or app and type in your student’s school name to find out what's on the menu.

What about buses?

APS Student Transportation Services safely transports 33,634 students to and from school, averaging 23,067 miles daily, with an annual mileage exceeding 4.1 million. That is almost equal to going around the circumference of the earth daily. APS provides bus transportation to high school students who live more than 2 miles from their school of residence, middle school students who live more than 1.5 miles from their school, and elementary school students who live more than 1 mile from their school.

Any advice for motorists as school starts back up?

The start of the school year is a good time for all of us to reexamine our driving habits. We ask motorists to slow down in school zones, drive safely, and be on the lookout for students walking to school or their bus stop.

What about air conditioning at schools?

APS technicians have been working since May, servicing evaporative coolers and replacing cooling pads and servicing and testing HVAC units to pre-empt problems for the new school year. Contractors also replaced evaporative coolers with refrigerated air units at most of the Bel-Air portables and at Coronado Dual Language Magnet School’s new campus.

Only about 28% of our classrooms have refrigerated air, meaning the remaining 72% are serviced by evaporative coolers. Evaporative coolers are not as effective in extreme temperatures or when it’s humid outside. At best, evaporative coolers can reduce temperatures by 20 degrees, which means that on a 100-degree day, the best you’re going to get inside that classroom is 80 degrees. And when you add a teacher and 20 students, that classroom is going to get hotter than 80 degrees.