Kirtland Air Force Base  Education

Enrollment size- APS - School year 2010/2011 - 93,177
APS Pupil/Teacher Ratio- School year 2010-2011
Kindergarten- 1/21- Educational Assistant required for class size over 15
Grades 1-3 (this is an average of all three grades at a school)- 1/23- Educational Assistant required for 1st grade class size over 21
Grades 4-5- (average of all classes at school)- 1/25
Grades 6-8- English Classes- daily student load is 138 with a class limit of 1/28, all other subjects daily student load is 163
Grades 9-12- English Classes- daily student load is 153 with a class limit of 1/31, all other subjects daily student load is 163

The APS grading system for elementary schools is explained in the Parents’ Guide to the Standards Based Progress Report (SBPR).

You may register your student at the school. To register, present current immunization records for your student(s). If your child had not attended a school in the APS district before, you will need the following documents to register your child for enrollment: Child's birth certificate, child's vaccination records and proof of your address, such as a utility bill with your name and current address on it. If possible, bring the student's social security number. There are no fees to register.

By state law, children must be five years old by 12:01 a.m. on September 1 to enter kindergarten. A half-day mandatory kindergarten program is offered at all APS elementary schools.

The APS use regional offices to assist parents and students with specialized administrative services. Regional offices also provide support functions for the schools in their respective regions. Information about instructional programs, special education, bilingual education, and Chapter 1 programs may be obtained from these offices.

If you have a student attending Highland High School please call and inquire about their block schedule, which is different from the rest of APS.

Magnet Schools

The APS district has Magnet schools which offer specialized programs with unique curriculum and new experiences not available at other schools in the district.  They differ from other public schools in that they receive additional funding to enable them to spend more money on their students, supplies, teachers, programs, etc.

 Schools with unique, focused curriculum and no attendance boundaries:

Coronado Elementary:
Dual Language Curriculum - The dual-language curriculum uses a 90-10 model, which means that those students starting out in kindergarten will receive 90 percent of their instruction in Spanish. By the time they get to the fourth grade they will be fully competent in Spanish and will receive 50 percent of instruction in English and 50 percent in Spanish.

The largest school district in New Mexico, Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) provides educational services to nearly 85,000 students who attend one of the district's 14 high schools, 26 middle schools, 88 elementary schools, and 35 Schools of Choice and Charter Schools In 1994, Rio Rancho, New Mexico created its own school district. The Rio Rancho School District has ten elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools. Also, Kirtland AFB has a full-time School Liaison Officer (SLO) who is available to assist parents with their children’s education needs by calling 505-846-6477/DSN 312-246-6477.

Kirtland AFB and the Albuquerque community have a broad spectrum of educational opportunities for adult learners who would like to grow and develop both personally and/or professionally.  For more information about Adult Education please see the Education – Training (College/Technical) topic.

High-tech Curriculum - One key element that will differentiate nex+gen Academy from other academic settings is its strong emphasis on technology and 21st century skills. All students will have one-on-one access to Web-enabled computers, allowing them to be self-directed learners who no longer need to rely primarily on teachers or textbooks for knowledge.  Sandia National Laboratories contributed nearly half a million dollars to help fund the partnership between APS and the New Technology Foundation, a leader in 21st century learning. Intel has agreed to purchase 200 laptop computers for the first group of students who will start class next fall.

Rio Rancho Schools

APS has eight elementary schools with an Alternative Calendar (Formerly Year Round Schools) which provide students with continuous learning by breaking up the long summer vacation into shorter, more frequent vacations throughout the year.  For more information or school schedules please call Community Relations, 505-881-8421.

Other local school districts:

Los Lunas Public Schools (LLPS) – (505)865-9636 or visit: http://www.loslunasnm.gov/index.aspx?NID=153

Moriarty-Edgewood Municipal Schools (MEMS) – (505)832-4471 or visit: http://www.mesd.us/

Year Round Schools

APS has eight elementary schools with an Alternative Calendar (Formerly Year Round Schools) which provide students with continuous learning by breaking up the long summer vacation into shorter, more frequent vacations throughout the year.  For more information or school schedules please call Community Relations, 505-881-8421.

Regular Schools with Magnet Programs

Some APS schools offer magnet programs, which are based within the schools themselves:

• Eubank Elementary – literacy and fine arts
• Inez Elementary — science and technology
• Lew Wallace Elementary — community
• Longfellow Elementary — dual language and fine arts
• Zuni Elementary — communication and technology

For more information on APS’s magnet schools, visit:  http://www.aps.edu/schools/magnet-schools.

Some of the Alternative Education programs which are available include: Albuquerque Evening High, Career Enrichment Center, Desert Willow Family School, Early College Academy, Freedom High School, Juvenile Detention Center Educational Unit, New Futures High School, Schools on Wheels, Sierra, Transition Outcomes Programs (TOP), Vision quest Alternative Middle School, and eCADEMY.  The GREAT Academy has “The Second Chance Program” where everyone deserves a second chance to graduate (for anyone 16 years or older (no age limit) without a diploma or GED).