Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey, superintendent of Albuquerque Public Schools (APS), addressed more than 250 education and business leaders at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce’s annual Education Matters Luncheon on September 22. The event took place at Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town.
Durán Blakey stepped in as keynote speaker after Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana’s secretary of education, was unable to attend due to weather-related travel issues. Attendees responded positively to Durán Blakey’s presentation.
During her speech, Durán Blakey emphasized APS’s focus on developing critical thinkers and engaged citizens. “At Albuquerque Public Schools, we are building critical thinkers, problem solvers and good communicators,” Durán Blakey said. “We are molding our students into engaged citizens, driven by a growth mindset. We are pushing them to be innovative, collaborative and socially and culturally aware. We are teaching them to persevere, and at the end of the day, we want them to be advocates for themselves — for their families and for those in this world who can’t stand up for themselves.”
She highlighted several APS programs such as the International Baccalaureate program at Sandia High and Cleveland Middle schools and environmental STEM pathways across various campuses. According to Durán Blakey, these initiatives have helped graduation rates within these programs surpass 96%, with many students earning college credits or professional certificates.
Durán Blakey spoke about the importance of public education serving all children regardless of background or needs. “Public education is a powerful promise that every child, no matter their ZIP code, their background, their language or learning needs, deserves an excellent education in their school,” she said. “It’s a promise to prepare students, not just for the next assignment, but for life, and it’s a promise to our communities to bring people together, to build understanding and to create a better future ahead. And it’s a promise to our staff to support, to challenge and to empower them to do their best work every single day, for every single child. I am in awe of our staff and the breadth of services that they provide, from our pre-K programs for three- and four-year-olds to our transition service programs for students 18 to 21, every day. They make a promise that is real for our students. We are proud of the options that we offer to our students and families and what we know is not a one-size-fits-all district.”
The superintendent outlined additional APS efforts aimed at increasing student success:
- The K-12 environmental STEM pathway has been implemented at Mountain View Elementary, Hope Middle School, and Rio Grande High School.
- An engineering magnet program was launched at Mission Avenue Elementary, Garfield Middle School, and Valley High School.
- The family school model has expanded at Desert Willow and Coyote Willow schools.
- The College and Career High School partnership with Central New Mexico Community College (CNM) continues helping students earn both high school diplomas and associate degrees or professional certificates.
- The Academies of Albuquerque model connects high school students with career pathways through industry partnerships.
- Electives such as Practical Nursing and EMT programs are available at the Career Enrichment Center.
- APS students participated in extracurricular activities last year resulting in nine state championships.
- Every elementary student receives art and music instruction; middle schools and high schools maintain robust arts programs.
Durán Blakey also noted ongoing concerns about chronic absenteeism among elementary students.
She explained that APS works with CNM on workforce development data so that academies align with local job opportunities: “It’s really important that as we build our academies, that we’re building them for jobs that our students see or are available here. One of the things that we are doing is that we have the Career Exploration Expo,” she said. “Although it sounds like a traditional kind of job fair, it’s very unique in the fact that for whatever school it is, the job there is based on what is in the pathways at that particular school. The second thing that we’ve done is that at those job fairs … if it’s somebody who graduated from Albuquerque, they have like a little seal on their booth so that kids can see that these are people that have given back to the community, that have successful jobs, that went to the same hallways of the school that they attended. For a lot of our students, they need a role model. This shows them what it looks like after they graduate from high school and what it means to stay invested in Albuquerque.”
The keynote concluded with Durán Blakey answering questions from attendees during an extended Q&A session.
