ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Gabriella Duran Blakey, spoke directly to the community about how the district is doing, and what needs to happen to get more children on the right track.

APS Board President Danielle Gonzales went over the main goals that APS will be working on for the next four years. 

The first goal is making sure that students are proficient in reading by third grade. The second, making sure students are proficient in math by eighth grade. Third is making sure seniors graduate on time and also making sure they have the tools to succeed beyond high school.

Duran-Blakey gave an update on how APS students are doing when it comes to these outcomes. 

“Many of our students are struggling, in fact only 38% of our third-graders are proficient in reading, 26% of our eighth-graders are proficient in math, only 72% of our seniors are graduating on time. For our Yazzie-Martinez students, they are even further behind,” said Duran-Blakey.  

Duran-Blakey went on to talk about some of the new things she has implemented since taking over. One of them is working with teachers to come up with new study units for students at each grade level. 

They trained every elementary school principal and teacher on “LETRS” which is a professional development program to boost literacy scores. 

The district also completed a fine arts expansion program so every APS elementary school has access to art and music every year. 

Another issue they are addressing is absenteeism. In 2024, the district reports that 31% of students had issues with absences.

“We are expanding on a program that now will alert school staff and students to develop attendance and academic challenges. This will enable our staff to coordinate interventions to support these students and their families,” said Duran-Blakey.