APS launches ‘learning zones’
4 minidistricts to offer personalized experience
With 141 schools, 13 million feet of instructional space and a geographic area of roughly 1,200 square miles, Albuquerque Public Schools is a large, urban district with diverse needs.
Now, APS administrators are launching a new effort to offer a more personalized experience.
The APS Learning Zone plan divides the district into quadrants made up of 35 to 40 schools enrolling 20,000 to 22,000 students.
Each zone will function almost like a mini district, with an associate superintendent at its head.
Superintendent Raquel Reedy said the zones offer the responsiveness of a smaller
community, while maintaining economies of scale that support programs such as special education.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” Reedy told the Journal. “If you are closer to the problem, you are closer to the solution.”
The model creates a K-12 pathway to graduation — elementary, middle and high schools within the zones will collaborate to help students transition through each grade. Previously, the elementary, middle and high levels operated relatively independently.
Troy Hughes, associate superintendent for Zone 4, said the new system is more efficient for parents.
For instance, a mother with children in third, eighth and 11th grades can contact the zone associate superintendent with questions, rather than going through three different administrators.
Each zone will also form a kind of community made up of neighboring high schools, as well as the middle and elementary schools that feed into them. The zones consist of:
Zone 1, led by associate superintendent Gabriella Blakey, covers the southeast, including Albuquerque, Highland and Manzano high schools.
Zone 2, led by associate superintendent Antonio Gonzales, covers the southwest, including Atrisco Heritage, Rio Grande and West Mesa high schools.
Zone 3, led by associate superintendent Yvonne Garcia, covers the northwest, including Cibola, Valley and Volcano Vista high schools.
Zone 4, led by Hughes, covers the northeast, including Eldorado, Del Norte, La Cueva and Sandia high schools.
Three of the zone associate superintendents had previously served as deputy superintendents, who oversaw elementary, middle and high school education.
These roles were changed into zone leaders. Gonzales had been head of human resources.
Blakey said she is thrilled to lead her zone, because she grew up in the area.
“Zone 1 has been using Route 66 as a symbol,” she said. “We have some of our older schools there with a lot of tradition and a lot opportunity, a lot of assets in the community.”
As administrators analyze each zone, they will consider “what makes a good school,” including results from assessments like the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, Reedy said.
One zone may need to improve math scores, while another could request more support to teach English language learners.
APS will also look beyond test results to internship opportunities and fine arts courses.
“We have focused so much on testing and assessments — and everybody is sweating bullets on this, so I think we have lost the real art of teaching — the joy of teaching and the joy of learning,” Reedy said.
The New Mexico Public Education Department has criticized APS for not putting enough focus on “data-driven” instruction.
Last month, Acting Secretary of Education Christopher Ruszkowski argued that the district could improve its PARCC scores if it placed “student learning and academics and college and career readiness front and center.”
Reedy said PARCC and other assessments are important, but they do not provide a complete picture of each student’s unique background.
“What we have started to lose is the idea of looking at our students as individuals,” Reedy said. “We need to be able to work with our parents and make sure the children have the support they need to come to school ready to learn.”
The new Learning Zones will strive to provide that support, she said.
Gonzales, associate superintendent for Zone 2, said administrators, principals and teachers are excited about the approach.
“I think it’s being understood and there is buy-in,” he said.
APS had a similar model focused on high school “clusters” roughly 15 years ago, but Reedy felt it had some drawbacks.
The area offices were housed in a separate building from central office, and they became isolated “silos,” Reedy said.
Under the new Learning Zone system, the associate superintendents will work down the hall from one another in APS Central Office.
“There is going to be constant back and forth and dialogue, brainstorming, planning, organizing,” Reedy said. “We’re not perfect, and we would be the first to tell you, but I really feel that we are turning the corner. We’ve got a path, and we are doing some things we feel are really going to make a difference.”