A year after Albuquerque Public Schools released its “Emerging Stronger” strategic plan, new Superintendent Gabriella Blakey said in the first ever State of the District address that APS is now “strong.” Still, she acknowledged there’s a lot of room for improvement.
The mood ahead of the address was festive, with the Volcano Vista Hawk Band welcoming a packed crowd of staff, students, parents and community members.
Blakey kept that energy going, praising the dedication of district employees and saying her own experience as an APS student set her up for success, before acknowledging a sober reality.
“Our good work and good intentions haven’t always translated to good outcomes,” she said. “Many of our students are struggling.”
She ran down the district’s dismal test scores: Less than 40% of third graders are proficient in reading and only about a quarter of eighth graders are proficient in math. She noted the students identified in the Yazzie/Martinez ruling are even further behind, including Native American students and those learning English, living with disabilities or who come from families with low incomes.
Despite this status quo, Blakey said APS has made only small adjustments to its approach over the years.
“And the fact is, business as usual is not working for us,” she said.
Blakey, who is only about 60 days into the job, said she is not afraid of ruffling some feathers. She described herself as a “risk-taker.”
“I operate quickly and I also encourage our team to be bold,” she told KUNM. “What’s worse than failure is not trying.”
She said the district will track how well new ideas are working using a variety of assessments and, if they are not seeing results, she’s also not afraid of switching gears.
Like many districts nationwide, APS has struggled with chronic absenteeism and a program called “Genius Hour” is one way it’s trying to address it. Blakey said the problem is not just teenagers ditching class, but some of the youngest students not showing up. She said the idea was inspired by a practice at Google, where engineers were given work time to pursue their passions. APS is giving students at a handful of struggling elementary schools 45 minutes in the day to “expand their curiosity.”
“Maybe it's in Legos, or in dance, or in music,” she said. “A lot of our students don’t have those opportunities that really work on developing our brain and creativity outside of the classroom.”
She said APS plans to grow the program district wide.
Watch the entire APS State of the District address on the district’s YouTube channel.
