APS expands career-focused Academies of Albuquerque to six more schools
APS will add career academies at six high schools, from Albuquerque High to West Mesa, giving more freshmen access to six themed pathways.
Albuquerque Public Schools will expand its career-focused Freshman Academy to six more high schools in the 2026-27 school year, putting Albuquerque High, Del Norte, Eldorado, Rio Grande, Valley and West Mesa into a districtwide redesign that already includes Cibola, Highland and Manzano.
The move widens access to a model that blends rigorous academics, career exploration and community partnerships. Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey says the effort is a way to make high school feel more relevant by connecting classroom work to the workforce students will face after graduation, an approach tied in part to New Mexico House Bill 171, passed in 2024.
Under the academies model, students will be able to move through themed pathways built around health and medical science; business, marketing, hospitality and entrepreneurship; public service; applied engineering, technology and design; digital media, creative arts and entertainment; and agriscience, business and sustainability. Each school will choose pathways with its Instructional Council based on in-demand jobs in Albuquerque and across New Mexico, along with interests in the school community.
At a Jan. 13 convening at the Berna Facio Professional Development Complex, more than 200 students, educators, families, community members, higher education partners and business leaders gathered as the district moved from vision-setting into design work. The effort is guided by APS’s Profile of a Graduate, which emphasizes critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, civic engagement, cultural awareness and a growth mindset.
Launch schools have shown stronger student belonging and purpose, along with attendance gains and better cross-curricular collaboration. Danielle Gonzales, president of the APS Board of Education, said the goal is giving students a clearer sense of purpose and preparation for college, career and life.
The expansion also deepens a partnership with United Way of North Central New Mexico. United Way sought $500,000 over five years to help subsidize the effort, while some teachers have said they still need more guidance on the academies’ goals and curriculum design.
The redesign is meant to keep growing beyond the nine schools named so far, with a longer-term goal of reaching all 13 of its comprehensive high schools.
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