APS launches Story Time in the Park at Isotopes Park

Albuquerque Public Schools turned Isotopes Park into a literacy stop on June 7, mixing free read-aloud sessions with complimentary books, summer reading sign-ups, face painting and other activities at 1601 Avenida Cesar Chavez SE. The kickoff for Story Time in the Park brought families from across the metro into one of the city’s most recognizable public spaces, giving the district a visible stage for a summer reading push that is meant to reach beyond the classroom.

APS says Story Time in the Park was created to get books into the hands of children and help prevent summer learning loss. The 2026 program runs from June 8 through July 17, with activities scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reading sessions take place Monday through Thursday, while lunch is served Monday through Friday. The district will not hold the program on June 19 for Juneteenth or during the week of June 29 through July 3.

Free lunches are available to anyone 18 and younger, and APS says the effort is geared especially toward elementary-aged children while welcoming all members of the family. That combination of lunch, books and park programming is central to the district’s larger strategy: making reading feel like part of summer life, not just a school-year obligation. The real measure of success will be whether the program reaches the households that need extra reading support most, including families who may not usually show up for school-based enrichment.

APS partnered with the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County parks, which serve as summer lunch meal sites, and the district said Story Time in the Park will run at 17 parks across Albuquerque and Bernalillo County. Sites include Alamosa, Chelwood, Grisham, Montgomery, Paradise Hills Community Center, Pat Hurley, Phil Chacon, Raymac, Santa Fe Village, Tiguex, Tom Tenorio, Tower, Valle del Bosque and Westgate. The broad footprint gives the program a countywide reach, but it also raises the question of which neighborhoods are being drawn in and which ones remain harder to serve.

APS has also hired high school student readers ages 14 to 18 to read at the parks this summer, giving them both a work-based learning experience and a public role as reading models for younger children. About three dozen high schoolers were brought in to read storybooks, and APS Extended Learning Executive Director Tammie Torres has said read-alouds help build vocabulary and knowledge before children move into independent reading. For Bernalillo County families, the program ties literacy, meal access and neighborhood life into one summer service, with the strongest impact likely to come where those supports are hardest to find.