Corrales K-8 investigates swastika graffiti on school wall

A swastika drawn on an outside wall at Corrales K-8 forced school leaders to move quickly, sending an apology to families and opening an internal investigation at a campus where trust and safety matter every day.

In a letter to families dated April 29, on-site administrator Craig Robinson said the symbol was about the size of a hand and was removed within about 20 minutes after it was reported. Albuquerque Public Schools spokesperson Martin Salazar confirmed the incident and provided Robinson’s statement to the community.

The speed of the cleanup is likely to matter to parents in Corrales, where school climate is personal and the building serves children from kindergarten through eighth grade. APS says Corrales K-8 offers enrichment programs in a safe and stable environment, a promise that now sits alongside the reality of a hate symbol appearing on school property.

The incident also lands at a school that is still settling into its identity. The campus began the 2025-2026 school year as Corrales K-8 after a three-year transition, welcoming its first-ever eighth-graders. That makes the episode more than routine vandalism for many families. It happened on a building that is still defining itself as a full K-8 school and trying to build confidence with parents and students across the neighborhood.

APS already has a student-code category for “Hate Incident/Racialized Aggression,” showing the district treats this kind of conduct as a distinct disciplinary issue. The presence of that language underscores the seriousness of what appeared on the wall and the expectation that school leaders respond quickly when hate symbols surface on campus.

The episode also comes after another antisemitic vandalism case in APS last fall, when a swastika was spray-painted at Eldorado High School in Albuquerque. That history makes the Corrales incident feel less like an isolated shock and more like part of a wider warning about what schools must watch for and confront.

Corrales K-8 has also been navigating leadership disruption. Principal Alvaro Ramazzini was placed on administrative leave in February and later resigned in March, adding another layer of uncertainty to a school now trying to reassure families after a hateful symbol appeared in plain view. For a small community like Corrales, the question is not just whether the wall was cleaned fast, but whether the response will be strong enough to restore confidence on campus.