Los Lunas Schools to host second annual Senior/Kinder Walks

Two football fields became the backdrop for a districtwide handoff as Los Lunas Schools held its second annual Senior/Kinder Walks, pairing Class of 2026 seniors from Century High School, Los Lunas High School and Valencia High School with kindergarteners in the Class of 2038 from elementary campuses across the district.

The district calendar listed the Valencia High School and Century High School walk for May 13 at 10 a.m. on the VHS football field, followed by the Los Lunas High School and Century High School walk on May 14 at 10 a.m. on the LLHS football field. The timing placed the event in the middle of graduation season, with Class of 2026 commencement ceremonies set for Monday, May 18, at the University of New Mexico Pit. Century High School was scheduled for 1 p.m., Valencia High School for 4 p.m. and Los Lunas High School for 7 p.m.

Los Lunas Schools describes the walk as a tradition built on legacy and community spirit, and the scale of the district gives that symbolism real weight. More than 8,300 students move through 12 surrounding communities under the Los Lunas Schools umbrella, while the National Center for Education Statistics lists 8,208 students, 16 schools and a student-teacher ratio of 18.69 for the 2024-2025 school year. The walk tied together students at the very start of their schooling with those on the edge of graduation, a visible reminder that the district’s campuses function as one long arc of learning.

The event also showed how Los Lunas Schools uses ceremony to shape campus culture. The district first staged KinderWalks in 2025, when the Class of 2025 paired with kindergarteners from the Class of 2037, making the 2026 version the second annual walk rather than a one-time celebration. Superintendent Susan D. Chavez, a Los Lunas Schools graduate now in her 24th year in education, all with the district, has been the public face of that effort as the schools push a message that begins with belonging, builds toward achievement and ends with graduation and the next step after high school.

In the Village of Los Lunas, about 22 miles south of Albuquerque along the Rio Grande, that kind of shared ritual carries local meaning beyond the photos. The Senior/Kinder Walks linked families across elementary campuses and the district’s three main high schools, giving graduation season a visible reminder that Los Lunas Schools is raising the next class even as it sends another one across the finish line.