Elementary Schools in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho (transplants, neighborhood)

[totalpackage]

I have a child who will start Kindergarten and am having a hard time tying to figure out which school will be best and where I should live. I have never been to the area or any states around it. I will be working at 4101 Jefferson in ABQ. Of course I am also very concerned with safety. Any help would be much appreciated.

I am currently looking at Double Eagle Elementary School and Dennis Chavez Elementary School. My biggest problem has been trying to figure out where I have to live to have my child attend one of these schools.

In Rio Rancho I am Enchanted Hills Elementary, Vista Grande Elementary and Martin Luther King Junior Elementary. ( I am also having the same problem with where to live to be in their districts)

[Zoidberg]

Coming from Washington DC, I recommend you find the crummiest, most crime-infested neighborhood you can in Albuquerque. That will be 10X better than an average Washington DC neighborhood when it comes to crime. It only gets better from there.

If you live close to where you work on north Jefferson, you will probably be in a very good public school district. You can go to aps.edu and dig through school test rankings if you like, though this is mainly an indication of the parent/student body, not the instruction quality; all teachers in APS get paid the same, whether they're in the barrio or in 7-figure suburbia.

I think many transplants forget about diminishing returns when they pick out a place to live based on the local schools in Albuquerque. Are a few more test points or reputation points an adequate trade for 15 more minutes of commuting (and thus 15 minutes less spent with the kids) each day?

I can't even count on one hand the number of people I've met who've expressed how sorrowful they were that they didn't go to the school 2 miles further down the road when they were growing up.

Life's full of tough decisions; luckily, for you I think this one is not.

[abqsunport]

Dennis Chavez and Double Eagle are both very good schools. However the in between Elem. School is North Star and was recently built. All three would be highly recommended. Pretty much if you are in the zip codes 87122, 87111, 87109 you will either be in Dennis Chavez, Double Eagle, North Star, or Hubert Humphrey. Honestly, if you stick to the Northeast Heights you will be happy.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by abqsunport

Dennis Chavez and Double Eagle are both very good schools. However the in between Elem. School is North Star and was recently built. All three would be highly recommended. Pretty much if you are in the zip codes 87122, 87111, 87109 you will either be in Dennis Chavez, Double Eagle, North Star, or Hubert Humphrey. Honestly, if you stick to the Northeast Heights you will be happy.

Abqsunport, I agree with all the schools you mention, although there are a few more that should be on that list.

I think it's important not to always equate money with quality, though. Double Eagle and Northstar are in very wealthy areas, but quality is also very much determined by the level of parental involvement. An example of this is Georgia O'Keeffe Elementary. I'd heard it stated more than once that O'Keeffe is flat out the best [public] elementary in the city, and the reason stated is due to the parental involvement factor.

The good thing is that there are a lot of elementaries around the city that are good; the problems seem IMO to start in middle school, or perhaps the last year of elementary.