Is SANDIA BASE really that bad? (Albuquerque, Kirtland: homes, transfer, school district)

[PINAYPIE]

So we are definitely excited about our "big move" from Utah to NM next month.

However, I have read a lot of negative comments on the school system of ABQ. My family will be living inside Kirtland AFB and they told us my daughter will be attending Sandia Base Elementary. She's a pretty good student so I am quite concerned about the negative reviews about that school.

If anyone here is familiar with that school, please post here or send me a PM. I would really appreciate any comments on personal experiences. I am hoping this awful reviews are just exaggerated

I found the reviews at this website: Parent Reviews of Sandia Base Elementary School - Albuquerque, New Mexico - NM

Some samples are:

"... The play ground is full of trash and the duty teacher is to busy chit chatting with other mothers not watching the yard.The parking lot is an accident waiting to happen."

"...The office staff are not happy people and the school is not clean. They are going through renovations, but even before these renovations the school was a mess! Don't send your kids here, transfer them to a better school or homeschool them if you are able!"

"We just moved here and this school has been, by far, the biggest problem of our move! My child is so unhappy at this school. I've never seen such an unorganized school. It's a mad house!"

"Not a good school. The teachers don't care, the principal is ineffectual, and the PTA is disorganized. Blame is placed everywhere but where it belongs - on the staff."

[lisdol]

A friend of mine's experience, when transferring from a Catholic school in a different state, with a daughter who loved school, was not inspiring.

She is a very bright girl who works hard and wants to be challenged, and entered 3rd grade with the rest of the class (it was a summer move). After a couple of weeks of her "not liking school anymore", her mom went in to talk to the teacher. It turns out the teacher was "easing them into the school year" by not doing science and social studies and simply reading to the students out of the book (I assume the book for Reading/Language Arts). Her daughter was bored with this approach (who wouldn't be) and mom got the child changed to a different teacher, and was happier, but not thrilled.

I don't know people who run screaming from the school, and do know people who continue to send their kids there (but do things like get them private music lessons b/c Art and Music alternate years (what I have been told)).

I was not happy with the test scores and the failure to meet adequate progress, so we decided to forego the APS school district entirely. The silver lining of having a failing school is after a certain number of years, the district has to offer you the opportunity to place your child in a different school.

[PINAYPIE]

Thanks! I wish I could afford private school

[lisdol]

We moved to the E. Mtns and are in the Moriarty-Edgewood school district. I love our school.

[floridabonds]

We've had a lot of problems with the Albuquerqe Public School System. There is a small private school on Pennsylvania called "Christ Lutheran School" it goes through grade 8. It's not that expensive compared to other schools and I was impressed with the classes/teachers I saw. Our son went to pre-K there and I was planning on sending him this coming year, but we are going to PCS out to Florida in a few weeks. Good luck with your search!

[PINAYPIE]

Thanks, FLORIDABONDS and LISDOL, I will certainly research those schools!

[EnjoyEP]

Don't know much about Christ Lutheran on Pennsylvania, however, Shepherd Lutheran School on Wyoming Blvd. (near Montgomery Blvd.) is a very nice private, Christian school with not-terribly-expensive tuitions as well.