Duranes Early Childhood Center Opens Its Doors

Albuquerque Public Schools celebrated the opening of the new Duranes Early Childhood Center last week, welcoming students, families and community members to a campus designed specifically for the district’s youngest learners.

The opening marks a new chapter for the longtime Duranes school site. After the former elementary school was identified for closure as APS responded to declining K-12 enrollment, the district saw an opportunity to address a very different need: growing demand for early childhood education. Duranes is now the first APS campus dedicated entirely to Pre-K and special education Pre-K programs.

“There’s demand across the state for pre-K programs, and so APS is filling that need,” Allison Gabaldon, APS Executive Director of Early Childhood Education, told the Albuquerque Journal. The new center can ultimately serve up to 240 students, helping expand access to preschool programs for families in Bernalillo County.

The 36,463-square-foot facility includes 12 classrooms organized into three learning neighborhoods, along with a cafeteria, commercial kitchen, administrative and wellness spaces, and indoor and outdoor areas created for young children. Portions of the existing campus were also renovated for additional programs and services. Partnerships with the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College will allow future early childhood educators to train at Duranes alongside experienced teachers.

SMPC worked closely with APS to develop the early childhood prototype and design a campus around the particular needs of three- to five-year-old students. The project builds on APS’s Kit of Parts approach while adapting classroom relationships, shared spaces, circulation and play areas to the scale and developmental needs of younger children.

Getting Duranes ready for the start of the school year was a significant team effort. Bradbury Stamm led construction of the approximately $36 million project, working closely with APS, SMPC, our consultants and trade partners as opening day approached. The final stretch required diligence, flexibility and frequent coordination, with everyone focused on delivering a safe and welcoming school for students and staff.

Seeing Duranes occupied for the first time was particularly rewarding for our team. After years of planning, design and construction, the conversations and drawings have given way to classrooms filled with teachers and students, families arriving each morning, and children beginning their own experiences at Duranes.

For a campus that has been part of its neighborhood for generations, it is good to see a new chapter underway.

We’ll be returning to Duranes soon to photograph the new center in use. Look for more images from the project on our website in the coming weeks.