Plans for K-8 school in Corrales presented to village council

CORRALES — The Albuquerque Public Schools plan for a K-8 school in Corrales was received with mixed reaction by village council at the Dec. 10 meeting.

Dean Cowdrey with Roma Architecture presented the item.

“This project is very exciting for us because there’s this connection to Corrales,” Cowdrey said. “We have my partners, James or Sarah, who couldn’t be here today, [who] actually live right down the road. So, this has been kind of an exciting project for us to be a part of.”

Cowdrey and his team are tasked with converting the current elementary school into a K-8 school. The project will add 56,000 square feet to the existing campus. In total, the new campus will be around 100,000 square feet.

“Early on, we formed a design committee with members from the school community, including the principal, the kindergarten teacher, many teachers, a couple parents, couple students and we worked with them for really almost a year now,” he said.

The purpose of that committee was to establish goals for the construction, including reflecting the community’s values, having the architecture that would “inspire learning” and having a design thoughtful of the existing context.

Cowdrey referenced the unique traditions and architecture of the village.

“We don’t want to be outsiders. We wanted those buildings to fit in. And then lastly, and probably most importantly, we wanted the design to allow the kids to be safe and worry-free,” he said.

The school could service 525 students, but APS staff say the number will most likely be around 400.

The original buildings that make up the current elementary school were built between 1958-68 with the newest part of the elementary campus constructed in 1999. The new campus will include renovations to the elementary school and new construction with an administration building, a building for kindergarten through second grade, a two-level building for classrooms and teachers’ lounges, a split building for the cafeteria and stage area and a sports hall. There will also be several outdoor spaces. The design currently has three entrances to the school.

According to Cowdrey’s team, having the elementary school students and middle school students all in one place will alleviate traffic that currently occurs with the separate schools. Their goal is also to preserve the surrounding ecosystem.

Councilors had concerns about how high the buildings will be compared to the rest of the village. Currently, the tallest building is the recreation center. The sports hall, which will be the tallest building of the project, would be slightly taller than that. Another concern was regarding the long driveway for parent drop-off, which, if blocked, would prevent any other way of leaving. Councilors were reassured that an emergency exit was added to the design. Additionally, if a fire or other emergency occurs, there is a gate for school members to use as an exit off campus. APS will also work with local emergency services to ensure parents are notified properly and situations are handled professionally.

Another reassurance was that neighboring homes wouldn’t be disturbed. The design includes a privacy fence around the school and lights that do not cross property lines.

The other concern was the timeline for the project and how the contractor intends to move forward. Cowdrey’s team explained the process will be broken up into phases in order to have minimal impact on the learning environment. Students would be moved to one side of the building while the other undergoes construction.

The project is estimated to start in March if all goes smoothly with the rest of the process and is set take a little less than two years to complete.