Albuquerque Travel Forum

Hello everyone! I am thinking to move to New Mexico from Germany. I will probrably come with a 16 year old boy and a 12 year old girl. I have looked at some of the schools thru the internet sites for Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, but of course, they dont talk about the quality of these schools.
Can anyone tell me which would be the best middle and high schools in Albuquerque? What about Rio Rancho? Are the schools there of high quality? Is it far to travel back and forth from RR to AB?? And does anyone know if RR has thier own interesting shopping and places to visit?
I enjoy reading the questions and informative answers here in this forum, and would be gratefull for any info.
I remain gratefully yours, new-moon-rising

There are rating web sites out there for public schools, as well as private schools. You can also get this sort of info from realtors.
Rio Rancho is very suburban. You'll have most everything you'd want for retail shopping, and it's a pretty quick drive into Albuquerque for anything else (entertainment, nightlife, dining, etc). Some large companies have set up offices in Rio Rancho over the past 10 years, so there is now quite a bit of employment there.
I don't know that there are any interesting places to visit there except strip malls. It's very close to Petroglyphs National Monument, and there's the Sandia Casino just across the river.
It should be about 20 minutes from Rio Rancho to Downtown ABQ. However, most things like malls and shopping in the city are on the northern side along I-25, so you're actually closer.
hth

hello Boxmaxima, thanks for your reply! I did try checking out the schools according to thier own web sites, but of course, each school has only good things to say about itself)=)=)=)..
Thanks for the idea about checking out school ratings websites. i dont know how the transportation system works there and if its easy for the kids to get to thier perspective schools, no matter where i would live in Rio Rancho, so I would try to live near the schools. Interesting is that according to the photos of the schools in Rio Rancho, there was only one middle school which seemed to have large windows. The other schools(middle an high) looked like they only had very small windows, and one of the schools even had bars on thier windows! Looked more like a prison, which scared me a little.
In any event, it probrably wouldnt be until September of 2007, until i could actually move, but one never knows...
Thanks again for taking the time to respond..
Be well,
new moon rising

Choosing a school is a difficult task. I used to know the K-8 schools pretty well when I was in education outreach but that has been 15 years ago. Just a few facts. The west side has both Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) and Rio Rancho Public Schools (RRPS). The west side is growing very quickly and overcrowding in schools is a constant problem. RRPS split from from APS in the mid-1990's and has some problems (and some benefits) associated with a new school district. APS is one of the largest school districts in the USA and has problems because of that. Generally NM schools do not rank well compared to other states. I would not worry about the window size. To me it is the teachers that make a school and not the facility or programs. If your children can qualify, and you can afford it (or get a scholarship), Albuquerque Academy is one of the best middle/high schools in the country. My daughter is a former school teacher and knows people in both districts. I'll ask her too.

As for your other questions, Albuquerque and Rio Rancho are really spread out. I remember that when it was all one school system that the district's area was as big as the state of Rhode Island (or was it Delaware?). At any rate, there are school buses but older kids hate them and prefer to carpool. It depends where you are, but it might take 45 minutes to drive from Albuquerque (ABQ) to Rio Rancho (RR) with no traffic. Traffic on the bridges across the river and on the interstates is an issue during rush hours. RR is very new and is growing amazingly fast due to new Intel and Intel-related business (and affordable housing). It is also closer to Bernalillo and the Jemez Valley (wine festival, pueblos and mountain streams) than ABQ. However, ABQ has Old Town, Knob Hill, State Fair and Central Avenue (old Hwy-66) shopping and sights, as well as all the jobs on the AFB (Air Force and Sandia Labs) and at the University. The balloon park and museum are about equidistant from ABQ and RR. As always, life is about tradeoffs and what our individual decision criteria are. Good luck!

RR has plenty of shopping malls and getting more, but you'll probably need a car. Schools there are ok. Commuting from abq to RR during rush hours is bumper to bumper if you work in abq. The problem is too few bridges across the Rio Grande. There is a new commuter train going between RR and abq which you should check out. It's called the Rail Runner. Housing is cheaper in RR. That's why it's growing so. Good luck

Just stumbled across this website. Rio Rancho does have good public schools. The Albuquerque School system is simply too large. My close friends have children in the middle and mid-high schools now, and I appreciate that their children's progress is charted online so the parents can check. The high school seems to be excelling in all things now, at the top of many lists and championships. Rio Rancho has also just begun breaking ground on a new high school on the far north side. It is easy enough to get to all sorts of new shopping areas just inside Albuquerque, and there are plenty of outdoor excursions just minutes away on the Rio Grande River...and you will just love the sunrises and sunsets!

Hello, I am a former resident of Albuquerque but my family still lives there and I vist about every 3 months. I also went to public schools in Albuquerque.
Lots of comments on Rio Rancho but I have to say, if you want to live in Albuquerque you might consider checking out La Cueva High School. It's one of the newer highschools, consistently ranked high and has several elementary/middle schools (Junior high) that feed into it. My brother is a real estate agent and purposely bought a home a block from La Cueva just so his two boys, ages 7 and 11, could go to this school.
You didn't mention what your housing budget is like but in this area homes are going to start in the low to mid $200k's, there are some rentals in the area too. The area I am specifically talking about is near Paseo Del Norte and Wyoming. Good luck on your search and if you have any more questions feel free to email me.
David