'It's a great marker': Ventana Ranch Elementary School achieves Blue Ribbon status

There are 86 elementary schools within the Albuquerque Public Schools, but if you ask Principal Paula Garcia, no staff works harder than hers at Ventana Ranch Elementary.

“We have the hardest-working teachers here who are always focused on knowing each student and helping them grow not just academically but socially and emotionally as well,” she said.

Garcia took over as principal of the West Side school two years ago and was immediately smitten with not only her staff’s work ethic, but the eagerness her students had to learn and the support the school received from the parents and the surrounding community.

“The people, the teachers and the community work so well together,” she said. “We’re like a finely oiled machine.”

That working relationship was bearing fruit when it came to the school’s rising scores on state standardized tests. Those improvements in testing scores are what led to Ventana Ranch being nominated last year by the state to be a recipient of the U.S. Department of Education’s Blue Ribbon Schools award. Started in 1982, these awards are given to schools based on their academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps.

When she first heard about her school’s nomination, Garcia said she was full of both joy and intimidation when it came to the application process.

“It took us hours and a team of people to accumulate all the information and bring it together,” she said. “Staff throughout the entire school contributed to answering the (application) questions, and then we did all the editing and fine-tuning to make it fit within the work limit.”

They started the application process last October and finished in November. The final product was a 19-page document that detailed the school’s demographics, core curriculum, instructional methods, interventions and assessments.

“It was the hardest work I’d ever done, but also the most gratifying,” Garcia said.

The school sent off its application and didn’t receive any word back until September, when they were told they had been selected as one of the three Blue Ribbon Schools in New Mexico for 2024. Zia Elementary School in Clovis and White Sands School at White Sands Missile Range also were selected.

When Garcia heard the news, she ran to share it with the staff who had helped her put the application together.

“There were high-fives and a lot of tears of joy,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Guys, we did it!’”

To celebrate the accomplishment, the school hosted a celebration on its field Tuesday afternoon. The entire student population gathered for a ceremony that included a performance from the nearby Volcano Vista High School cheerleading team and an address from Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Gabriella Blakey.

“It’s really exciting to showcase to the state, city and country that we’re doing great things here in Albuquerque,” Blakey said. “I talk a lot about kids believing in themselves and not always hearing that they’re last in everything, and this signifies that our schools can achieve anything.”

For Garcia, she shared that same hope for her students, saying that the award is just the beginning of their successes in life.

“We always want them to be successful and see that hard work leads to success,” she said. “They have so much more to achieve and do in life, but this will always be a great marker for them.”

Gino Gutierrez is the good news reporter at the Albuquerque Journal. If you have an idea for a good news story, you can contact him at goodnews@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3940.