La Mesa Elementary School

La Mesa Elementary School serves a large cultural and linguistically diverse group of children.  The school, located in one of Albuquerque's first post World War II neighborhoods is the home to much of Albuquerque's immigrant population and largest Native American community.

The high walls, and linear arrangement of rooms to form a courtyard or plaza.  The entrance through a zaguan fortified gate helps create a link with the past and establish a new sensibility for the school.

This building provides 18 new classrooms, a new teaching kitchen, and a new administration area with nurse station and counseling spaces.  In order to support La Mesa's philosophy of team teaching, the master plan clusters classrooms according to grade level.  Three preschool classrooms, an infant and toddlers classroom, kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms are located in the new building.  A new administration area is positioned adjacent to the new entrance, just off the plaza and at the center of the campus.

Since school as opened school administrators report that the plaza has become a gathering place for families of the community and they are now picnicking there on weekends.