Los Lunas Schools opening a new site

LOS LUNAS — The 2025-26 school year promises to be a year of change in Los Lunas Schools.

The district officially made Susan D. Chavez its superintendent on July 1 and also welcomed former longtime school board member Frank A. Otero back on the board in June to replace resigning member Justin Talley.

Changes are also coming to other parts of the district, with a brand-new Peralta Elementary School set to be completed soon.

“Well, we’re just really excited to start a new school year. We’re very happy to welcome our students back,” Chavez said. “We do have new boundaries that will be implemented this school year. That was decided in February.

“We’re also very excited to open up Peralta Elementary for our kindergarten through sixth-grade students. We do have a couple of pre-K programs that will start there in the year, and then the rest of our pre-K programs for Jaguar Nation will join in January.”

Chavez, who taught at Peralta Elementary when she first started working in the Los Lunas Schools, said the new building is the third school building, with the first being built in 1911. Construction of the new two-story building began in March 2024.

First through third-grade classrooms will be situated downstairs, while grades four through six are on the upper level. The school’s one-story wing will house the district’s first pre-K center.

Other changes being made by the district include the elimination of iPad and MacBook fees as well as the addition of an online system, “My School Bucks” (myschoolbucks.com) that allows parents to make payments online.

Chavez said the district will be hosting Jump Start Day again this school year, with seventh and ninth graders being invited to visit their new schools for a full day to familiarize themselves with schedules and teachers before school begins on Friday, Aug. 1.

“We had one a few years prior,” Chavez said, “and we brought it back because we felt that it does give our students that opportunity to go through their day, go through their schedule, and have a little more comfort as they start their new school. That’s also for any student who’s starting at a different school this year, especially because we have the change in boundaries.”

In addition, all Los Lunas Schools’ elementary schools will also be hosting open houses on Thursday, July 31.

A pair of statewide changes are also coming to the Los Lunas Schools with the Legislature mandating cell phone policies for all school districts in the state, as well as the addition of two graduation requirements for the Class of 2029, freshmen entering high school this school year.

A new temporary cell phone policy was approved by the Los Lunas Board of Education on Tuesday, July 22, and will consider another revised policy on Tuesday, July 29. The board will also made a decision on graduation requirements in August.

“We haven’t presented (the policy) to the board yet,” she said. “On the cell phone policy, we’ve been working with our attorneys, and we do have the NMSBA (New Mexico School Boards Association) board subscription for board policies, so they’ve been drafting some of the drafts for us.”

Chavez said graduation requirements are being discussed by the district’s curriculum and instruction office in conjunction with staff from all three high schools.

“I do like the options (we have),” she said. “I do like that there’s more ability for our students to pick more towards their interest areas, and it’s too soon to tell how it’s going to all roll out because it is for the class of 2029 that are starting now in August.”

Chavez said the district is looking at more community involvement this school year, after receiving positive feedback last year. Los Lunas Schools is also adding E-Sports as an activity this year after it was designated as a club last year.

“We’re still finalizing graduation plans and seeing what the senior week is going to look like to celebrate our students,” Chavez said. “I think our community wants to be involved in our school district, and we’re very fortunate that we have a very supportive community. We would like to continue to bring in our community and have events.”