New start times for LL Elementary, Peralta ES this year

LOS LUNAS — The new school year brings schedule changes to both Los Lunas and Peralta Elementary Schools that impact those two schools uniquely.

A decision made in March by the Los Lunas Board of Education is now in effect that affects the start times at both LLES and PES. While the other elementary schools in the Los Lunas Schools begin the day at 8:50 a.m. and finish at 3:40 p.m. LLE and Peralta Elementary are starting at 7:35 a.m. with dismissal at 2:25 p.m. The new start times were published by the district on July 2.

LLS Superintendent Susan Chavez said recently that the decisions were made to keep traffic disruption to a minimum in the intersections closest to both schools – Los Lentes and Main St. as well as Los Lentes and Don Pasqual near Los Lunas Elementary in Los Lunas as well as N.M. 47 and Molina Road in Peralta.

“So when we were looking at the different schedules, those were two elementary schools that experienced high traffic areas,” she said.

“Los Lunas Elementary and Raymond Gabaldon Elementary are very close together. We have a high amount of traffic during arrival time and dismissal time at (both LLE and Peralta). And so by changing the start time and end time for both those schools right now, we hope to keep that to a minimum.”

Chavez said the changes will affect both bus and parents drop-offs. She added that Raymond Gabaldon Elementary is a “landlocked” school with very limited space to address high traffic before and after school.

“So we have to get buses out of there. We have parents that pick up their kids, drop off their kids,” she said. “Then we also have Los Lunas Elementary, which is not landlocked, but it’s very close. And the reason is when the two schools were built, RGE at the time was an intermediate school. So it was a different grade structure for the district.”

As for the change at Peralta Elementary, Chavez said that the district’s decision to start a pre-kindergarten program at the newly built school was a factor.

“(Peralta Elementary) is right on the major highway,” she said, “so we’re looking at a different way to accommodate the different bus routes and school schedules. So we’re looking at our instructional minutes and meeting the minimum requirements for instructional minutes.

“We were just really looking at if you drive (in those areas) during that time of day, you’re going to experience a traffic jam. And then that does impact Main Street,” she said, “Which does impact already urban traffic in our village. So we’re looking to see how we can better support the village with the current traffic routes and patterns.”

Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten for Los Lunas Schools begins with classroom visits on Friday, Aug. 1 and Monday, Aug. 4. Instruction begins on Tuesday, Aug. 5. Classes begin for elementary school students on Monday, Aug 4 with an open house at each school happening today, Thursday, July 31.