OWNERSHIP

Santa Fe Public Schools

SIZE AND FUNCTIONALITY OF SITE

Gonzales Elementary School is located on 10 acres. The school was first opened in 1952 and had additions in 1957, 1959, 1969 and 2001. The total square footage is 50,802, with 5,766 square feet in portable buildings.

INFRASTRUCTURE (ON-SITE AND OFF-SITE)

The site is the maximum recommended site size for elementary schools, which provides flexibility for future facility replacement or building additions. The location on a major thoroughfare has been an issue, along with access on only one side of the site. The facility has been renovated and expanded, and the site has been improved extensively since the original evaluation in 1993.

The Library building was added, and the parking/loading/unloading areas were renovated in 2002-2004.

The Portables for grades 6 through 8 have recently been added to complete the K-8 grades. There is also a portable for boys and girls bathrooms.

FLOOR PLANS

BUILDING CAPACITIES

The following school building capacities are shown in the chart below:

Design with portables (also called “building capacity”) is the generic enrollment average of PK to 8th grade students in a class times the number of classrooms in the school. The potential number of students per classroom is set by the minimum requirements for class size established by the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Program with portables (also called ''functional capacity'') is the generic enrollment average of PK to 6th grade students in a class times the number of classrooms in the school after the number of classrooms is reduced by subtracting rooms used for something other than general education times a loading factor of 95%.

Design without portables is the generic enrollment average of PK to 8th grade students in a class times the number of classrooms in the school if the school no longer has portables and if activities currently in portables are housed in permanent classrooms.

Program without portables is the generic enrollment average of PK to 6th grade students in a class times the number of classrooms in the school after the number of classrooms are reduced by subtracting rooms used for something other than general education and if all activities currently in portables are housed in a permanent classroom times a loading factor of 95%.

Enrollment 2010-11 40th Day is the number of students attending the school on the state reporting day of the 2010-11 school year.

Enrollment at Gonzales does not exceed its design or program capacity. Enrollment is controlled by the number of transfer students the school accepts.

HISTORIC TRENDS AND PROJECTIONS FOR ENROLLMENT

Gonzales Elementary School has experienced declining enrollment, even with a fairly high in-transfer rate, and is expected to slowly gain enrollment due to expected residential growth in identified subdivisions.

ATTENDANCE

Gonzales Elementary School is located on West Alameda St in northwest Santa Fe. The areas in Las Campañas, Aldea and directly around the school constitute the assignment area. Students from the outlying areas are transported to school on one bus. Because schools in the southwest area of Santa Fe do not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements, students who live there and choose to attend Gonzales are transported to school by bus. Of the students living in the assignment area, 82% attend Gonzales Elementary School. Of the total number of students who attend the school, 66% are from the assignment area.

See the following map.

RESIDENTIAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Several residential developments in the Gonzales Elementary School attendance area are either actively building or proposed. Some developments, including Las Companas and Aldea de Santa Fe, have a low number of students per housing unit, while the northwest quadrant should have somewhat higher student yields.

CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPACTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY

Gonzales Elementary School is a K-6 school that is ethnically diverse. It has an active PTC parent group.

CURRENT AND FUTURE PROGRAMS

Gonzales Elementary has a business/community partnership with La Montanita Co-op. It offers programs in visual and performing arts, music, sports, special courses/pathways (Santa Fe Science Initiative, Cooking With Kids, Alarm Clock Café, the school newspaper), the Gonzales Club after-school program, health programs, academic support programs (AVID, Compass Learning, E2020, Compass Learning), after-school programs (21st century; Team of Champions, Power Hour Tutoring), the Lobo Club after-school program, clubs and activities (Chess Club, student council, Lobo Paws Newspaper), the Santa Fe Mentoring Team, parent support programs (ESL for adults, parent/family nights, Gonzales PTA) and the Gonzales Community Garden.

OPPORTUNITIES ANALYSIS

Gonzales ES:
Should be included in the recent rezoning review
Should be included in a comprehensive plan to include preschools
Should be included in future partnership opportunities
Should be evaluated for future capital projects for the next bond issue and/or capital program

The school may become a K-8 grade model, effective for the 2008-09 school year.

There will be a significant impact to this school in the future by any approved development in the northwest quadrants of the city of Santa Fe.

This site is optimal for joint development, and uses and partnerships with the Children’s Museum and the city of Santa Fe Parks and Recreation. Other uses should also be explored.