History

In 1947, a five-acre tract of land was acquired south of St. Charles Borromeo church to build a parish school.   A two-story building with ten classrooms on the upper level and a recreation hall for the parish on the lower level was constructed.  Provisions were made so the recreation hall could be converted into eight more classrooms and kindergarten facilities.

The first teachers to staff the school were members of the Sisters of the Presentation order, Sr. M. Cyril and Sister M. Helen.  Groundbreaking ceremonies took place on June 10, 1951 with construction beginning in July.  The 1st and 2nd grade classes were held in the Heights Catholic School building while construction was underway.  The school opened on February 25, 1952 with 150 students.  By September of 1952, 250 students were enrolled in grades kindergarten through 5th.  Groundbreaking ceremonies for the gymnasium occurred on April 17, 1955.  In 1956, St. Pius X high school began in the lower-level classrooms.  The Ursuline Sisters order took charge of the school in 1969.  The kindergarten and the reading room (library) were moved into the convent in 1988.  In 1999, part of the first floor of the gymnasium was made into a music room.  Evaporative coolers were installed in the main building, and convent.
During the school years 1998-2000, the playground facilities were renovated, the bathrooms on both floors of the school were renovated with new plumbing, tile and fixtures, and the boiler was replaced to provide heat in the winter.  During two summers in 2014 and 2015 the convent was remodeled and bathrooms upgraded prior to locating the pre-school classroom in the convent.  February, 2017 marked the 65th anniversary of the school’s opening and continuous operation.

 

Background 

The population of St. Charles Borromeo School is a reflection of the parish community in many ways.  Both populations are hard-working, middle class individuals who are dedicated to their Catholic faith.  Over 90% of our students are from Hispanic families, and most of them live in the western and southwestern part of Albuquerque.  Many of their parents work for local government agencies and law enforcement. Others own or are employed by small businesses or nearby hospitals, and several parents are community college or University students.

Fourteen percent of our students are eligible for the federal free and reduced lunch program this year.  Sometimes it ranges as high as 20%.  There is a large cohort of elderly parishioners and, several of the elderly parishioners help pay for their grandchildren to attend St. Charles School.  The parish also has a large Vietnamese community, and we look forward to the possibility of expanding our recruitment efforts with those families. They do, however, generously support our smaller fundraising efforts, for which we are very grateful.

Our location provides good access off the interstate highway, and we try to accommodate working families by providing some before-care and an after-care program.  Many of our efforts to recruit students highlight the fact that parents can drop off their children on the way to work at surrounding facilities or on their way to Sandia National Laboratories located a few miles to the east of the school.  Unfortunately, the local neighborhood feel of the area around St. Charles is not the way it was in the past, and that fact is also reflected in the population that attends church services at the parish.  The community college is to the south, hospitals and medical offices to the west, and the University of New Mexico and its associated student housing area is to the north and east.

For the past 4 years approximately 50% of the 8^th grade graduates have applied and been accepted to St. Pius X, the only Catholic high school in Albuquerque.  We receive reports that they have all been very successful at the school.  The remaining graduates attend several different public high schools, and, again, when they return to visit they report they are doing well.  All of the teachers report that the regularly run into former students or parents of former students who are physicians, business owners and legislators.  St. Charles has a long history of creating leaders in the community.
 

St. Charles Parish

In 1934, St. Charles Borromeo Church was established as the first parish on the southeast side of Albuquerque. Central to the life of the city, it quickly became the “mother parish” to the entire east side of town. For over 78 years, St. Charles has been a multicultural Italian, Hispanic and Vietnamese community. With its rich religious history, St. Charles looks forward to continuing to serve as an educational, cultural and spiritual wellspring for New Mexico.