Albuquerque schools have a long history. By 1598 there were at least five Spanish missions in the area seeking to convert and educate Natives.

Few if any early structures remain. Often new schools were built on or near the locations of the old.

There were 138 schools in the New Mexico Territory in 1875. In 1891 the Territorial Legislature passed a bill allowing municipalities to tax for schools. That’s the year the Albuquerque Public School Board, now one of the nation’s largest, began. There are 144 schools in APS today.

Four ward schools in each of the city’s political wards, were built soon after. The Central School followed in 1900.

Ward One School, opened in 1882, was located at Edith and Martin Luther King Blvd. where Longfellow Elementary is now.

Ward Two School was at 900 Edith boulevard, south of Eugene Field Elementary School. No apparent trace remains. 

The Ward Three School was on the site of Coronado Elementary near Fourth and Iron SW. Coronado was built in  1937 with WPA funds. 

Ward Four School burned down in 1933. It was located where Lew Wallace Elementary is now.