Santa Barbara School
a.k.a. APS Special Services Annex
1420 Edith Blvd., NE., Albuquerque, NMBuilt as a two-room adobe circa 1908, the school building grew and changed as its community grew and as ideas of school architecture changed, particularly under the leadership of County School Superintendent Atanasio Montoya, who is credited with modernizing the Bernalillo County school system. Because the last major changes to the building took place in 1930 and because the older rooms have been preserved in something close to their original state, the building is an important record of the growth of the county schools. It is the only county school - out of at least twelve schools built before 1915 - remaining in the Albuquerque metropolitan area which displays the full architectural form common to most of these early schools. With very few exterior changes -- one replacement window, the installation of a barracks outbuilding, and the construction of a handicapped ramp -- the building served the Santa Barbara community and the county and city as a school and as a school service center until 1986 when it was vacated by the Albuquerque Public Schools. For over half of its life as a school, it was guided by Adolfo C. Gonzales, well-remembered as a caring and innovative principal, an enthusiastic athletic coach, and a community leader dedicated to improving local education who served on the University of New Mexico Board of Regents for twelve years.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.