Shining Stars Preschool

Jefferson Montessori Academy is a tuition-free public charter school in Carlsbad running the Montessori method in a public setting, which is uncommon in southeastern New Mexico. The Montessori approach is worth understanding on its own terms for a family considering it. It emphasizes self-directed work, mixed-age classrooms and long uninterrupted work periods with materials children choose themselves. Some children with attention or sensory differences do well with that autonomy and the absence of whole-class instruction; others need more external structure than the method supplies. It is not a special education approach and was not designed as one. As a New Mexico public charter, JMA must provide special education services to eligible students under federal law. It does not publish detail on staffing, related services or its accommodations process. Ask directly how the Montessori classroom is adapted for a student with an IEP. Call (575) 234-1703.

ABC Preschool and Childcare runs an early childhood program in Rio Rancho, one of three centers under the same operator. All three hold the 5-star FOCUS rating awarded by the State of New Mexico and the University of New Mexico, and programs are built to align with New Mexico ECECD guidelines. The practical draw for working parents is the wraparound care. Alongside preschool, the center provides before and after school care for primary school children aged 5 to 12 during the school year, with transportation offered. Children get homework time, activities and time with peers rather than a second school day. No special education staffing, therapy services or documented accommodations process is published. This is mainstream childcare, and a family whose child needs specific support should ask what the center can handle before enrolling. Call (505) 999-1459.

Albuquerque Academy is a large independent school on Wyoming Boulevard NE serving grades 6 through 12, with roughly 1,185 students. It is a mainstream college preparatory school rather than a special needs school, and it appears in this directory because of a defined, named support structure rather than a general promise of care. That structure is the Peterson Learning Support Program. The school states plainly that students with specific learning disabilities can and do succeed there, and the program exists so those students can take full advantage of the school's course offerings rather than being routed away from them. Academic accommodations are available to students who meet diagnosed criteria for specific learning disabilities and ADHD, and strategies are individualized rather than applied from a standard list. The program's published services are concrete. It provides test-taking strategies and arranges in-school test accommodations, makes referrals for educational and neuropsychological diagnostic evaluations, and runs consultations with counselors, the school nurse and others involved with a student. That referral pathway matters: a family who suspects a learning disability but has no diagnosis is not simply told to go find one alone. Admission is selective and the curriculum is demanding, so the relevant question for a family is whether their child can meet that curriculum with accommodations in place. Ask admissions directly. The main number is (505) 828-3201.