Monte Vista Elementary School is a public elementary school in the

Nob Hill Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highes ...

neighborhood of

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, whose campus is listed in the

New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties The New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties is a register of historic and prehistoric properties located in the state of New Mexico. It is maintained by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural ...

and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. It is notable as one of the city's best examples of

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

architecture and as the historical focal point of the surrounding neighborhood. It is a part of

Albuquerque Public Schools Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, APS is the largest of 89 public school districts in the state of New Mexico. In 2010 it had a total of 143 schools with some 95,000 students, ...

History

In the 1920s and 30s Albuquerque was undergoing rapid development along Central Avenue in the area then known as the East Mesa, the high ground just east of the present alignment of

Interstate 25 Interstate 25 (I-25) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States. It is primarily a north–south highway, serving as the main route through New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. I-25 stretches from I-10 at Las Cruces, New Mexic ...

. One of the new developments was the Monte Vista Addition, which was laid out in 1926 leaving room for a future elementary school at the intersection of two diagonal boulevards, Monte Vista and Campus.

originally planned to build a ten-classroom school, but scaled the plans back to eight classrooms to cut costs. The school was budgeted at $77,500 and was designed by local architect

T. Charles Gaastra Tjalke Charles Gaastra (1879 – 1947) was an American architect who worked in the American southwest in the first half of the twentieth century. He won the International Exhibit of Architecture in Berlin for the Gildersleeve house in Santa ...

, who also designed the nearby

Hendren Building The Hendren Building is a historic commercial building in the Nob Hill neighborhood of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Built in 1946, it is one of the city's most notable examples of Streamline Moderne architecture, and representative of the boom in auto ...

some years later. Monte Vista opened to the public on February 1, 1931, and has remained in use for its original purpose ever since. A 1947 addition extended the wings at the rear of the building, adding more classrooms to keep up with increasing enrollment. A separate cafeteria building was added in 1965. In 1981, the school was added to the

and the

Architecture

The historic main building at Monte Vista was designed by local architect

in the

style. The plan is complex but carefully aligned with respect to the wedge-shaped corner of Monte Vista and Campus Boulevards. The school has four classroom wings projecting from a central block punctuated by an arched front entrance, elaborately ornamented with molded

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

, and a square tower with a domed

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. Shallowly pitched tile roofs and tan stuccoed walls complete the Mediterranean appearance. The rear of the building, including the 1947 additions, has two stories, while the front has one. The windows used are generally 6-over-6

sashes Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections. The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation chan ...

References

External links

Monte Vista Elementary School
{{Education in Bernalillo County, New Mexico School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico Schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico Public elementary schools in New Mexico School buildings completed in 1931 New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties National Register of Historic Places in Albuquerque, New Mexico