La Cueva High School

7801 Wilshire Avenue Northeast

School District

Albuquerque Public Schools
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Albuquerque Public Schools

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by teacher on January 07, 2025

I am a former employee at the school. The school does not address discrimination, bullying, or harassment in a manner that corrects behavior. Bullies return to classes where the infractions took place. This is a MAGA district & is NOT a safe/supportive place for LGBTQ students. Gun threats on campus - 3 Times in 2 months. Special Ed students are embraced and supported by staff and students alike.Administration at this school is poor. A popular principal retired last year and was replaced by another that failed to connect with teachers and parents. He resigned within three months. The fall out from his selection for the post saw an assistant principal that was well-liked and responsive to all needs transfer. By most accounts, she was the ideal candidate to replace the original principal that retired. There are currently two asst principals, both viewed as minimally effective at addressing behavioral, staff safety, communication, and school environment issues. Teacher’s are demoralized, frustrated, and unsupported. While the school has one of the highest ratings in NM, it is not representative of the entire school. This is a sports & music school. Sports teams get a tremendous amount of of funding from the district. Everything is about sports and students participating in sports get all the attention & privileges other students do not. Other school activities must be funded by fundraising. The disparity is appalling; however, if a student plans on entering a sports related field, this is the place. All of our teams have earned championship titles. Additionally, administration shows up to sports events, but offers tepid support to clubs and other extracurricular activities. Musical programs & activities are given free rein in the school to the detriment of other departments and activities. The choir, orchestra, & bands are outstanding, but the staff of that department has little respect for students not in their classes or in other programs. They are roundly disliked by other staff members, because they are rude, territorial, lack empathy, & are not team players. They are effective fundraisers & because they have this ability they have many more privileges than other teachers. Academically, the school has a reputation for graduating brilliant, motivated students. This is not representative of all1,800 students. The school is large. AC is ineffective in summer & heat is insufficient in winter. Most classes lack windows & feel unhealthy.
Submitted by other on December 02, 2024

Most of the classrooms have no windows, and it seems like there are much more students than the building was designed to support. When I was a student, there would still be people waiting in the cafeteria line by the end of the lunch period, so they wouldn't be able to eat. There is not enough room in the cafeteria for the students, so you would need to sit on the floor in a hallway. There were several areas that felt legitimately dangerous at times because of how many students were packed into them rushing to get to the next class. It seems like currently there are a bit more students than there was when I was here so the problem is probably worse.I remember several times when only a third of the students had come to class because the rest were sick (this was not all during COVID either). Obviously in a school with few windows, ventilation will not be very good. I got sick often when I was a student here, but in my other schools and after I graduated I rarely get sick. I wouldn't be surprised if I was ill more times as a student here than in the rest of my life combined.There was very little academic or emotional support. If you were struggling with anything, it felt like you were completely on your own. I think there are just too many students for the staff to look at anyone on an individual level. I don't have problems with the staff and teachers themselves; many genuinely seemed like they cared and that they were trying. But the environment stacks things against you instead of helping you. Most of the teachers who had been there a while seemed depressed to me.I was dealing with a medical issue while I was here and felt like the staff just forgot about me :\ . I ended up transferring to a different public school in the city because of this and it was MUCH better. I'm not sure if I would even have been able to graduate if I'd stayed here, to be honest. I ended up having to be in the hospital for a few weeks and I doubt they would have done much to accommodate it. But it turns out that when a school is willing to try to help you — as an individual — succeed, things can work out. It's kinda depressing that this school is ranked so highly in the state.
Submitted by other on July 20, 2024

Disgusting school, all the kids are horrible and gross. They treat people so unwell and will just hurt u. I don’t go to this school but many people come fromLa cueva because they were hurt. I hate this and the people should shut this down
Submitted by other on July 24, 2022

I did some job training at this school, & it was a cut-throat political culture in the dept I trained in. I didn’t correctly pick up on the temperaments of certain staff and ruffled feathers unbeknownst to me. Basically, morale is low there and it’s sad that this school is what’s considered the best ABQ had to offer.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2022

This school is the worst school i have ever encountered, dont ever come to this school thinking the admin will help in any way. Bullying is such a big problem here and the bullies are protected.
Submitted by teacher on October 02, 2021

The reviews that say LCHS is an elitist, unhealthy place overall are true. Kids are rude and feel they are better than staff and teachers and treat them and the building accordingly. Administration believes that LCHS is the best and has no behavior problems, unless it affects them directly, and so don't take care of things right away or ignore them. Teachers are blamed for problems, even though they have little control. Administration will make wide ranging decisions that make their lives easier but teaching harder. There is little money and lots of broken equipment and dirty floors. Kids sabotage the school, throwing trash in rafters, etc. Kids will thoughtlessly break and waste supplies in classrooms that were difficult for teachers to get or bought by the teachers. Kids are openly disrespectful swearing at teachers and other students in the hallways. Students rarely offer help to teachers. There are a few really good students who do their work, are helpful, and really try. They usually get ignored due to teachers having to deal with the obnoxious ones. Parents overall are horrible too. They are the ones who raised their kids to be these entitled little blighters. Bullying is rampant. Kids use the word "snitch" in their jargon too -I hear it daily - and know the school culture supports more bullying if they tell.On the safety side, COVID guidelines are not followed well and administration response has been weak. Even scarier is the security at the school: The school is large without many way to get out (everything is interior at this school), has a scary student climate, and very little security which is rarely visible. The school has several entrances and exits which are often open and not monitored. I feel something bad could happen here any time.
Submitted by parent on October 02, 2020

Very impressed with the teachers overall and glad we made the switch this past year.
Submitted by teacher on September 30, 2017

Just awful. Kids and parents are entitled. They berate teachers and call them names and administration does nothing to support teachers.
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2017

This school is very cheap. $30 for art class mandatory. Their agendas are like calenders not enough room to write anything. Have to buy p.e. clothes. All the teachers complain about the lack of money this school won't help teachers with. This school isn't as great as it seems.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2014

La Cueva has some great teachers but the few that are bad are really bad and not much you can do about it except take a WF (withdrawal fail-even if student is passing) and have the student take it somewhere else. On another note, it seems like approximately 50% of the students at LC are transfer students.
Submitted by student on January 09, 2014

I graduated a couple years ago from this school. Overall, it is an average school.There will always be good and bad teachers as well as good and bad students. The athletic departments always receive the bulk of funding, and I feel the fine arts should be better funded. I was in band and art classes. For band, we did our own funding, such as the craft fairs we held. I guess that helped develop humility in a sense. And our band program was stellar. We were outstanding during marching season, and state champs during concert season. Our art program wasn't too shabby either. Several students won awards for their work. I myself won $50 for a painting I did. Yet in my last years in painting classes, our teacher could barely afford paper towels (which believe me, we needed a lot of those). I'm not saying that atheletics shouldn't be funded, I'm just hoping that someday the fine arts department will get the share of the funding they deserve.
Submitted by other on June 06, 2013

I attended La Cueva HS and actually had to transfer. Many of the kids are just rich inconsiderate jerks and the teachers are very disrespectful to the students. This is a school where sports come first and academics come second. I felt very unsafe at this school and have seen countless kids being taken out of the school on stretchers because they passed out from over dosing on drugs. A truly awful school. Send your kids to Sandia or El Dorado.
Submitted by student on February 21, 2013

I am a graduate of LCHS and a very proud alumni. Having now worked in other schools within the state I see that La Cueva deserves the recognition for excellence that it has earned. While at La Cueva, I was treated with respect by teachers, given many opportunities academically and extra curriculum wise that I see no where else in the state. I see several comments regarding politics, elitism, and the like and that is in every school in every city. La Cueva deserves the title of best in the state. The test scores are far above 99% of the schools in NM and the graduation rate is the second highest in the state as well. The fine arts department is first rate as is the athletic department. La Cueva wins more awards for music, athletics, science, math, etc than any other school in NM. You will not find a better high school in NM.
Submitted by student on July 08, 2012

As a student that just graduated from La Cueva, I am very glad that I was able to attend La Cueva for all four years, and then have the honor of placing in the top ten overall in my graduating class. I joined the band my freshman year, and I can say that you will make more friends from extracurriculars than from any other source. La Cueva may have its public relations problems, but as a whole, the student body does not participate in those nefarious activities. My experience with teachers varied, from having awful biology and chemistry teachers, but once you enter the AP-level classes, I never found a teacher that wasn't excellent. Also, it is worth taking summer P.E., Health, New Mexico History, Government, and Economics so that you may open up three more elective credits, which would aid you in gaining the foreign language experience many colleges now want. I feel that I am more than prepared for college, and that I may credit my teachers for helping to prepare me to attend a rigorous, out-of-state university.