Summer Letter 2026

St. Pius X School serves God in Communion with the Roman Catholic Church by fostering moral, social, and intellectual growth within a college preparatory setting to teach young people to be ethical leaders in service to others.

July 22, 2026

Dear St. Pius X Families, I hope you have had a restful summer and time to be with family. Our staff has been busy on campus with summer school, camps, and making improvements to the facility. This letter covers pertinent items about new projects and important information for a successful start to the school year.

New Projects Guzman Stadium: The abatement of St. Clair has been completed and we are waiting on our next permit to allow demolition to officially begin. We will keep you updated throughout the process.

Golf Simulator Center: Currently, we are working on plans to install two golf simulators on campus.

Welcome Center: The admissions team will be moving offices to the Madonna Center on the east side of the campus. We will have a bigger space for our visitors and a new testing center.

Middle School: More classroom space has been added to the middle school in Lourdes.

When dropping middle school students off in the morning, the drop-off will be between St. Basil and Lourdes.

Middle schoolers who are riding with high schoolers may enter through the high school entrance near St. Francis Hall and the gym, and then walk to their buildings. Refer to the map below for these locations. After school, families may pick up their students where they dropped them off. Due to the large number of students attending SPX this year, it is to everyone’s benefit for families to arrive early to drop off or pick up their students in the appropriate areas. Security will direct drivers where to line up.

PICK-UP/DROP-OFF ROUTES MAP Red for Middle School Route: Go north on Coors Blvd and turn right on Miller Road onto campus.

Blue for High School Route: Turn east on St. Josephs Dr and turn into the main entrance onto campus.

Parking spots are now numbered in the main parking lot. Security will direct you to the spots reserved for visitors.

Security: We have contracted with C3 Security to provide support for our security team. C3 will provide armed support on campus, while our security staff will continue to work with the general supervision and safety of the students and staff, just as they have done over the previous years. This is one more layer that makes our students and staff feel and be safe on campus.

Capital Campaign: Our capital campaign has successfully raised $4,000,000. This is a tremendous accomplishment. We are working to raise another $1,000,000 in order to add all of the features we want in the first phase of the stadium project.

Annual Fund: We are kicking off the 2026 - 2027 Annual Fund when school resumes. We have been very successful over the last three years, having raised $5,000,000 as a school community. This year’s goal is $700,000. This year we need the help of all of our families, no matter the size of the gift, in order to continue to meet our needs. Remember your gift helps your child, but also helps to make sure that their friends and classmates are there with them to make the experience a better one. Our major donors have been very generous and it helps them to continue to support us when they see that the majority of the families, as well as our faculty and staff, help in some way. We will kick off the campaign in August when school resumes and we thank you in advance for your help. If you want to donate now please go to our website.

Information for Students and Parents Veracross: We appreciate your patience with the transition to Veracross and my apologies for the delay it took in sending out grades. It was a herculean task, but it is now working properly. If you have any questions please email Jason Maestas (Director of IT) jmaestas@spxabq.org with any issues pertaining to Veracross.

X App: The Sartan X App is the best tool for keeping informed. The app contains links to our calendar, the parent portal, dining hall menu and payment portal, purchase of tickets for athletics, the directory for contacting faculty and staff, the school handbook and so much more. iPhones: saintpi.us/appstore or Androids: saintpi.us/playstore Physicals: All students are required to have physicals to attend St. Pius. Parents need to upload physicals on our Magnus Portal and complete all information requested. If you need help please contact nurse@spxabq.org and someone will reach out to help you upload documents.

If you do not have a Magnus Portal account please contact the School Nurse (Dennis Royman) or Athletic Trainer (Ashley Padilla).

Uniforms: The Sartan Shop is open during normal school hours. Please email Martha Carrigan at martha.carrigan@spxabq.org if you have any questions. Please see the linked updated uniform code: Dress Code SPX. Please read it carefully, as there have been some changes.

Orientation Schedule: All students have a day assigned by class for orientation. Students need to wear their uniform during orientation. The student store is open during this time.

August 4th through 6th: Students report to the Aux gym for ID pictures. Students must be in a SPX polo for MS and underclassmen. Seniors can wear a colored polo. Please note that if you wait till the 6th, you may not have an ID on the first full day of school. ●​ HS Orientation Schedule for August 6th: ●​ Please report to Fine Arts–St. Cecilia Stage 2 ○​ 9th grade Orientation: 8 AM to 10 AM ○​ 10th grade Orientation: 11 AM to 11:30 AM ○​ 11th grade Orientation: 11: 45 AM to 12:15 PM ○​ 12th grade Orientation: 12:30 PM to 1 PM ●​ MS Orientation Schedule for August 7th: ○​ 6th grade Orientation from 8:00 - 11:00 am. Students report to the main gym. ○​ 7th-8th grade Orientation 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm. Students report to the main gym.

Orientation Agenda: ●​ Review of general school policies and safety procedures. ●​ Course/teacher assignments. ●​ Locker assignments.

Parking Changes and Senior Parking Painting This year, all parking spaces will be individually numbered. Students who plan to drive to campus will be required to register for a parking space before the start of the school year.

Parking options include: ●​ Regular Parking Space: $40 ●​ Senior Painted Parking Space: $100

Seniors who choose to paint their parking space will be required to submit their design for approval before painting. All designs must be approved by Dr. Marquez and Mr. Sam Chavez.

Painting Day is scheduled for Wednesday, August 6, from 7:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.

Students painting their parking space must use approved Sherwin-Williams Traffic Marking Paint (SETFAST TM5629 Acrylic Based or HOTLINE TM 2152 Water Based). Interior paint may not be used on asphalt.

Please note that all painted parking spaces must be repainted black before graduation. Failure to restore the parking space may result in the student's diploma and final transcripts being held until the obligation has been fulfilled.

Supplemental details, such as procedures for registering vehicles, maps of the lots, and the required sign-up documents, will be emailed soon. Please monitor your emails.

Important Dates for the Beginning of the Year: August 4th - 6th: This is the first day students can come and take their new ID photo. Students may not receive a badge until they have taken the photo. Students must be in their school uniform polo for this photo.

August 10th: First Day of School August 11th: First School Mass Aug 19th - Middle School Back to School Night begins at 6:00 pm in the Gym. Aug 21st - Luau Dance for Middle School students from 6:30 - 8:30 pm in the Quad. This is for St. Pius X middle school students only. No students from high school or other schools.

Aug 22nd - Luau Dance for High School students from 7:00 - 9:00 pm in the Quad. This is for St. Pius X High School students only. No students from middle school or other schools.

August 20th - Counselors will hold a Senior Parent Night to help prepare parents to help their students with the college application process. 6:00 pm in Stage 2 of St. Cecilia Hall. Campus Specialties will also be present to discuss graduation gear and collect student/parent information

Faculty and Staff Announcements: We have a number of announcements, including introductions of the faculty. As our school is continuing to grow we are adding on new teachers in most of the departments for the middle school. Also, we are expanding staffing for counseling and administration Dr. Juanita Marquez has been promoted to the position of Head of High School. She will oversee the day to day operations of the high school.

Justine Garcia has been promoted to the position of Director of Academic Services and Counseling. She will oversee scheduling and academic operations for all students.

Kevin DeWig is a new member of our SOAR team. He is a licensed special education teacher and has served schools in Rio Rancho and Los Angeles for over 20 years.

Rebecca Maestas is a new member of our SOAR team and middle school science teacher. She Is certified as a dyslexia intervention specialist as well as having a Master of Education. Rebecca comes to us from Annunciation Catholic School Dr. Valerie Perea is a new high school math teacher. She has degrees in biochemistry, molecular biology, and Spanish and she is a youth minister at St. Joseph on the Rio Grande Parish. Valerie is also a St. Pius X alumnus and we are happy to welcome her home.

Christi Larson is a new math teacher. She is a veteran teacher from Albuquerque Public Schools, most recently working at La Cueva High School. She has taught all levels of math and brings great strength and abilities to our school.

Juan-Luis De Miguel Fernandez will be teaching our advanced Spanish classes. He has a Masters of Spanish from the University of Granada as well as degrees from multiple other universities.

Christen Hernandez is a new middle school teacher. Previously is a graduate of UNM and she worked in schools in Rio Rancho and APS. She will be teaching social studies and mathematics.

Hailey Montoya-Gomez has a Master of Arts in Family and Child studies and is a Certified Family Life Educator. She has been an ELD teacher and will be the Middle School Student Support Interventionalist.

Dr. Maria Petrescu is our new French teacher. She has spent most of her career as a university professor in Canada and brings a strong background in education to make our French program to continue to grow.

Susan Stanojevic has a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from UNM and has been a principal, AVID instructor, and the District Instructional Manager for STEM in APS. She will be joining our math department and working with our SOAR program.

Teresa Walker is returning to us as a Chemistry teacher. She has a Master of Science Teaching from New Mexico Tech and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She has a rich background as a science teacher and we are glad to welcome her back.

General Announcements Asbestos Legal Notice St. Pius X School complies with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) by providing access for the review of the Management Plan at this school. The Management Plan is kept in the Facility Manager’s office and will be updated as various situations develop and inspections are completed. Arrangements may be made with the Property Manager of the school for the review of these materials. Any questions may be directed to the Property Manager or Facilities Manager.

We thank you for sending your children to St. Pius X School and we are excited about the new school year.

School offices are open during the next two weeks from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm, Mondays through Fridays. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out.

Sincerely, St. Pius X School Leadership