Abo Elementary School, Underground school and fallout shelter in Artesia, United States

Abo Elementary School is a rectangular underground school in Artesia, New Mexico, completed in 1962 with a concrete slab roof that doubles as its playground. Its reinforced concrete walls and shell enclose classrooms, a cafeteria, food storage, multiple drinking-water wells, air-filtration and emergency power systems, a decontamination system, and a morgue, with capacity for 2,160 people as a fallout shelter.

Built in 1962 during peak Cold War tensions, it was the first underground school in the United States designed with fallout protection. The project emerged from widespread fears about nuclear attack and sought to demonstrate that education could continue safely below ground.

Teachers at Abo described their pupils as less disruptive and more attentive than in above-ground schools, and children with asthma or allergies were transferred there because the filtration system reduced dust and allergens. Outside Artesia, the underground concept drew criticism, while school board president C.P. Bunch called it "more a matter of insurance than fear."

Abo was closed in 1995 and converted into a storage facility; the underground rooms are not open to visitors, and the former playground on the concrete roof slab is not a public viewing point. The building stands next to Yeso Elementary School, which replaced it, in Artesia.

The school maintained separate ventilation systems for regular operations and emergency scenarios, including decontamination showers at each entrance. This dual-purpose design allowed it to function simultaneously as a normal school and a potential emergency refuge.