State chooses 10 high schools for training initiative

Three-year project seeks to raise graduation rates and restructure schools

The New Mexico Public Education Department is launching a three-year training initiative for 10 high schools in the state.

The schools chosen by PED are: West Mesa, Belen, Bernalillo, Cuba, Española Valley, Rocinante, Miyamura, Gilbert L Sena Charter, Health Leadership and Las Montanas Charter high schools.

West Mesa and Health Leadership are in the Albuquerque Public Schools district.

PED picked the schools, which were identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement or CSI, to be the first to partake in the inaugural New Mexico High School Redesign Network.

Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski said the program aims to help the schools move out of CSI, a category for low-performing schools.

One of the main goals of the redesign network is to help raise graduation rates, as the schools’ rates are below 67 percent.

The network plans to redesign curricula and target professional development for teachers, while helping the schools with restructuring efforts. It also will focus on student career plans.

PED wrote in a news release that if the schools sign up, they must “commit to meeting all of the network’s principles and practices.”

The state has put aside $4 million in federal funds for the schools over the next three years, according to PED.

“The network is a powerful opportunity to re-imagine our students’ high school experience to meet the demands of the 21st century economy,” Ruszkowski wrote in a statement. “It is also a central component of our State Plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which is considered one of the most promising in the nation. As we have witnessed graduation rates on the rise, we have identified best practices that should be scaled statewide, especially in our high schools that have historically struggled.”

The New Mexico High School Redesign Network will launch next month.

PED is partnering with Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education Cross-State High School Redesign Collaborative and with schools across the state.