Desert Sage Academy to open in place of Larragoite
New mission, new home for grades 6-12 at former Capshaw Middle School
Santa Fe Public Schools has rebranded the old Academy at Larragoite with a new mission and a new home on West Zia Road at the campus of the former Capshaw Middle School.
Superintendent Veronica García said the new Desert Sage Academy, slated to open for the 2020-21 school year, is designed to give parents and students “more school choices within our school district.”
The academy, for students in grades 6-12, will offer both in-person and online instruction.
Principal Alice Braden said Desert Sage’s goal is to give students more leadership skills that will, in turn, give them more control over their educational path.
Braden, who took over as principal at Larragoite in January, said the curriculum for Desert Sage was a collaboration between administrators, staff, parents and students.
“We are going to implement more leadership courses for students, and it will be a project-based learning, leadership, computer science and online curriculum school,” Braden said. “This provides flexibility for the individual student and their families.”
A key component to the school is its emphasis in computer sciences, Braden said, especially for middle school students, to prepare them for those courses at the high school level.
She added Desert Sage will allow students to learn in a smaller classroom setting, whether it is through virtual learning or in-person instruction.
Another element to the school will be opportunities for students to work and get internships with businesses and “community partners,” Braden said, creating projects they will present to staff and administrators.
The Academy at Larragoite, an alternative high school for students who struggled in a more traditional classroom setting, had fewer than 50 students in recent years.
It got its name after setting up in the old Larragoite Elementary building on Agua Fría Street after that school closed during a consolidation in 2010. The Larragoite building now houses Mandela International Magnet School.
The academy, meanwhile, had moved to a facility on Camino Entrada.
García said Desert Sage will serve 150 to 200 students at its new home and will start with five full-time teachers, but that could grow depending on enrollment.
Given the coronavirus pandemic that forced school districts across the state into distance-learning models in the spring, García said the emphasis toward online learning at Desert Sage is coincidental but ideal for its model.
“We want to keep it small,” García said. “If we go full remote [to start the school year], then the possibilities are that we can take as many students who want the program.”