SMART BOARD

Education news and events

CURATIVE COVID-19 TEST SITE LEAVES NNMC

Northern New Mexico College announced last week that a free COVID-19 testing site run by Curative on its Española campus for the last two years has moved to White Rock.

The new site, at 139 Longview Drive in White Rock, should be operational by Friday according to officials at Northern New Mexico College.

More information about local Curative COVID-19 testing is available at curative.com. The New Mexico Department of Health has a list of COVID-19 testing locations at findatestnm.org.

SANTA FE PUBLIC SCHOOLS START WEDNESDAY

School for most Santa Fe students begins Wednesday. Information about school supplies and schedules for each individual school is available at sfps.info, under the “schools” tab at the top of the web page.

For help registering a student, the district is asking families to email studentdataoffice@sfps.k12.nm.us or call the student data office at 505-467-4111.

A complete list of bus routes by school is available at tinyurl.com/29h82z97.

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GIVES 2022-23 PRIORITIES

The New Mexico Public Education Department announced its priorities for the upcoming school year on Friday, including the “three As”: attendance, achievement and attainment to “move the needle” on math and reading proficiency as well as graduation rates statewide.

“Kids learn academics and social skills when they are in school, so attendance has to be our first priority,” Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus said in a news release. “The more time our teachers have with students in class, the more they will achieve academically, so that’s No. 2. And if they are enjoying academic success, they’ll stay engaged in learning and make it across the finish line to a diploma, which is the ultimate goal of a K-12 education system.”

The department is working to hire an attendance improvement coordinator to work with districts on reducing the number of chronically absent students, who miss 10 percent or more of school days per year.

During the 2020-21 school year, 29.6 percent of the state’s students were considered chronically absent.