Educators plan "seamless" K-12 and beyond
The presidents of Central New Mexico Community College and the University of New Mexico have joined with Albuquerque Public Schools Superintendent Winston Brooks in creating what the educators call a path to a "seamless" public education.
The plan will help students move from public elementary and high school all the way through college. What all parties are counting on is that more kids will graduate from high school, then go on to higher education in the state and graduate there as well, said Brooks.
The partnership is being called historic.
The three educational leaders said they hope the agreement will provide clear pathways to success for all students and vastly improve public education in Albuquerque. UNM President David Schmidly said he believes the partnership will provide a model for the rest of New Mexico when it comes to all levels of education helping one another succeed.
Focused primarily on the objective of student success, the agreement hopes to build a coordinated educational program with integrated planning at every level. CNM President Kathie Winograd pointed to the proven successes of existing dual credit and college preparation programs and articulation agreements, which allow course credits at one school to be applied toward the graduation requirements of another.
At a news conference and signing ceremony held at Albuquerque’s Sombra del Monte Elementary School last week, Winograd said: “This agreement is about building more and stronger bridges between our educational organizations that will advance the quality and accessibility of education for all students. ... Through this agreement, APS, CNM and UNM are banding together to improve our public education system and provide greater opportunities for educational and career success.”
CNM will take the lead in developing an information call center to give students, parents and guidance counselors accurate and timely information about educational issues and requirements at all three institutions.
Brooks said the agreement will broaden existing programs under which public school principals and other aspiring educational leaders can access and utilize educational expertise available at CNM and UNM.
"Educators, like students, should never stop learning,” he said. “It will be invaluable to collaborate with UNM and CNM and deliberately leverage community resources for our educators. We embrace all opportunities to make good leaders better."
Schmidly noted that partnerships already under way between CNM and the University of New Mexico, but said adding APS to the mix “is the next step in the process of removing artificial barriers so we can all work together to improve the lives of every child in this community.”
Schmidly observed that UNM is “already on our way toward developing a centralized ‘Student Success Center’ to support tutoring and advisement, as well as a UNM Veterans’ Outreach Center to meet the educational needs of returning veterans and their families.” Both facilities, he said, will provide services to students from APS and CNM as well as UNM.
The trio of educational leaders said they are also exploring ways to work together on cost-cutting efforts, shared emergency and crisis planning, coordinated academic calendars and the sharing of appropriate data for improved decision-making. The group is also planning joint board meetings on topics of common interest.
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