Albuquerque Public Schools officially introduced its 5-year strategic plan at a summit Wednesday. Around 200 community members attended the event to hear about the goals and strategies that came out of a year-long process, during which a panel of students shared their thoughts on the plan and other ways APS could improve.
All four seniors on the panel said APS could better prepare students not just for college, but careers after graduation. They want to see the district present entering the workforce as an option, collaborate more with local businesses, and teach students how to write a resume and interview for a job.
Volcano Vista senior Kalily Garcia said she’d like those conversations to start earlier and be broader.
“There’s continuing to become more opportunities in career fields that have never been available before that students may want to pursue instead of just like teacher, doctor, etcetera,” she said.
The district’s plan touches some on the students’ feedback. It sets a goal to not only increase the number of students who graduate with college credit, but also professional certifications and seals for bilingual proficiency.
Superintendent Scott Elder said Garcia’s desire for APS to present more non-traditional career paths surprised him some, but he agrees it’s a good idea.
“It’s one of the hardest things we struggle with because it’s hard to find facilities and it’s hard to find instructors,” he said.
During a question-and-answer session, several members of the business community encouraged the district to better tap them as a resource.
Amaranta Manzanares-Juarez was the only student on the panel to encourage the district to also provide more mental health supports.
“I know at the high school level it’s slightly more accessible than it is at maybe middle school and elementary,” she said, “but I think we’re seeing more and more with our younger population that that’s something that’s really important to all of us.”
School Board President Yolanda Montoya-Cordova said she wished she’d heard more from the panel on the topic, since it was something she heard so often from the community while drafting the plan. She said it is folded into a goal to boost skills, habits and mindsets for life success.
She also lamented the panel was only made up of students who had found success at APS.
“I would have loved to have heard more from the students that are not engaged, and some of the thoughts around how do we engage those students,” she said.
The panelists agreed. They each told KUNM they want to see more student input at every level of decision making at the district, adding that they felt blindsided by recent changes to the bell schedule, which adjusted when the school day starts and stops, for instance.
“Whenever the conversation’s being started, allowing students’ voices to be heard. And throughout the process — not just the beginning or end,” said Manzanares-Juarez. “Students want to know where the plan is headed.”
Elder, who already has a student advisory group, said the school board will encourage more vocal participation and student presentations at its meetings as part of the plan.
Board Member Courtney Jackson announced at the summit that the board will solicit more ideas and community feedback on the plan through listening sessions in the fall.
