Posts Tagged ‘Stan Rounds’

Release courtesy of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico

The first early college high school (ECHS) in New Mexico opened its doors to students on Tuesday, July 6, 2010, when approximately 116 LCPS freshmen began classes. The new high school, the fifth within Las Cruces Public Schools, will temporarily be housed within the Dona Ana Community College (DACC) for the 2010/2011 school year.

LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds said, “This school is the direct result of community and educational partners coming together to address the future of our local students,” said Rounds. “It began with a dream, molded itself through the Bridge initiative, and now I’m proud to announce we have our first class of students.”

The Bridge (formerly known as the REI – Regional Education Initiative) brought together private business, public and higher education, government, and economic development, to find solutions on reducing the dropout rate and better preparing graduates for the workforce.

“This is a really great day for our community and it shows the impact of people coming together to seek solutions together,” said Suzanne Quillen, chairwoman of The Bridge of Southern New Mexico. “The early college high school is nationally a best practice for reducing the dropout rate and preparing young people to successfully enter the work force.”

Rounds said the LCPS ECHS will offer students the chance to earn not only a high school diploma, but also to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree and credits toward a bachelor’s degree. The ECHS will emphasize science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes, entrepreneurship, along with career and technical education (CTE) courses.

Students were selected by completing an application and participating in a lottery drawing. The first class of ECHS freshmen (the class of 2014) will begin their high school careers with “a ninth-grade experience that will ignite their interest in education by providing relevance to their academics through high quality career and technical education (CTE) studies,” said Jennifer Amis, principal. “More than half our students will be the first in their families to attend a college or university.”

“This collaborative project has opened up a new avenue to higher education, one that affords greater access for many of our community’s youth who otherwise might have seen college as just a distant dream. Early College High School is about turning those dreams into reality while, at the same time, strengthening our workforce,” said Dr. Margie Huerta, DACC president. “The opening of this innovative school is proof that DACC, LCPS and NMSU can work together effectively to improve educational opportunities.”

“Nationally, early college high schools have a 90% graduation rate,” said Tracey Bryan, executive director of The Bridge. “They offer smaller learning environments and real-world applications in the coursework. This will give students a firm foundation on which to build a strong future for themselves, their families and their communities.”

By the summer of 2011, construction will be complete on a permanent eight-acre ECHS campus on Arrowhead Research Park on the western edge of NMSU. The state-of-the-art classrooms facilities are currently being designed by Studio D Architects of Las Cruces in collaboration with GenCon Corporation, LCPS, and the Arrowhead Development Corporation.

One of the foundational principles for having a spaceport in New Mexico is to provide tangible evidence of what can come from a good education, and enough excitement and incentive to encourage our students to learn and go make a difference. Spaceport America can be that catalyst for many of our youth to go beyond circumstance to a great future!

The April Dona Ana County Spaceport Community Council will feature a panel of leading educators from the Southern New Mexico who will discuss how Spaceport America is impacting our local schools from those that are involved in creating the change we’ve desired.

The event’s facilitator will be Margie Huerta, CEO of Dona Ana Community College.  Panelists include:

• Tom Burton, Department Head and Professor of New Mexico State University’s Aerospace Engineering Program;
• Patricia Hynes, Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium;
• Jerry Welch, Division Dean of Dona Ana Community College’s Technical and Industrial Studies;
• Stan Rounds, Superintendent of Las Cruces Public Schools;
• Steven Sanchez, Associate Superintendent for Learning, Teaching and Research of Las Cruces Public Schools;
• Bill Coker, Superintendent of Hatch Valley Public Schools;
• Cynthia Nava, Superintendent of Gadsden Independent School District; and
• Tom Burris, Superintendent of Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools.

The meeting will be held on Thursday, April 22, 2010 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Gerald Thomas Auditorium on the campus of New Mexico State University.  The meeting is open to the public and there is no admission charge.

For more information contact the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, 575-524-1968.

In its monthly board meeting of July 15th, 2009, the MVEDA Board of Directors elected new officers and board members for the upcoming year. New Board Chairman George Ruth of Citizens Bank of Las Cruces was elected at the June 17th board meeting. He replaces Immediate Past Chairman Bryn Davis of Sapphire Energy.

New officers for the upcoming year are:

• Vice-Chair – Gary Lenzo, First Community Bank
• Secretary – Dolores Connor, City of Las Cruces
• Treasurer – Kiel Hoffman, Pioneer Bank
• Executive Committee Member At-Large – J.B. Pruett, Northrise Ventures, LLC

Re-elected board members are:

• Clay Doyle, El Paso Electric
• Gary Lenzo, First Community Bank
• Gabe Ruiz, New Mexico Gas Company

New board members include:

• Jim Easley, Wells Fargo Bank New Mexico
• Stan Rounds, Ex-Officio, Las Cruces Public Schools

MVEDA is governed by a board of directors representing both the private and public sectors. Institutional members represent the City of Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, New Mexico State University, Dona Ana Community College, the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces, and White Sands Missile Range. Private sector board members represent a wide diversity of business and industry. They serve 3-year terms and are elected by the board.