An Albuquerque Academy Community Newsletter
Contents
Convocation 2022 | "Campus Spotlight" Videos | 20 Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists | Admission Open House October 23 | Bridge to Success | New Courses | Homecoming September 23 & 24 | Charger Tailgate | Sports & Extracurricular News | Juniors, Seniors Recognized by College Board | 10-12 History Teacher Receives Summer Fellowship | President Biden Appoints Former Visual Arts Chair to Advisory Committee | Think Summer and Multicultural Summer Honors Program | Ex Ed Trips | Photo Gallery
Kicking Off the New Year with Convocation 2022
Welcome to our new families and welcome back, returning Chargers! The first day of school on August 18 began with Convocation, an Academy tradition that serves as the start of the new year. After enjoying breakfast with their families, seniors joined sixth graders and walked up the Path, lined with their families, to the field northeast of Simms Library. They were greeted with a standing ovation, music from the pep band, and welcome remarks from Head of School Julianne Puente and Student Senate President Mireya Macias ’23.
The inspiration for Ms. Puente’s speech came from talking to a student about making mistakes. “Mistakes help us gain knowledge, trigger creativity, and become more resilient,” she said. And when we own our mistakes, “they teach us humility and make us wiser and sometimes even a little bit braver. It’s hard to admit our mistakes, let alone embrace them, when we live in an environment where everyone seems to strive for greatness in all things – all of the time. That’s a lot of pressure. I know – I feel it, too.” By sharing a few of her own missteps, Ms. Puente hoped that she could help reduce some of that pressure.
Next, Mireya spoke about the opportunities that the Academy offers and reminded the crowd that it’s also a place to discover new people and new ideas. In her speech, she emphasized that the Academy has provided her with a place to explore, define, and reclaim her voice. Mireya talked about her family history and the importance of discovering yourself. She suggested that once you begin understanding yourself, you should listen to your community and be an agent of change.
New "Campus Spotlight" Videos Provide Unique View
Watch your ChargerHub portal, Academy social media, and future issues of The Path for our new video series called Campus Spotlight, which feature interesting things happening on campus and interviews with Ms. Puente and other members of the community. Each new installment will premiere on the ChargerHub portals for parents, students, faculty, and staff. You will get a peek at everyday life on campus and see a variety of activities, which may include a glimpse of new courses, athletics, performing arts, visual arts, and more!
20 Seniors Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
The National Merit® Scholarship Corporation has announced that 20 of the Albuquerque Academy seniors who competed in the National Merit Scholarship Program last school year have been named semifinalists in the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program.
As juniors, they entered the 2023 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which serves as an initial screen of program participants. The approximately 16,000 semifinalists across the country, representing fewer than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, include the highest-scoring entrants in each state.
Next spring these students will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 7,250 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $28 million.
Congratulations to all of the semifinalists across New Mexico on being honored for their hard work and dedication. The 2023 semifinalists from Albuquerque Academy are:
- Taya Demianova
- Marly Fisher
- Michael Kienzle
- Davis Kim
- Nate Klein
- Joanne Li
- Neil Mahto
- Sunaina McKee
- Vivian Mitchell
- Kamal Nallandighal
- AJ Rivera
- Skylar Robinson
- Grace Roll
- Ethan Saiz
- Matthew Stein
- Mikiko Suga
- Henry Wesevich
- Mimi Xue
- Sefi Yapita
- Lynn Zhang
Academy Welcomes Future Chargers at Admission Open House October 23
The Academy will host its annual admission open house on Sunday, October 23, 2-4 p.m. This is a wonderful opportunity for interested families to explore our campus; meet with faculty, students, and parents; learn about student organizations; enjoy performances; and get details about admission and tuition assistance for the 2023-24 school year!
If your family or a family you know is interested, please share the open house registration link and plan on attending (reservations for a time slot required). We would love to meet you on our campus!
Apply now for Fall 2023.
6th Graders Get Head Start with Bridge to Success
Our Bridge to Success program for rising 6th graders was back for its second year, and we really enjoyed hosting a fresh batch of Chargers August 8-12. About 150 kids attended the program, which is designed to help make a smoother and more comfortable transition to a new school. This optional, free, week-long program included instruction on study skills, a new-student orientation, team building with new classmates, and an introduction to campus, including opportunities to use the bike park, visual arts studios, playing fields, pool, garden, and library.
New Courses Add Variety to Schedules
Meaningful changes to graduation requirements have allowed for increased options for students in course selections and helped bring the addition of 21 new courses for the 2022-23 school year. They include:
Advanced Cybersecurity: Students will become skilled in using the latest security tools and gain the essential knowledge to understand and confidently take their place in this exciting and ever-changing new world of cybersecurity.
Foundation in Art and Technology: Students will learn digital methods of production in addition to traditional mediums of art making. The class will start out with a strong emphasis in learning design elements and principles that inform later digital and analog projects. Students will learn techniques for observational drawing and transform those drawings into full-color digital artworks.
Graphic Design: This class is designed to give students the digital tools to make their work flexible, scalable, and reproducible. As a class, we will explore the principles of design such as line, shape, color, layer, and typography through a series of design exercises. Each student will create and die cut personalized logos, screen-print bold graphics onto t-shirts, illustrate and print inviting campus event posters, create websites that tell stories, and build product packaging.
History Through Sports: Our themes of race, ethnicity, class, gender, nationalism, economics, and politics will allow students to utilize their background knowledge, areas of interest, and historical skills to tackle some of history’s most important moments.
World Religions: This is an introductory course that explores the origins and growth of the world’s major religious traditions, including Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Personal Financial Literacy: Students will learn how to make informed financial decisions that will allow them to understand personal financial responsibility. Through projects and coursework, students will develop skills and knowledge in money management, spending, and credit, as well as saving and investing.
Advanced Principles of Engineering: How far can you launch a pumpkin with a trebuchet? Have you ever wanted to build a working Rube Goldberg machine? Students will learn by doing and work collaboratively to develop creative solutions to practical, real-life design challenges. They will explore an array of introductory topics such as brainstorming, prototyping, environmental impact analysis, and project management.
See You at Homecoming September 23 & 24!
There is something for everyone at Homecoming 2022 and everyone is invited! Students, alumni, parents and grandparents, faculty and staff past and present – check out the schedule of events.
On Friday there is a flag football game, dance-off, skits, bonfire, and Alumni Awards Dinner. On Saturday, come out for fall sports day, the Hall of Fame inductee presentation during halftime of the football game, the coffee reception with current and former faculty, the state of the Academy address, the pump track experience, classes without quizzes, community lunch/tailgate, student homecoming dance, and more.
We hope to see you at one of the many events! Be sure to register for activities with limited availability or that require a ticket.
600+ Attend Charger Tailgate
It was exciting to see so many families arrive for a Charger-style tailgate before the football game under the lights on September 9. Food trucks, pizza, and Charger gear were just some of the pre-game highlights.
Sports & Extracurricular News
Academy is MaxPreps Cup Champion in New Mexico
Chargers are #1 in New Mexico and #34 in the nation! The MaxPreps Cup is awarded based on a formula that helps determine the best overall high school sports programs in the nation. The Academy is New Mexico’s 2022 winner, well ahead of La Cueva, Los Alamos, Volcano Vista, Rio Rancho, Cleveland, and more.
Click here for more information.
Academy Wins 4th Director's Cup in a Row
Way to go, Chargers! Receiving this honor is a school-wide effort – points for athletics and activities are figured into the standings. The Academy was among the five schools that won New Mexico Activities Association Director’s Cup titles for 2021-22.
Come out and cheer on our fall teams! Find out when and where here.
Juniors, Seniors Recognized by College Board
Fifty-one Academy students have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country, helping them stand out during the admissions process.
Students who may be eligible have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, or earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP exams, and are African American or Black, Hispanic American or Latinx, Indigenous, and/or attend school in a rural area or small town.
10-12 History Teacher Receives Summer Fellowship
Academy alum, history teacher, and speech and debate coach Elise Matton '10 attended a two-week, fully funded summer fellowship at the Klingenstein Center’s Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers. The Klingenstein Center for Independent and International School Leadership is part of Columbia University's Teachers College programming.
Taking part in sessions on topics in education such as cognitive science and learning retention, support for transgender students and colleagues, and research on meaningful grading and feedback in the classroom, Ms. Matton felt that the program was an “immensely valuable experience and far surpassed my expectations.” She was amazed by how much she could learn in only ten days, and she is “already noticing the effects in my daily practice since having returned to school.”
Having started as a teacher at the Academy in 2019, Ms. Matton finds it exciting to bring what she learned into her classroom so students can actively connect with their own understanding of who they are as learners and, ultimately, carry those lessons with them wherever they go after the Academy.
Fun Under the Summer Sun
It was a great year for Think Summer! More than 1,300 summer students registered for Summer 2022, including 840 registered in full-day or half-day camps. Offering eight credit courses for Academy students, 14 different recreational/academic camps, and more than 150 individual enrichment classes, the Think Summer staff included 120 faculty/staff members and more than 150 student employees. Summer classes in woodworking, ceramics, and sewing continued to be popular and well attended.
The Multicultural Summer Honors Program included a total of 93 rising 4th- and 5th-grade students instructed by nine teachers in language arts, math, and the Culture Through the Arts program.
The final week of the session included a performance week with nearly 175 summer students participating in dance, music, and drama events, such as a production of Frozen.
Next year's Think Summer and Multicultural Summer Honors Program will run from June 5 to July 14, 2023.
President Biden Appoints Former Visual Arts Chair to Advisory Committee
Andrew Lamarche Connors, a former visual arts department chair at the Academy, was appointed by President Biden to serve on the Cultural Property Advisory Committee. He is currently the director of the Albuquerque Museum, where he previously served as curator of art from 2009 through 2018.
During his tenure at the Academy from 2006 to 2009, he taught sculpture, art history, and Foundation in Art. He was known for his amazing museum trips to New York City. One student remembers him as a “magical art history teacher” and another for his “transformative classes.” He continues to lead tours for our students at the Albuquerque Museum.
Ex Ed Trips Launch the School Year
Before school even started, several small groups of 9th graders visited the South San Juan Mountains of Colorado and the Gila National Forest for their Experiential Education capstone expeditions.
At about the same time, new 10-12 students bonded during an overnight trip to Bear Canyon. They backpacked to the outskirts of the Academy property, visited the plane wreck, and got to know one other over meals and campfires. New this year, the program is designed to help make for a smoother, more welcoming transition to the Academy.
Eighth graders have also gotten started on their wilderness experiences – some taking part in an outdoor cooking trip in the Sandias, others on a canoe trip at Cochiti Reservoir.
