A Message from the Head of School
Dear Academy community,
Advancement is woven into the fabric of our community alongside a shared mission and a commitment to excellence in education. A deep sense of caring and personal connections unite Chargers and families across generations. As we share gratitude for the generosity of the prior school year in this 2021-22 Impact Report, I invite you to reflect on the philanthropy of others, the transformative gift of land from the Simms family that is responsible for our beginnings, and the variety of gifts that continue to provide and enhance the Academy experience for all students.
The independent school model is unique and something we want all students, families, and alumni to understand. As is standard practice in independent school communities, Albuquerque Academy approves an operating budget each year that has a built-in requirement for, and reliance upon, philanthropy–annual giving and endowment–and auxiliary support, which allows tuition to remain far below the actual cost of an Academy education.
The true cost of attending Albuquerque Academy is never reflected in the operating budget of any given school year. From the beautiful and expansive grounds, to the buildings, and indoor and outdoor facilities we pass through daily to attend class, perform, or compete in an event, the very environment of our school reflects the culmination of generations of giving.
In addition to our generous donors, we are honored to recognize the countless gifts of time and expertise the Academy receives each year from volunteer leaders. Members of the Board of Trustees, Alumni Council, Albuquerque Academy Parent Association, Multicultural Parent Councils, as well as Academy Fund ambassadors, and others have collaborated with the Advancement staff to cultivate and further a strong culture of philanthropy.
While the Impact Report provides an overview of the monetary or in-kind gifts received, we are keenly aware that perhaps as many acts of kindness and generosity were bestowed upon the Academy in the 2021-22 school year in the form of community–the relationship-building connections that bind us together.
Thank you for all the ways you commit to and give back to Albuquerque Academy. Your generosity and continuous support help ensure our strong future.
Sincerely, Julianne Puente, Head of School
Bridge Program Eases Transition for New Students
In an effort to help our newest Chargers make a smooth and comfortable transition to the Academy and, in many cases, back to in-person school, the Bridge to Success program was launched in August 2021. Nearly 80% of our incoming sixth graders attended this optional, free two-week session, with 118 students from 57 different elementary schools represented. The program’s primary goals were to encourage a sense of belonging and community after a long, difficult year of remote learning and to address learning loss. But the kids also had a big dose of fun, taking part in a scavenger hunt, riding on the pump track, experimenting with improv, and constructing weight-bearing bridges from paper and paper clips. The Bridge Program was so well received and such a success that it has become an annual program.
New Journeys Begin: Convocation 2021
With our first in-person start since 2019, the first day of school harnessed a special excitement and energy across campus. Sixth-grade and senior parents gathered on campus as their students paired up for the traditional walk together up the Path. The walk signifies the first chapters beginning for our newest Chargers, ushered by our most-senior Chargers beginning their final year on campus.
GrandDays Returns in 2023
Continued health considerations required us to again cancel GrandDays events during the 2021-22 school year, but we are excited to welcome all grandparents and special friends that impact our students’ lives in grand ways in March 2023!
Invitations will go out it in January 2023. Visit the ChargerHub parent portal to confirm grandparent contact information.
Save the dates!
- Grades 6-8: Thursday, March 30
- Grades 9-12: Friday, March 31
Meet a Charger
Logo Represents Best of Academy
The Albuquerque Academy name has a strong and long-standing reputation in our community. In the summer of 2021, the Academy’s administrative leadership team undertook the process of identifying a logo that would define our unique community. Throughout the process, and with guided conversation with local advertising agency k2md, it came up again and again that the Academy is Albuquerque. From our deep roots dating to 1955 to decades of graduates and alumni families living and working locally, to our current students from every zip code, the Academy is part of the fabric of Albuquerque and New Mexico, like the Balloon Fiesta and green chile. We take our responsibility to this city seriously and understand the importance of honoring our sense of place.
The Albuquerque Academy logo is made up of two pieces – a nameplate that is very similar to what we had been using and a mark (or graphic) that is brand-new to our school. The new mark – an A – represents our commitment to bold education in New Mexico. The design echoes the Southwest and is reminiscent of traditional artwork, sunsets, and mountain ranges, reflecting the unique beauty of our home. The Charger continues to be our mascot, and the athletic A will always be an identifier for generations of students and families, so keep wearing your Charger gear with pride!
Charger Families Reunite: All-Parent Mixer
An all-parent mixer was held at the start of Homecoming 2021 to connect our community in ways that were not possible the previous year. Parents from the Class of 2027 received the spirit award for attending in the greatest numbers. Multicultural parent councils and affinity groups, alongside representatives from the AAPA and Alumni Council, invited fellowship, conversations, and connections.
Together Under the Lights
Charger fans and student-athletes were treated to two exciting evenings on Richard Harper Memorial Field last fall. With the intent to reconnect our community in a big way, and to provide an experience that would demonstrate what playing “under the lights” could be, fans and players packed the stands to cheer on our boys soccer and football teams, quickly establishing a new annual tradition and generating healthy interest in installing permanent lights.
Brightening the Season
Academy Alight returned in 2021 as a community project that welcomes families, alumni, and neighbors to enjoy a campus-wide display of thousands of luminarias to celebrate the start of winter break and the holiday season. Please join us when the 3rd Annual Academy Alight returns on Saturday, December 3, 2022, from 6-8 p.m.
Hear from an Academy Student
Outside Perspectives
As part of a speaker series created by a gift from the ECMC Foundation designated to the Academy in 2018 by former parent and community leader Roberta Cooper Ramo, Justice Raymond Lohier visited several classrooms to share expertise and insights on the U.S. Constitution and the responsibilities of U.S. citizenship.
Back to Campus
The Academy is grateful for the generous and countless gifts of time received each year from our dedicated volunteers. The 2021-22 school year saw a slow but steady return of the time-honored activities organized and run by our Albuquerque Academy Parent Association (AAPA) volunteers, such as bookstore and concession shifts, and a variety of activities that make our students, teachers, and staff smile and feel supported. Volunteer groups like the Alumni Council continued meeting in a hybrid fashion, making the most of that time to consider how some configuration of in-person and online participation may even increase and strengthen engagement across campus.
Expressing Our GrAAtitude
In early May, volunteers were treated to breakfast to thank them for their dedication and assistance throughout the school year. Our volunteers help sustain our school through a variety of generous gifts of time and resources for the things that matter to our community. From staffing the library and helping with Open House to volunteering as a team parent or holding a position on the AAPA, Alumni Council, the Board of Trustees, or a Multicultural Parent Council, we are grateful for the countless ways they support the Academy.
Mission-Driven Purpose
The Academy is fortunate to have a dedicated body of volunteers, with diverse and expert backgrounds, to oversee the administration of the school and the management of its financial and physical resources. Members of our Board of Trustees share a passion for the Academy's mission and a vision for the school’s ongoing excellence and leadership in education.
Our Mission: We believe that children’s lives change when their natural passion for learning is nurtured and transformed into habits of life-long learning and reflection. We believe that the world changes as these children learn to serve country and community with wisdom, conviction, and compassion.
In light of these beliefs,
- We serve students of talent and character, offering them an education that broadens their perspectives, sharpens their minds, strengthens their bodies, and engages their hearts.
- We commit to creating a caring, inclusive, and just community, using the geography and culture of our home in the Southwest to enrich our educational programs and to foster creativity, personal balance, and a connection to the natural world.
- We devote our resources to ensure economic accessibility to our students and to support the wider community through outreach and community service.
- We entrust this mission to our graduates and successors as we preserve our resources and serve the generations of children to come.
Chargers for a Lifetime
Alumni Council Mission: We believe an alumni council that engages with alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, volunteer boards, and friends of the Academy is essential to support the mission of the Academy and to strengthen the Academy and its community. We recognize that as graduates of Albuquerque Academy we have a responsibility to the Academy to preserve its resources and serve generations of children to come.
In light of this belief and these responsibilities:
- We recognize that the alumni are not only part of the history of the Academy, but are essential to its future.
- We devote our time and resources to supporting and furthering the Albuquerque Academy’s mission of creating a caring, inclusive, and just community, including by supporting fundraising efforts for the Albuquerque Academy.
- We promote interaction with and among alumni, and commit to strengthening the intellectual and emotional ties between alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents, volunteer boards, and friends of the Academy.
- We responsibly serve as ambassadors of the school to our communities.
- We recognize the achievements of our alumni.
Meet an Academy Student
2021 Hall of Famers Inducted
Athletics are a great source of pride at the Academy, and the newly established Athletics Hall of Fame serves as a means of honoring and recognizing the athletes, teams, coaches, and supporters who made significant contributions to the Charger tradition of excellence. At Homecoming on September 25, 2021, we introduced the inaugural class of Albuquerque Academy's Athletics Hall of Fame: former Athletic Director and coach Joe Armijo, Notah Begay III ’90, coach Mike Brown (awarded posthumously and accepted on his behalf by his son Greg ’91), Micaela Esquivel ’02, and Ellen Hart ’76.
In the spring of 2022 the Hall of Fame selection committee had the unenviable task of selecting only five individuals from among a variety of eras, sports, and roles to be included in the second class of the Academy's Athletics Hall of Fame.
Next time you are on campus, we invite you to visit the Hall of Fame display housed just inside the Path-side entrance of the East Campus Gym. Click here to view the touchscreen content.
(Please help us improve our content by sending additions/corrections to alumni@aa.edu.)
Connecting with Chargers Across the Country
With the desire to reconnect with alumni and to provide opportunities for them to meet the Academy's “new” head of school, the alumni office planned an ambitious travel schedule for the 2021-22 school year. Despite ongoing considerations for a variety of local and national health orders, through events ranging from one-on-one coffees and intimate gatherings to an NBA basketball game and spirited receptions, Chargers gathered in nine cities across the country: Dallas, Austin, Boston, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Chicago.
We found a strong sense of Charger pride and a desire to remain connected to Albuquerque Academy and with one another. Please contact us at alumni@aa.edu if you would like to help organize alumni meet-ups and/or a regional alumni chapter in your city.
The More the Merrier: Combined Reunions
Reunion weekend included several combined gatherings for our reunion classes. One all-inclusive alumni reception was held in a tented affair in the quad, followed by reunions of those classes with graduation years ending in 0s and 1s and 5s and 6s. Given the close-knit nature of our student body, several alumni noted how great it was to see a variety of students from neighboring class years.
Meet a Pair of Charger Siblings
Class of 2022: Our Youngest Alumni
166 members of the Class of 2022 are attending 85 different colleges in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and British Columbia.
- 13 National Merit Semifinalists (all named finalists)
- 8 commended students
- 1 National African American Recognition Scholar
- 10 National Hispanic Recognition Scholars
- 17 student-athletes to compete in college
Giving and Gathering: 1st Annual Charger Challenge
In the spring we introduced the first annual Charger Challenge – a 48-hour community celebration of Albuquerque Academy. The first 24 hours featured our traditional spring day of giving and the “On the Path to Participation” campus engagement event with refreshments, golf challenges, and opportunities to share gratitude for the Academy. The Topgolf tournament followed, with its open-air layout and individual bay seating making it the ideal way to bring our community back together for a night of fundraising and celebration. Nearly 150 players and spectators filled the top tier of bays with a sea of red and black, lively conversation, and friendly competition.
The events were made possible by our generous bay sponsors, tournament and raffle prize donors, faculty and staff ticket sponsors, phenomenal team of parent and employee volunteers, Notah Begay III ’90 who helped kick off the event and inspired additional support for the Academy Fund, and our community, which came out in big numbers to support the event.
These events brought in roughly 375 gifts totaling nearly $130,000 in support of the Academy Fund.
Save the Date for the 2nd Annual Charger Challenge: Saturday, February 25, 2023
Contact Kayci Trevino, stewardship program and events manager, for more information and sponsorship and volunteer opportunities.
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Meet a Recent Academy Alum
New Families, New Friends
Welcoming a new class of Chargers and families to our community always sends a current of joy through our campus. The admission cycle begins each year on the first day of September and culminated last spring with a festive picnic for 174 newly enrolled students and their families.
2022 All-School Awards
What used to be separate assemblies for students has evolved into one all-school awards event held in the evening for the recipients and their families. The awards presented each year include departmental awards, military honors, academic recognition, and memorial awards, many of which have been established by generous donors as endowed funds with gifts of $35,000 or more. These permanent funds provide significant support for departments and programs, as well as financial assistance for Academy students.
Welcome Home
We were honored to welcome home Adrienne Harris ’99, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, as our 2022 commencement speaker. Adrienne is deeply committed to financial health and well-being and has worked in such areas as student loans, payday lending, and mortgage insurance.
Adrienne often reflects on her time at Albuquerque Academy and how influential many of her teachers, coaches, and counselors have been throughout her career. During her time at the Academy, Adrienne participated in multiple varsity sports and was a member of the first-ever “Godzilla” class.
Hear from a Group of Chargers
Service Awards and Retirements
Each spring our community recognizes and celebrates our hardworking faculty and staff who have reached significant milestones in their Academy careers. Special mention is made in honor of those community members who part for retirement.
When our advancement team connects with alumni from across the country and across the decades, it is their teachers that our graduates speak about with deep gratitude and appreciation. All Chargers are encouraged to reach out to a teacher or staff person who made or is making a difference in your Academy journey, and to let them know – it will make their day, and yours! Reach out to the advancement team if you need help making contact.
In Memoriam
Please join us in remembering the contributions and celebrating the lives of these Academy community members lost in the 2021-22 school year. Our hearts continue to be with their families, friends, students, and classmates who knew and loved them.
To provide additions or corrections to this list, please contact us at alumni@aa.edu.
Operating Income, Operating Expense, and the Importance of Philanthropy
Philanthropic support from endowment funds and annual giving provides an essential core of our annual operating budget, which allows tuition to remain far below the total cost of an Academy education. This is why fundraising activities continue year after year.
Impact of Philanthropy Across Expense Categories
Area of Greatest Need and the Value of Trust-Based Philanthropy: Unrestricted giving to the Academy Fund allows community support to flow where funding is most needed to balance the operating budget. Gifts to the “area of greatest need” support and sustain a culture of trust-based philanthropy that ensures the continuous delivery of our mission.
Net Tuition Revenue
Independent School Tuition Model: Net Tuition provides the largest income stream each year and is the main pillar of our operating budget. Tuition Assistance is the cornerstone of our mission, allowing Albuquerque Academy to recruit and enroll a student body that reflects the depth and diversity of our greater Albuquerque community. Tuition Remission is a benefit that helps attract and retain the best and brightest faculty and staff and creates a special layer of investment in their work and our school. The children they bring to our community and their parent perspectives add to the richness and diversity inherent in our mission. This tuition model is the hallmark of an independent school.
Endowment Value at Fiscal Year End
Seeded with a transformative gift of land in 1959, the Albuquerque Academy endowment plays an important role in the overall financial health of our school. As an investment fund, returns are reinvested in the fund year after year. Each year, with assistance from industry professionals and the Academy’s Endowment Management Committee, the board of trustees approves a draw that is used to support the annual operating budget and other needs and initiatives, which allows tuition to remain far below the true cost of educating each student.
Annual draws from endowment funds are typically based on 5% of a rolling 20-quarter average to ensure a smooth and sustainable draw that is not impacted by temporary market fluctuations.
Number of Donors and Average Gift Across Gift Ranges
Each Gift Matters: The combined impact of giving helps us achieve our goals. Cumulative gifts totaling $2,500 or more within the fiscal year is considered leadership giving.
Endowed Funds
Single gifts or a combination of gifts totaling $35,000 or more may create a mission-appropriate endowed fund for Albuquerque Academy. These funds not only enhance the size and performance of our general endowment, but their yield provides significant support for departments and programs, as well as financial assistance for Academy students on an annual basis.
Meet a Pair of Academy Siblings
Giving TuesdAAy
Giving Tuesday 2021 marked the largest online giving day in Academy history to date, with gifts exceeding $305,000. Held in connection with the global events of Giving Tuesday, the entire Charger community was asked to reflect on the many ways philanthropy has made their Academy journey possible and to participate in the Academy Fund.
Special elements of Giving Tuesday provided donors a way to designate funds within the Academy Fund to projects and efforts of interest, including:
- Natatorium Scoreboard: An effort to name a new state-of-the-art scoreboard in the Natatorium for beloved and recently retired Coach Dave Barney gathered contributions totaling more than $26,000.
- Class of 1970 Tuition Assistance Fund: The Class of 1970 became the first to fully endow a fund for tuition assistance in honor of their 50th reunion in 2020. While the fundraising goal of $35,000 had been surpassed, the participation goal that aimed for 70% class participation went unmet, so the class extended the effort, and raised their sights to a new fundraising goal of $100,000 to a great result. The fund received 57 donations, totaling $98,000 by the end of the fiscal year. We are looking for leaders to help coordinate reunion gifts (and endowed funds) in honor of your class and benchmark reunions. Please reach out to Dawn Lorenz if you would like to get involved!
- Give Your Year: Alumni were challenged by the Alumni Council to give their annual gift to their alma mater in any denomination that reflects their class year. Chargers answered the call and made gifts ranging from $19.91 to $19,860! This trend continued throughout the 2021-22 school year, with plans to keep it going strong in years to come.
Family Affair: Tito Puente’s Timbales Find a New Home
Giving TuesdAAy events kicked off in great form with a generous and meaningful gift from the Puente family, who presented two sets of timbales, a congo drum, music scores with handwritten notes, and other memorabilia to music students and faculty. Although they are priceless, Ron Puente, father of Head of School Julianne Puente and son of the late Tito Puente, insisted that the instruments be played, as his father would have wanted. ”These are for you - use them! Play them with love. That’s what my pop would want.”
Meet a Charger
Lifetime Circle Giving Society
The Academy honors individuals and organizations whose cumulative giving totals $35,000 or more as members of our Lifetime Circle Giving Society. These individuals, couples, and organizations play an influential role in enriching the future of the school with their philanthropy.
Laura Lee Moore Society
The Laura Lee Moore Society recognizes, honors, and seeks to perpetuate the tradition of planned giving at Albuquerque Academy. Those who designate Albuquerque Academy as a beneficiary in their planned giving program – bequests, life income arrangements, or other deferred gifts – become members of the Laura Lee Moore Society.
Hear from an Academy Student
Chargers Serving Others
True to the Academy mission, members across our community made it a priority to support the greater Albuquerque community throughout the 2021-22 school year.
In October, the Academy hosted an Out of the Darkness community walk, a core activity organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Hundreds of friends, family members, neighbors, and co-workers walked side by side, supporting one another in memory of those we have lost and raising more than $7,500 for the organization. The purpose of these walks is to give people the courage to open up about their own connections to the cause and a platform to create a culture that is smarter about mental health.
Student-led efforts before winter break included a holiday-themed treat sale to benefit both Animal Humane and Joy Junction. The Operation Holiday Helpers supported Heading Home by collecting more than 400 gifts for kids residing in the westside shelter.
Our community also helped one student meet her goal of collecting 200 stuffed animals for the Albuquerque Fire Rescue to take out on calls and give to children who have just experienced trauma and need comfort.
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Stewarding Our Campus for the Future: Path Project Update
Stewardship at Albuquerque Academy includes more than thanking donors and volunteers for their time and philanthropic support. Stewardship can also be defined by the ways we care for our 312-acre campus and the physical plant that hosts roughly 1,500 students, teachers, and staff each school day. We take the awesome responsibility of caring for and preparing our facilities for the future seriously and feel a great sense of pride in paying it forward for generations to come.
The central path that connects West Campus to East Campus is a community icon. Initially used as a main road through campus, it is the main pedestrian thoroughfare for our community. With intent to increase safety and become greater stewards of our land through water conservation, the East Campus Quad and Path are undergoing a renovation. Work began the week after commencement in May 2022, with completion expected by GrandDays in March 2023. The project is being funded through our endowment with potential areas for philanthropic support to be presented in the spring.
The 2021-22 Impact Report is a publication of the Albuquerque Academy advancement team. All efforts have been made to verify the accuracy of our data. If anything appears in error, please contact us at advancement@aa.edu so a correction may be made. To learn more about our advancement efforts or to make your annual gift to the Academy, visit www.aa.edu/support.