By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
Parents, students and teachers will get a say in a new five-year plan for Rio Rancho Public Schools, starting with community meetings this fall.
Superintendent Robert Dodd and three top administrators introduced the proposed name, Horizon 2040, at last week’s school board meeting. The plan would run from 2027 to 2032 while looking ahead to the Class of 2040, today’s 4-year-olds in early childhood programs.
Eric Guerci, chief of strategy, shared accountability and communications, said the district will start with community meetings and surveys this fall. A steering committee of school and central-office staff, students, family members, community leaders and board members will help shape the plan, and focus groups will gather input from teachers and students on specific strategies. Under a draft timeline, the district aims to define measurable goals by late fall and share a public draft in spring or summer 2027, before finalizing the plan. Guerci called the result a “living plan” that will adjust as conditions change.
Chief Academic Officer Janna Chenault laid out three goals: student success, school success and district success. By 2030, every RRPS school would reach Spotlight status, meaning the top 25% of New Mexico schools, and the district would become the state’s premier school district. Dodd said RRPS already is the highest-achieving large district in the state.
Board member Michael Berry asked how the district defines “premier.” District leaders said they will benchmark against similar districts statewide and ask the community what the word means. They noted Los Alamos outperforms RRPS in literacy and math by 15 to 20 percentage points.
This school year is a “bridge year,” Chenault said, with three pilots already running. Nearly 150 fifth graders at five schools are taking a compacted math course that could lead to algebra as early as seventh grade. Teachers at six schools are getting specialized training and three schools are protecting time for literacy and math interventions, acceleration and enrichment. The district says it will evaluate the pilots’ impact.
Board member Stephanie Smith asked about students who struggle with math. Administrators said algebra by seventh grade is not for everyone and multiple pathways will exist. Smith also asked for pilot data, and administrators promised to return with it. Berry urged the district to add ninth grade to its key milestones, which now include eighth and 10th grades, citing research that ninth-grade progress predicts graduation. District leaders said the milestones are a working framework and they will look at it. Board President Amanda Galbraith pressed for “built-in checkpoints” throughout the five years.
The plan will connect to special education improvements, facilities planning, state policy changes and the budget. Dodd said, “Often a school system’s budget effectively becomes its plan.” The board will hear an update next month on the district’s response to the Gibson Special Education Process Review.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 5: years the plan would cover (2027-32), with an eye toward the Class of 2040
- 3: big goals (student, school and district success)
- 25%: share of New Mexico schools every RRPS school aims to rank within by 2030
- 7: proposed “Seven Keys to Student Success” milestones (pre-K, grades 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10, and graduation)
- Nearly 150: fifth graders in the math acceleration pilot
- Math acceleration pilot: Rio Rancho, Puesta del Sol, Colinas del Norte, Ernest Stapleton and Maggie Cordova elementaries
- High-expertise teaching pilot: Vista Grande, Sandia Vista, Enchanted Hills, Rio Rancho, Puesta del Sol and Maggie Cordova elementaries
- Student-support pilot: Cielo Azul, Martin Luther King Jr. and Joe Harris elementaries
Get involved in RRPS strategic planning:
- Community meetings: this fall, dates TBA
- Next board meeting: Sept. 28, 5:30 p.m., RRPS Board Room, 500 Laser Rd. NE, Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87124
- Board agendas and packets (including the strategic planning presentation): rrps.community.diligentoneplatform.com/Portal/
- Watch past meetings: RRPS YouTube channel
- Public comment: sign up in the boardroom before 5:30 p.m. on meeting day. Comments submitted through the online form are summarized, not read aloud.