Charter rebrands to build kids’ futures

Las Montañas Charter School has gone through a rebranding as a part of a larger effort to improve outcomes for students once they graduate.

The school — now called Sendero School of Academic and Career Preparation — focuses on career technical education and project-based learning to help those who may have struggled in a more traditional school.

Executive Director Caz Martinez said that the school started to notice that while students were doing well in school, many often struggled in adulthood. To address this, the school rebranded to focus more on helping students get jobs after graduation.

“When they graduate with us, not only will they get that diploma, but they are actually ready to go into a career that they could earn a decent living and a livable wage here in Las Cruces,” Martinez said.

The word ‘Sendero’ means pathway or trail in Spanish. The logo features the school’s mascot — a ram — following a trail up a mountain. The school said that this is reflective of the many different path’s students can take to reach their goals at the school.

Los Montañas Charter School rebranded for the start of this school year to focus on improving outcomes for students after graduation.

Courtesy of Sendero School of Academics and Career Preparation

Matt Sandoval, who is a member of the administrative team, said there are five pathways students can take. These include education, business, audio and visual, construction and medical pathways.

“They pick one of those five pathways, and it gives them those foundational skills, and then as they progress through our programing, they can be placed in an internship that’s even more specific to their career,” Sandoval said.

In-school teaching is also broken up into a.m. and p.m. projects where students have more hands-on education.

Sandoval said that this type of learning helps students who are not succeeding or are not happy in traditional schools the most.

“Kids are having a hard time finding the relevance or the meaning for education,” Sandoval said. “Those are the kids who we are trying to change that mindset with and give them those opportunities for hands on learning.”

Principal Gabe Estrada said that this style of education has results. In one example, the school worked with the New Mexico Contractors Association to build a house in a newer development by Red Hawk Golf Course.

“We had several students that had probably never picked up a hammer, never really messed with a tape measure, but they were out there, and they got that guidance in that internship,” Estrada said. “That to me is a success story just because of where they started to where they finished.”

He continued by saying that students participated in all stages of construction from dirt work to roofing and that a couple of them were offered summer jobs.

Sendero is planning to expand its career options and project-based learning in the future.