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Garcia-Post steps in to lead J. Paul Taylor Academy

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Garcia-Post

Las Cruces Bulletin

About 200 students from Kindergarten to eighth grade will start their school year Wednesday, July 15 at the J. Paul Taylor Academy at 3900 Del Rey Blvd.

Students and family members are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch – along with an ice cream social – to celebrate the beginning of another academic year and to meet the school’s new administrator/principal: Aine Garcia-Post.

She officially started her job July 1 as she took over for the academic institution’s original administrator Cynthia Risner, who has retired.

“This is going to be fun,” Garcia-Post said of her new position. “I’m excited to get to know the culture and the school and all the students.”

Jennifer Gorham, secretary of the school’s governance council, said in a statement that Garcia-Post fits fills the position “perfectly.”

“(Her) philosophy on education and student centered learning blends perfectly with the mission and charter of J. Paul Taylor Academy,” Gorham said.

A native of Freemont, Calif. – just outside of San Jose – the 34-year-old Garcia-Post has been a bilingual teacher in the Golden State as well as in Las Cruces and has most recently served in administration as an assistant principal at MacArthur Elementary in the Las Cruces Public School District.

The state-chartered J. Paul Taylor Academy an independent, non-tuition school and not affiliated with LCPS. Students are chosen with a lottery system.

She pursued higher education at UC-Santa Cruz and earned her teaching certificate at San Diego State. She earned a master’s degree in education at San Jose State and is currently in a doctorial program at New Mexico State University.

“I love teaching and still consider myself a teacher,” Garcia-Post said. “I have so much respect for teachers.”

She said she will have a lot of interaction with students.

“This is where I want to be,” she said.

Garcia-Post wants students and teachers to constantly think of ways to approach education.

“I want to give teachers the ability to innovate,” she said. “Innovation is huge. I want them to have the opportunity to try things and explore.

“We want to have a continuous mindset of growth,” she said.

A support system is important too.

“We want to engage families,” she said. “They are an asset in education.”

Garcia-Post will also help oversee the last stage of a major development for J. Paul Taylor Academy. The school will move into a brand-new building, probably by the end of the year.

The new location is next to the Court Youth Center, which houses Alma d'Arte Charter High School at 402 W. Court Ave.

“It looks great,” Garcia-Post said. “It’ll be bigger."

The new building is being funded through a lease-purchase agreement with LCPS.

The academy opened for classes in 2011.

More information can be found online at www.jpaultayloracademy.org.

Brook Stockberger may be reached at 680-1977 or brook@lascrucesbulletin.com


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