Ground was broken Wednesday on the campus of Central New Mexico Community College, where a four-story, 80,000-square-foot building will be home to two Albuquerque Public Schools and two CNM programs.
The APS magnet College & Career High School, the APS charter Native American Community Academy and CNM’s Teacher Education and Early Childhood programs will occupy the building, located just north of Isotopes Park on University Avenue SE.
Excavation of the site is expected to begin within the week and the new building is expected to open for the fall 2019 school year.
The $35 million cost of the project is being split between CNM and APS, and comes from voter-approved bonds and mil levy.
Speaking to hundreds of people at the ground-breaking ceremony, CNM President Katharine Winograd said the joint-use building speaks well of the long-standing and strong partnership between CNM and APS – a partnership that is “helping more high school students participate in higher education at an earlier age,” she said.
Winograd noted the long association that CNM has had with APS, reminding people that CNM used to be the Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute or TVI.
When it first opened, TVI was governed by the APS Board of Education. In 1979 a seven-member TVI governing board was elected by voters, and in 2006 the school’s name was changed to CNM.
The College & Career High School allows high school sophomores, juniors and seniors to take CNM classes for both high school and college credit.
The Native American Community College, currently serving 436 students in grades K-12, will have access to a leading college outside their door, said NACA executive director Kara Bobroff. “Indigenous studies, languages, innovations and leadership are all strengths of the NACA community, and similarly CNM’s vision for innovation and its core values of service and community will provide our students and families with unbound opportunities and serve as a national model for collaboration and success,” she said.
CNM’s Teacher Education and Early Childhood Multicultural Education programs, will provide a collaborative environment for CNM students preparing to become teachers. CNM students in Teacher Education will be able to observe on-site high school teachers in the classroom, and will be able to complete student teaching requirements.
The new building will have 32 classrooms, a large commons area and a multi-purpose room for large events. Each floor of the building will have large outdoor terraces, including a fourth-floor roof terrace.
