Albuquerque charter school teachers named to leadership programs

Two dozen charter school teachers throughout the state were named by a nonprofit to leadership programs with two distinct objectives: creating innovative learning opportunities for students in the classroom and advocating for educational reform within the state.

Teach Plus named 13 policy fellows and 11 innovation change agents. The fellows, which includes seven teachers from Albuquerque, will collaborate with lawmakers at the roundhouse. The change agents, two of which are from Albuquerque, will work to improve their students’ reading, math and science proficiency.

Andrea Lopez of Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School was named a policy fellow. Alexandra Ulibarri, an arts specialist at Voz Collegiate Preparatory Charter School, is a change agent.

The other policy fellows from Albuquerque are: Brande Bernat of Solare Collegiate Charter School, Shannon Beyer of Albuquerque School of Excellence, Elizabeth Leung of Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School, Michael Mack of Albuquerque Charter Academy, Joaquin Sanchez of South Valley Academy and Lauren Scott of Mountain Mahogany Community School.

The only other change agent from Albuquerque is Lee Ann Trzcienski of Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School.

Lopez and Ulibarri sat down for interviews with the Journal at their schools.

Andrea Lopez

During her two-year fellowship, Lopez, Cottonwood Classical’s director of special education and teacher of sixth and seventh grade English Language Arts, will help lead the charge to change state graduation requirements for math. Her work as a fellow will run the gauntlet, from writing op-eds to engaging in person with lawmakers in Santa Fe.

For Lopez, being selected as a fellow initially felt “odd,” given that she has been diagnosed with dyscalculia, a learning disability that makes it difficult to do math.

“But then the more we talked about it, the more it’s like, ‘Oh, wait a minute! I’m the one we’re catering to. I’m that person. I was the class clown who got thrown out of math because I didn’t like it,’” Lopez said.

During the fellowship, Lopez and three other charter school teachers will focus on making higher level math curriculum “more accessible” to students throughout the state. The group will also look for better ways to find, train and retain math teachers. Lopez and the teachers are still researching their chosen topic before presenting proposals to lawmakers.

Lopez believes K-12 students are not given enough time to learn basic algebra.

“(It’s) the basis for every other math they do, going up through high school,” she said.

One year of algebra should be broken up into two so that it “gives kids the time to really understand mathematics before they get thrown into algebra 2 or calculus,” she said.

Lopez’s comments comes following Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signing of House Bill 171, which provides more choice to students in the courses they take while keeping the minimum number of units to graduate at 24. The law will take effect for students entering their freshman year in 2025-2026.

The law requires high school students to graduate with four math units, two of which include algebra I and geometry or an equivalent; and that algebra 2 should be included as a math course, according to amendments to the bill found online.

Lopez said there is a need for all students, especially in special education, to earn four units of math, but she disagrees with the law’s seemingly “one size fits all” pathway for credits in the subject.

“(The state) opened up the flexibility after geometry, but what they’re missing is the fact that if kids don’t have that base for algebra before they go to those algebra 2 or higher classes, they’re not going to find that level of success they could if they had a better foundation for math,” Lopez said.

She said she would like to see the same needs-based approach in a special education curriculum applied to graduation requirements.

Lopez hopes the Legislature has an appetite for discussing graduation requirements during the 2025 session, which opens Jan. 21.

“We’re 50th (among states) in math in the country. Obviously, what we’ve done over the years has not worked, and it’s also gotten worse,” she said. “(Lawmakers) have got to start listening and looking outside of the political spectrum and look at the data. What do you have to lose by trying something different?”

Benjamin Garcia, the principal of Cottonwood Classical, said he believes Lopez deserves the fellowship due to her “consistent unwavering advocacy for students with disabilities.”

Alexandra Ulibarri

For two years, Ulibarri has worked at Voz to design and implement the school’s arts curriculum, focused on digital art and computer-based learning.

Ulibarri, who studied art in Spain, does not have a teaching degree but earned her license through a one-year alternative program called LEAP (Leading Educators through Alternative Pathways). Ulibarri was enrolled in LEAP while working as a teaching assistant at Voz.

“Once (LEAP) had ended, I thought, ‘Oh, I will miss that opportunity to reflect,’” Ulibarri said. “When they nominated me (as a change agent), I considered that a new opportunity to have that same space.”

As a change agent, Ulibarri will focus on two projects over the course of the current school year. This semester, her aim is to create more opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning among her students.

“My vision, really, for the art program, outside of Teach Plus, was to have an art program that allows students to see that art is not just traditional painting or something that is found in a museum — but art is in our everyday way of living,” Ulibarri said.

She believes there are so many ways to create art, including through the use of technology. That is why Ulibarri’s students are conceptualizing sculptures and animating them with robotics parts.

Ulibarri is not sure what next semester’s project will be, but she plans to collaborate with her school to come up with one.

Isaac Rivas-Savell, founder and head of school at Voz, said his school has partnered with Teach Plus before, which made the nomination of Ulibarri “seamless.”

“Alex was an ideal candidate to participate and steward this role within Teach Plus,” Rivas-Savell said. “She continues to be a really thoughtful leader within our organization so we knew that it was an easy nomination to make.”

Editor's note: This story was revised to reflect the title of Cottonwood Classical Preparatory Principal Benjamin Garcia.