Cindy: And we have a conversation about it, and the conversation should build on each other. So you should build on–

Student: When you’re filling out the college application and you’re putting down each class you did and your grade. And then you’re like, oh wow, if I would have done just like one more thing in English, I could have gotten a little bit higher of a grade. And I think like, making students realize that sooner would help them and like, decrease the stress.

Cindy: An academic seminar block works because we teach students how to learn. We started addressing this metacognitive, these social-emotional skills: how to build relationships, how to ask questions in class. We’ve been successful to the point that a hundred percent of our seniors this year have been accepted into post-secondary programs.

Our students come from across New Mexico with varying degrees of skill. So we realized that we needed a place in the day for them to learn how to learn. We started down the path with ninth-grade academy where students could either catch up or get ahead.

Eric: Good morning, class.

Students: Good morning, Mister Crites.

Eric: Just a reminder of the schedule for the week, okay? So today is project work time.

Ninth-grade academy is a class that meets every day for thirty-five minutes. We start the year off getting kids ready to be high school students, things like teaching them how to read their schedule and make sure that they know how to find their classes, how to use school email, how to use their planners, how to organize their notebooks. The purpose of it is really to teach kids the non-cognitive skills that they’re going to need to be successful.

Student: Use study hall to the best of your ability.

Kara: Although we could kind of spread that out more to just using time to the best of your ability.

Student: Yeah, yeah.

Kara: Ninth-grade academy, I find it really helpful because we learn a lot of ways to work on our testing skills and our studying skills and it gives us a little bit of extra time to get help from teachers and just working on life skills.

Eric: What are the skills and knowledge that you have developed that you want to teach next year’s ninth graders through a presentation, some kind of performance?

Student: Okay, so it will be like a ninth grader’s guide to surviving NMSA. Okay.

Student: Our presentation is called measure twice, cut once.

Student: Don’t compare yourself to your friends and peers. That one’s really important.

Molly: Ninth-grade academy did help teach me how to manage time and be able to keep all my classes in order. Skills like these will help me get through these next three years.

Cindy: Senior seminar was created with the purpose of getting every student into the college, university, or conservatory of their choice by providing them with the support they needed to get there.

Acacia: Some students may not have the vocabulary and the skills to start the college application process. It may just feel too foreign to them. The objective of senior seminar is to have some time set aside that’s dedicated to the college application process. And the time is structured in a way that makes the application process manageable.

Anything about admissions essays, any way to improve that process?

Student: I think it was pretty great this year.

Students: Yeah.

Student: We had a lot of time for editing and had a lot of time to like, really go in depth.

Acacia: Some of the things we do include the admissions essay. We have an English teacher come in and discuss what good writing looks like. We look at asking for letters of recommendation and how to ask for a letter that’s going to be strong. I know that that got some students motivated to jump in and start working harder on their college application process.

Do you feel like you have a pretty good sense leaving this school, the difference between the financial aid offers that you’ve received?

Julia: We talked a lot about deciphering student loans and what it means to take out loans, and what are the implications? It’s just those sort of things that really get you thinking like an adult.

Acacia: I mean, this is like the goal that we’re trying to–

John: The application process is very long and difficult, and so having that class time and a teacher who knew what she was talking about and could help you, really helped. Because if I had to do that all by myself, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere.

Acacia: Having that time every day when I can check in with them gives them the motivation to eventually find a school or a career that’s satisfying and interesting to them.

Cindy: We’re showing a closing of the achievement gap for socioeconomically disadvantaged and Hispanic students. From the indicators that we do have, we know what we’re doing is working.

Teacher: Good to see you.

Student: You too.