Sacramento School of Science and Engineering Charter School Secures $2 Million Grant to Launch

The Sacramento School of Engineering and Science in Alamogordo and Equip Academy of New Mexico in Albuquerque will each receive $2 million from the Public Charter Schools of New Mexico (PCSNM). PCSNM is the primary entity that supports and advocates for charter schools in the state. It is the only state-wide professional organization serving New Mexico’s charter schools. They claim their mission is to increase student academic achievement by serving charter schools and advocating for charter school quality, growth, and autonomy.

On September 27, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education awarded approximately $235.8 million in new funds to qualifying states through the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter Schools Program (CSP). New Mexico was one of the qualifying states and Public Charter Schools of New Mexico (PCSNM) was awarded a 5-year $52,777,778 CSP grant. The CSP grant will allow PCSNM to award subgrants to applicants, through a competitive grant process, who are looking to achieve one of the following:

• Expand existing high-quality charter schools,
• Replicate existing high-quality charter schools, or
• Create new charter schools based on models that have been proven to successfully increase student achievement, especially for educationally disadvantaged students.

PCSNM’s CSP objectives are aligned to the major purposes of the U.S. Department of Education CSP and are specifically targeted to:

1. Expand access to high-quality public school seats across New Mexico by awarding 28 subgrants to new, expanding, and replicating schools, including the launch of schools in new communities that currently lack a charter school presence.
2. Improve learning outcomes for high-need students by catalyzing the growth of schools that meet or exceed academic achievement of state and district averages and by using charters as a vehicle to drive systemic improvement within the communities in which they are located.
3. Strengthen the overall sustainability of New Mexico’s charter sector by sponsoring fellowship opportunities for emerging leaders, by conducting needs analyses and furnishing customized technical assistance opportunities, and by building the capacity of both mature and developing authorizers.

Public Charter Schools of New Mexico’s CSP grant will award 28 subgrants to qualified applicants, over the course of 5 years.

Awards to subgrantees will be provided for up to 18 months of planning and for the first two years of implementation.

In 2024, PCSNM will award 4 subgrants in total:

• 2 new charter school sub-grants, and
• 2 expansion charter school sub-grants

As a part of the above outlined process Alamogordo's Sacramento School for Engineering and Science Charter School was awarded a $2 Million dollar grant per reporting by KQRE. 

Public Charter Schools of New Mexico (PCSNM) is awarding $4 million in funding to two New Mexico Charter Schools. The Sacramento School of Engineering and Science in Alamogordo and Equip Academy of New Mexico in Albuquerque will each receive $2 million.

The Sacramento School of Engineering and Science will be the first public charter school in Alamogordo and will be focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) education. The funding will help support the school, which will serves students in 9 – 12th grade.

Funding comes as subgrants of the Charter School Program grant. This was awarded to PCSNM from the U.S. Department of Education in 2023 as outlined above. 

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