Principal's Message

Welcome Phoenix Families to the 2023-2024 School Year!

Dear ATC Students and Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! I hope your summer break has been, and continues to be joyful. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for choosing ATC for your education. We are excited to see all of our students on Tuesday, August 15th, for the first day of school.

Please visit our website, www.atcschool.org, for all of your back to school information: calendar, school supply lists, summer assignments and more.

Santa Fe Public Schools has not yet released their school bus transportation routes for ATC. We will post those to our website as soon as we receive them so please be on the lookout. Please consider utilizing the bus service this school year. We have requested that the district increase the number of routes and hubs for both morning and afternoon routes but have also seen decreased usage, which makes the request difficult to justify. We appreciate those families who responded to our survey about bus transportation last year. We shared all of that response data with the district and hope that an “if you come, they will build it” scenario can occur this year. Please also consider contacting the district’s transportation office to let them know your transportation needs. And yes, they are hiring!

ATC is pleased to announce that meals will be offered at no cost to all students attending Santa Fe Public Schools per the Healthy Hunger-Free Students Bill of Rights Act. Students attending ATC will need to complete a meal application. Please complete an application at MySchoolApps beginning July 1, 2023, to determine the meal status of your student(s). It is recommended that applications are completed online for faster processing.

Although we are offering no-cost meals to all students regardless of eligibility, we continue to be responsible for collecting eligibility data. This information determines eligibility for P-EBT, funding for Title I, E-Rate, and other programs that benefit students within the district and ATC. Being determined eligible under these guidelines also provides students with access to fee waivers and scholarship opportunities in the college application process. Even if you are unsure you qualify, please complete the application form at MySchoolApps and visit our School Lunches page for more information. Please remind your students that ordering food from delivery services such as doordash, uber eats etc. is not allowed.

PowerSchool is live for the 23-24 school year. We know that students are eager to look at their class schedules but please keep in mind that throughout the summer we continue to adjust schedules, balance class rosters and enroll students. We kindly ask that you do not contact the school prior to August 15th regarding schedule changes. Our counselors will take schedule change requests during the first ten days of school. Please also keep in mind that not all schedule change requests are feasible.

ATC will continue to offer a 1:1 24/7 Device Take-Home program. Chromebooks will be issued to all students participating. Students will be responsible for bringing their device to school daily with a full battery charge.  Devices will be distributed at the beginning of each school year. Please complete the Device Program Acknowledgments form and have your student bring it the first day of school to receive their device. Forms can also be emailed to helpdesk@atcschool.org. 

Seniors! Our counselors, along with your college crew leaders will be scheduling senior orientation activities during the first weeks of school. More to come soon!

New 7th Grade Students! We have scheduled a Jumpstart Day for you on Monday, August 14th. Please plan to arrive between 9:30 and 10am and you will be finished by 2pm. During Jumpstart, you will have an opportunity to play games, make friends, build community, receive your schedule, and have an opportunity to find your classes, and meet your teachers. Parents, please provide your student with sunscreen, a sack lunch, and a water bottle. 

New Students in Grades 8-12! We will also host an orientation for you on Monday, August 14th, from 10am-1pm with lunch provided. You will have an opportunity to meet some of our current students, get to know each other, visit with our counselors and front office staff, tour the school and meet your teachers.

For all new students, in case you missed it, here is the presentation we shared during our registration event. Some information has changed since Spring but it is a solid overview of the school program, staff, and resources.

Student Drivers! If you wish to drive to school and park at ATC, you will need to purchase a parking permit and complete a Student Parking Agreement by August 18th. Please bring your completed agreement, proof of registration and insurance, and $25 payment to receive your parking permit and assigned parking spot. Reminder, as noted in the agreement, ATC is a closed campus and visiting your vehicle during school hours is prohibited without prior permission from the front office.

Office Aides and Teacher Aides wanted! 10th-12th grade students who would like to serve as an office aide or teacher’s aide need to apply for the position using this application form and return to Jennifer Cintas, jennifer.cintas@atcschool.org via email or in person by August 7th. Being an aide is a great way to learn communication and organizational skills while also helping our school run smoothly. Apply soon!

Next, I want to share some exciting new developments for the coming year and beyond:

ATC has developed, in collaboration among teachers, staff, and students, a new modified block schedule for this coming year! We are looking forward to the increased opportunities for deeper, focused learning that longer class periods and flexible learning time can accomplish for our mission and purpose. Please enjoy this terrific video Ms. Standridge put together to learn more. Note, when we made this video we were intending to split middle and high school lunches but needed to combine them to fit our cafeteria staff’s schedule. For parents, we have made a calendar that shows each week of the year and which classes meet each day, especially for weeks when there is a holiday or other school closure. Here also are our bell schedules for this year. With block scheduling, a useful home routine parents can help students accomplish is preparing their backpack for each day, switching class materials from 1st-3rd periods to 4th-6th periods on block days. This routine can help with that mysterious abyss that is the bottom of a student’s backpack. We also hope students will have less to carry overall, most days of the week.

We are pleased to announce that NMPED has published their Vistas report and designated ATC as a Spotlight School for SY21-22. To achieve this, ATC ranked in the top quartile (25%) of public schools in New Mexico. Our Vistas report for SY22-23 should be released sometime in August.

I am also very pleased to announce that ATC has been awarded an Innovation Zone designation from NMPED. This is a substantial grant award that will enable ATC to significantly increase work-based learning, dual credit, and paid internship opportunities for students. We will also be able to expand our career technical pathways in engineering, media production, computer science, and support more independent student research and capstone projects. These experiences will further our mission of preparing all students for college and provide a range of relevant learning opportunities in career fields that greatly enhance their post-secondary pursuits. More to come soon!

Lastly, we would like to briefly introduce our new faculty and staff, and those who have changed teaching assignments for this coming year. Joining ATC is an incredibly talented and passionate group of educators:

Electives: Daniel Wolfskehl, Internship Facilitator

English Language Arts: Keely Wirries, 8th & 10th Grade ELA

Mathematics: Scott Voorhies, Integrated Math I, AP PreCalculus; Pablo Guss, 8th Grade Math

Science: Sam George, Physics, 8th Grade Science; Jennifer Bakevich, Earth & Space, 7th Grade Science

Special Education: Mara Bruton, Teacher & Case Manager; Nathan Weick, Teacher & Case Manager

Social Studies: Edoardo Eusepi, 9th Grade World Geography, AP World History

Administration & Support Staff: Bill Walker, School Counselor; Lauren Gavin, School Counselor & Registrar; Jess Biscamp, Instructional Coach

Permanent Substitutes: Toby Wright, Jean Sibley

We are still accepting applications for a full-time Educational Assistant and we are always seeking daily substitute teachers.

We are tremendously excited for the start of the school year and cannot wait to see all our beautiful students back with us in a few weeks. Thank you again for choosing ATC and have a wonderful rest of your Summer Break!

Sincerely,

Jason Morgan

Principal

VISIT OUR BACK TO SCHOOL PAGE

Salutatorian Message

Speech by Chanelle Jaeger, Salutatorian, Class of 2023, during the Commencement Ceremony at the Santa Fe Convention Center on Thursday, May 25, 2023

Good evening everyone

Tonight, I’d like to share with you my letter to the graduating class of 2023 and the ATC community.

Dear ATC,

What a ride it’s been, and the finish line is upon us. So many ups and downs and ups…and downs, almost too many to count. So difficult to count, I have almost lost count of how many years I've been attending school here, as I often joke that I’ve been at ATC for 25 years…good thing retirement has finally come.

I came to ATC in typical Chanelle fashion…late, wide-eyed, and nervous about what awaited me at this campus that didn’t have any hallways and an extraordinarily distinct group of individuals that made up its student body. After being let in through the waitlist, I switched schools and became a full-time fearless Phoenix. ATC was like no place I had ever encountered, I was awestruck the day I walked up the stairs, through the office doors, and outside to where the breathtaking view awaited me, the stunning view that I still am amazed at to this day. This place felt like its own little world, disconnected locationally from the outside world, and also disconnected wirelessly, as the ATC wifi is so notoriously bad that it coined the name Academy for Classic Technology.

When I first shadowed and went into a classroom, I was incorporated into a table of students that were in a deep conversation about the math work they were completing. I was struck by their personal connection to the content, and their ability to listen to each other and offer opinions without hostility. I knew that I one day wanted to be a part of an environment that cultivated curiosity and learning about various subjects with a concentration on learning from the human perspective, to not forget that the goal of education is to take the information you learn and solve real-world problems with it.

The spirit of the fearless phoenix overtook me, and little by little, day by day, I further ingrained myself into the ATC community with a true want and need to conserve the beautiful energy that I had felt on that first day in class and have continued to feel throughout my career. This process had an interesting beginning, as I’m going to share with you the story of one of my very first athletic experiences here at ATC: BOOM, the sound of a gunshot at the start of my very first cross-country race on the ATC campus in 7th grade. As I look up to hear where the sound is coming from, I see a man in a chicken costume motioning for us to run forward. It was my head cross-country coach, Tim Host, and as this race began, I knew my journey here at ATC would be anything but ordinary.

The activities I have joined during my time at ATC have all had an extreme impact on my perspective of the world and all have extreme importance in my heart. In joining WAVE, National Honor Society, student council, Music Club, stem club, mentoring, cross-country, basketball, volleyball, and track and field, the leaders and members of these activities have allowed me to have a voice to aid the campus community in various ways that I see fit. Now, I’m going to use what they taught me, and utilize my platform here today to voice a solution to the problems that ATC is facing now, and will continue to face. I say to you today, do not let ATC lose its originality. Do not let ATC become another school that values winning over learning, or the destination over the journey.

I stand before you, as an individual who has given everything I have to the school that I love and cherish. I implore you all, even as your ATC journey comes to an end, as most of us up here are experiencing…to not lose that fiery phoenix spirit. To not be afraid to be different and stand out. To not be embarrassed to own your individuality and uniqueness that makes you who you are. Each and every one of us here on this stage was drawn to ATC for a reason and remained at ATC for a purpose that is larger than one individual, as we constantly work to reach the goals of a collective group. For those who still have time and influence over ATC, preserve what has made ATC so great, and maintain that fearless spirit that is unapologetic in being weird and unusual. Embrace the idea that academics are something to find pride in, and that being called nerdy is a compliment. Embrace the fact that ATC is different and that this distinct charisma that our school has is worth the struggle of late nights, sacrifices, and going the extra mile.

To the graduating class of 2023, I know I will never lose that vision of Tim Host starting a cross-country race in a chicken suit. Think back to your own beginning at ATC and all of the experiences that have gotten you to this very moment. Think of how much you have evolved since we were those young 7th graders, and never lose what those experiences taught you. My hope for you all is that you take the foundation that ATC has given you, and you utilize it to go out to your next chapter and use it to guide your larger purpose and aid the fulfillment of your goals. You all have offered so many amazing talents and ideas for the betterment of the ATC campus, and I can confidently say that we are leaving a lasting legacy that will carry on to the generations to come. In your future endeavors, be the fiery Phoenix for others, be passionate about change and individuality, and always carry ATC in your heart wherever you go.

To the teachers and staff thank you for making ATC so special, in speaking on behalf of the senior class, it is your guidance and wisdom that has allowed us to excel and be future change-makers. Your hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed.

To my coaches, thank you. Your guidance and leadership has constantly guided my steps along this journey and I will never forget the memories we have made and accomplishments we have achieved.

To my family, we made it. Our collective effort has come to fruition, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my unfailing spirit and constant reason to be driven and motivated. You are my WHY, and I cannot wait for our next adventure.

Every generation of New Mexican students deserves a quality ATC education, and I have hope and faith in what the school is and what it will become.

Sincerely,

Chanelle Jaeger

chanelle-salutatorian

"In your future endeavors, be the fiery Phoenix for others, be passionate about change and individuality, and always carry ATC in your heart wherever you go."

Chanelle Jaeger  

   Class of 2023

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