Albuquerque Public Schools
Building a Better APS, Together
In her weekly message, Superintendent Blakey thanks members of her Student Advisory Committee for their valuable input throughout the year.
A journalist recently submitted a request to review my schedule, and I had to chuckle. Anyone who takes a peek at my calendar will quickly learn I spend a lot of my time in meetings.
I have Cabinet meetings and leadership meetings and board meetings and principal meetings and lunch meetings. The list goes on and on.
I’m not complaining.
When I took this job, I knew serving as superintendent of New Mexico’s largest school district would involve lots of meetings. Believe it or not, I actually like meetings because they foster collaboration.
That said, I do have favorite meetings, and at the very top of that list is my monthly meeting with the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Committee. We strive to have at least two representatives from each of our high schools on SuperSAC, as we affectionately call it.
I always walk away from my SuperSAC meetings energized and ready to take on the world.
I suspect that’s largely because it keeps me connected with students. So much of my job revolves around budgets, personnel and test scores. SuperSAC keeps me grounded and helps me remember what all the other meetings and hard work are for.
It gives me the opportunity to interact with students from across the district about real issues affecting their schools. I get to hear directly from students about what’s happening at Volcano Vista, Eldorado, Highland and our 18 other high schools around the city. And I get to solicit their feedback on initiatives we’re thinking of launching and changes we’re considering.
This two-way communication is invaluable to me and to my Cabinet. For students participating in SuperSAC, it’s a seat at the table as important decisions are being made. These students are speaking directly to me, to the district’s chief financial officer and human resources director and the other APS decision-makers.
Tuesday’s SuperSAC meeting was the last one of the school year, so we asked students what they liked and what we could be doing better.
Konner Vigil from La Cueva praised the atmosphere, saying he and the other members of the committee felt welcomed and were comfortable expressing their views. AJ Ortiz from Rio Grande said he enjoyed working behind the scenes with administrators.
Kayla Garcia from Valley said she loved interacting with other students from around APS and lauded SuperSAC’s diversity.
”I just love feeling heard by all of the adults,” she added, noting she’s confident her ideas are being taken seriously and will spark change at APS.
Other students asked for more opportunities to go before the Board of Education and for additional field trips similar to the one SuperSAC students took to the Roundhouse to watch the legislative process in action.
I’m grateful to all of our SuperSAC kids for sharing their perspectives throughout the year. Their input has made APS better!
In fact, I liked the SuperSAC model so much that I used it as a template in forming several other advisory committees and boards. We now have a Family Advisory Board, a Teacher Advisory Council, a Principal Advisory Committee and a Business Advisory Council.
I could make decisions in a vacuum, but that’s not the kind of leader I want to be. I want APS to be a partner, and that’s why I’m grateful to everyone who donated their time to these panels to help us make the best decisions possible for our students.
Enjoy your weekend!