Albuquerque Public Schools
A Launchpad to the World
Sandia High hosts New Mexico’s first statewide IB Student Leadership Conference, bringing students together to learn, connect and envision what comes next.
Inside the Berna Facio Professional Development Center on Friday, 80 high school juniors and seniors from across New Mexico gathered for a first-of-its-kind experience: the state’s inaugural International Baccalaureate Student Leadership Conference.
Representing five IB schools from Las Vegas to Farmington, the students spent the day building connections, sharing experiences and hearing from someone who knows firsthand where an IB education can lead.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a rigorous, internationally recognized course of study designed to challenge students academically while preparing them for success in college and beyond. Albuquerque Public Schools currently offers IB programs at Sandia High School and Cleveland Middle School, with plans to expand IB opportunities to Comanche Elementary School in the coming years.
But for the students at Friday’s conference, IB was about more than challenging coursework. It was about discovering what is possible.
That message came through clearly from keynote speaker Nicole Bloomfield, a 2019 graduate of Sandia’s IB program.
Bloomfield’s journey since graduating from Sandia has taken her around the world. She earned her law degree from the University of Exeter in England, graduating at the top of her class. She spent a gap year coordinating student projects in Spain, earned a Master of Laws from UC Berkeley and passed the California Bar at age 23. Today, she is a practicing attorney in San Francisco.
“IB really will keep the world open,” Bloomfield told the students.
For Bloomfield, that world began opening at Sandia. She credited an IB math class taught by Derek Maestas with introducing her to a mock trial program in Poland — an experience that helped solidify her interest in international law.
Bloomfield attended APS from kindergarten through 12th grade and said her public-school education -- and her time in Sandia's IB program -- prepared her to compete alongside students from prestigious schools around the world.
“When I got to university in the United Kingdom, I felt entirely on par with my peers,” she said. “We had the same kind of background, even though I was from a public school in Albuquerque.”
Her story resonated with students who are navigating the demands of IB themselves.
For Jaira Rael, a Sandia senior who plans to pursue architectural engineering, Bloomfield’s message offered reassurance that the work she is putting in now will matter later.
“I was very relieved whenever she was talking about how no one's asking about your scores, but doing the IB program can show that you are willing to put in that work,” Rael said.
Just as important, Rael said, was realizing that she and her classmates are part of something bigger.
“I think it's very refreshing to see other people who are going through the same things as I am,” she said.
For Sandia junior Audrey Brandt Barboa, who hopes to pursue a career in medicine, the benefits of IB are already becoming apparent just weeks into the school year.
“It’s already teaching me ... how to study well, how to connect with my peers, how to make those study groups,” she said.
And Bloomfield’s story gave her another reason to believe the effort will pay off.
“This really does help in the future,” Barboa said.
Creating connections was a central theme throughout the conference. Students traveled from schools across the state, including Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, where senior Dylan Barney made the three-hour trip to attend.
For Barney, the value of bringing IB students together extended well beyond Friday’s event.
“It’s great just to make connections,” he said. “We will be the leaders in New Mexico in the next 20 to 30 years.”
The conference itself reflected that spirit of student leadership. Fifth-graders from Comanche Elementary helped with registration, while eighth-graders from Cleveland Middle School served as emcees, giving students at different stages of the IB journey an opportunity to contribute.
For Sandia’s IB program, the conference also marked another milestone in a decade of growth.
Maestas credits Sandia Principal Camille Gonzales with championing the program and helping it expand. When Gonzales became principal, Sandia had 24 IB students, he said. This year, that number has grown to 80.
“She’s supported the program every step of the way,” Maestas said.
That growth mirrors the larger vision behind Friday’s gathering: creating a community in which students can challenge one another, learn from one another and see possibilities beyond their own classrooms and communities.
For students from across New Mexico, the first statewide IB Student Leadership Conference was more than a day away from school. It was a chance to look around the room and see peers who are taking the same risks, embracing the same challenges and imagining futures that can take them anywhere.
A launchpad to the world.