The search is underway to replace McCurdy Charter School’s top administrator, who is scheduled to retire, after spending nearly three decades as a Northern New Mexico educator.
McCurdy Charter School’s Governance Board is taking applications for a director to take over the day-to-day operations of the school when Janette Archuleta retires, June. 30.
Archuleta has been the Charter School’s director ever since it transitioned from a private school to a public charter school in 2012.
When she came on Board six years ago, she had several objectives she wanted to accomplish that would help secure the institution’s viability.
“When I began my work, I knew my goal was to set the school on a good course and set a foundation, so it could be a good quality education for many years — as it was before,” Archuleta said.
She knew it would take a few years to accomplish the benchmarks needed to establish a stable learning environment for the school’s K through 12 students.
Creating that learning environment entailed establishing a charter, securing accreditation and locating funding sources for the new school building, which is a few months away from completion.
“I knew that it would take five years,” she said.
Archuleta’s 37th and final year as an educator has been a busy one.
She said securing the $6 million funding package to get the 38,000-square-foot school building off the ground wasn’t an easy task.
“The funding for the building was difficult,” Archuleta said. “We needed to secure a developer. As a charter school, we can’t be in debt.”
The building wasn’t the only major project Archuleta and her team successfully completed. She successfully presented the Charter School’s first charter-renewal application to the Public Education Commission on Dec. 7, 2016.
Archuleta said the charter renewal is a crowning achievement because it symbolizes the Charter School’s stability.
“We went through the renewal process,” she said. “During that renewal process, many schools were renewed for two years, but ours was renewed for five years with no conditions.
In an effort to facilitate stability amongst the school’s many athletic programs, Archuleta and her team of volunteers and staff are working to host the first gala, independent of McCurdy Ministries.
“The volunteers they relied on for the gala weren’t able to provide the same level of support they did in the past,” Archuleta said.
Organizers hope to raise about $20,000, during the Feb. 4 event from the proceeds of silent and live auctions. Participants will have an opportunity to bid on various items such as a hand-made quilt.
All the proceeds will supplement the Charter School’s sports programs. She said the Charter School has the most robust athletic program out of the state’s 100 charter schools.
The beginning
She spent most of her career, about 26 years, as an administrator in the Pojoaque School District, but ventured out to serve two years as the Española School District’s superintendent from 2009 to 2011.
The career educator said although it has been a rewarding challenge to get the school where it is today, she is looking forward to starting the next chapter of her life.
“It took a lot of nurturing and putting pieces into place,” she said. “This is fun, but I am ready to move on to other things.”
Those other things will include tons of traveling, camping and visiting with her grandchildren.
Board Chairperson Deborah Bennett Anderson said she is really pleased with the progress the Charter School has made under Archuleta’s leadership.
“Six years ago, I wouldn’t have realized we would be going through what we are, and I am so proud of the school and where Janette has taken it,” she said. “She is an incredible, professional woman. She has good relationships with the Public Education Department and the Public Education Commission. We have been extremely fortunate.”
Bennett said she will miss Archuleta’s expertise, but knows she won’t be far.
“Although we hate to see her go, she will still be involved in the school in certain aspects,” Bennett said. “She is considering tutoring, fundraising and maybe even applying for the Governance Board.”
The ideal candidate
The new director will go through a three-step selection process that begins with the Charter School’s Governance Board vetting applicants.
After the Board reduces the candidate pool, the candidate will go through interviews with the Charter School’s staff. Those who get through that phase will answer questions from parents and students in a townhall meeting.
Bennett said the townhall is good because it will give the Board and staff an opportunity to see how the candidate communicates with the public he or she will serve.
Archuleta said positive communication is key to maintaining stability amongst the Charter School’s staff and student body. Much of the stability can be attributed to the lack of turnover on the Board and in the classroom.
“We have a 94-percent retention rate among staff and 90 percent of our students return,” she said.
If she could give her replacement any advice, she said it would be to “base your decision on what is best for our incredible students.”