It is the time of year for students to think about selecting courses for the 2025-2026 school year. As you know, we encourage our students to take the most challenging coursework they can handle. Most of our juniors and seniors are thinking about dual credit. Dual credit provides a fantastic opportunity for students to experience college academics and independence. However, dual credit, if not understood, carries significant risks for the student. Here are some important things to consider when thinking about dual credit: 

• Dual credit applications, meeting deadlines, and following through with taking the class are done independently. As staff members, we can coach students through the process, but ultimately, the students are responsible for applying to the dual credit institutions in a timely manner, meeting the deadlines, and making sure they release their final grades to us.

• We know that levels of maturity vary wildly among high school students. It is important to know about our student's ability to complete and turn in assignments independently. How much monitoring is needed? If we are doing more monitoring than coaching, we may not be setting our students up for success. They may need more time to mature. 

• There are sometimes prerequisites for a dual credit pathway.  We advise that all students with less than a 3.0 average take their dual credit requirement on campus with a Nex+Gen teacher. In addition, there are requirements for taking dual credit at the College Enrichment Center (CEC) as well as at CNM and UNM. Please read these prerequisites before applying.

• With any college course, professors do not contact parents when a student is struggling. Often, the first indicator a parent gets that there is a problem is when they see an F on the student’s transcript. At the college level, parents sometimes may not be aware of student grades at all. Dual credit high school students have an opportunity to receive guidance from the adults in their lives, to prepare them for future college classes.

• It is important to remind students that dual credit courses create their first college transcript. Poor grades in dual credit classes hurt their GPA on their high school transcript, but that is not the only effect. A college transcript follows students much longer than a high school transcript.  In addition to their permanent college transcripts, students who receive poor grades in dual credit classes may put their Lottery or Opportunity scholarships in jeopardy.  Students have the fall of their Freshman year to earn a 2.5 and get on the Lottery scholarship.  However, after that fall they need to maintain a cumulative 2.5 GPA to maintain the scholarship.  Poor grades received in high school lower that cumulative GPA and can make it difficult for students to keep that scholarship.  Even merit-based scholarships can be impacted by these grades; many of them have a cumulative GPA requirement. 

• Another thing we want parents to be aware of is keeping up with deadlines. We have dealt with several cases where students fail to drop a class by the deadline set by the college offering the dual credit. In these cases, the student has received a W or a WF on their college transcript. Each college sets its own policies around dropping classes. These email notices go to the student and not the parent or the high school.

• Some students have opted out of taking Nex+Gen elective courses because they are going to take dual credit instead. Every year we have students who, for one reason or another, do not complete the dual credit course and are behind on credits to graduate. For this reason, we recommend that students take 1st-period elective classes at Nex+Gen until all elective requirements for graduation have been met.

• We do not typically allow students to drop classes at Nex+Gen because this leaves holes in the students’ schedules. When students are in the building without classes, they should not be left alone without parental supervision, which may lead to unproductivity.

• Taking one (1) full high school dual credit course is recommended for graduation. One college credit is only worth .33 high school credits, so students must select a three (3) credit dual credit course to equal one (1) high school credit.  Some courses offered for dual credit by colleges and universities are only worth one college credit and .33 high school credits. This will not satisfy the dual credit requirement.  Make sure that the course selected will award one (1) full high school credit.  

Please be aware of these issues and concerns as dual credit registration decisions are made with students.  If you have any questions about dual credit, do not hesitate to contact our counselor, Clarissa Hastings, at hastings_c@aps.edu or you may call her at 505-878-6400, extension 43256.

We live in a world where we are bombarded with news about bad things happening in places near and far. Schools are statistically among the safest places to be on a day-to-day basis, but, as we have seen, they’re not immune from calamity.

Given that reality, we recognize that we, as a district, must be vigilant and do everything in our power to prepare our staff and students for critical incidents. We know we also have a responsibility to provide you with timely, accurate, and clear information as school emergencies unfold.

Communication will likely be handled through official channels such as aps.edu, social media sites, phone, and email messages.

If you are a parent, guardian, student, or APS employee, here’s what you can expect to be communicated to you during a critical incident that occurs while school is in session: 

●  Information that a shelter in place has been initiated will be posted on the homepage of aps.edu, individual school websites affected, and on Twitter.

●  If you have opted into our mass communication system, you will be notified via School Messenger by phone and/or email once law enforcement has activated a shelter in place or lockdown. Please ensure your personal contact information is updated at your school site.

●  APS will communicate with law enforcement and update you via aps.edu, individual school websites, School Messenger, and social media platforms as the new details are confirmed.

●  Should an early dismissal of school and/or regular transportation be canceled, your child will be kept on campus with adult supervision until you can arrange to pick them up. 

●  You will also be notified if transportation is still available, schedules are disrupted, students can walk home, high school students can drive themselves and others home, or if after-school activities are canceled. 

●  Every APS school and work site has a detailed school safety plan. You will be notified via the platforms mentioned above in the event of an evacuation. 

●  The school’s relocation and family reunification plan will be activated in an off-campus evacuation. Students will only be released from the relocation site to custodial parents/guardians or persons identified on the school emergency card.

●  All messaging platforms will notify you once the situation has been contained and law enforcement determines the next steps.

●  A letter explaining what happened and any other essential information will be sent to the families impacted by the day’s events.

Please note that every situation is different, and decisions are made based on the best information available at that moment. Due to the unpredictable nature of emergencies, it is not possible to guarantee that a robocall or post will follow every development in a crisis. We ask for your patience if communication is not as fast as you would like. The safety of our students and staff is always our top priority.

We know these situations create fear and uncertainty, and we commit to providing you with information as soon as it is available.