Dear nex+Gen Community,

Here are some important updates:

• Pre-Registration: Pre-Registration for the 2025-2026 school year will occur in February. Students will fill out the pre-registration form with their advisor. See the slide deck below with all of the courses offered at nex+Gen Academy. 

• On-Line Registration: The online registration window for the 2025-2026 school year is now open. Parents should log on to ParentVUE and complete the 2025-2026 School Year Online Registration. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Granone at (505)878-6400. 

• School Budget 2025-2026: Budgets are out for the 2025-2026 school year. Here is our budget year 2026 fact sheet. Overall, nex+Gen's budget held steady except for a reduction in discretionary funds. In previous years, we have used discretionary funds to purchase one additional teacher. As a result, we will reduce our teaching staff by one teacher. This will be done through retirement. Students should not notice any difference in their educational experience. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions at lynch_d@aps.edu. I would be happy to talk to you.  

• Skills, Habits, and Mindsets Survey: This survey will be administered at nex+Gen the week of March 3rd. See below for more information. 

• Alumni Day: An important Nex+Gen tradition is our annual Alumni Day.  Nex+Gen graduates come back to the school to share their experiences with current students and celebrate our Nex+Gen community.  This year's Alumni Day is March 7th, 2025.  

Nex+Gen parents have always provided a delicious luncheon on Alumni Day.  Can you please contribute?  Sign up here to tell us what you can bring, or text Kelly McCloskey-Romero at 505 304 8564.  

• Food For Thought Volunteer Week: March 10th-14th. Students will volunteer one day at Road Runnier Food Bank and participate in self selected volunteer projects on campus. 

• 3rd Quarter: The 3rd quarter will end on March 14th. 3rd quarter progress reports should be available on ParentVue on March 28th. 

• Spring Break: This year's spring break will be March 15th through March 23rd. Classes resume on March 24th. 

• SAT :  The SAT will be administered to all juniors on Wednesday, April 2nd. Students who are not taking the test will have a release day.  

• Individual Learning Showcase: The week of April 14th. In previous years, this was known as a student-led conference. Your student's advisory will reach out to you to schedule a 20-minute learning showcase with you and your student. You will learn about your student's academic progress, next-step plan, and recent projects. 

• Spring Student Showcase: Please join us for our school-wide student showcase of April 24th from 6:00pm-7:30pm in Cyber Hall. Learn about our Food for Thought community project, senior capstone projects, and sample projects from each class. 

• Female Diversity Award: Nex+Gen Academy has earned the AP Computer Science Diversity Award for expanding young women's access to computer science for the 2023-2024 school year. We also want to recognize Michael Steele for his contribution to this achievement.

• Graduation Day: Nex+Gen will graduate the class of 2025 on May 16th at 12:30 pm at the Berna Facio Professional Development Center. This will be an asynchronous day for grades 9-11. No classes will be held on campus. 

• ALICE Alert: Last week, the ALICE alert notification went off in the building after school hours due to a test taking place in another building. The alert was promptly turned off. Here are some things students should do during an ALICE alert:

1. Stop any schoolwork and pay close attention to what is happening 

2. Make sure your cell phone is in your pocket/Do not be on your cell phone

3. Flee any threat 

     For more information about the ALICE Protocol click here: www.aps.edu/students-parents/safety-protocol 

Skills Habits and Mindsets Survey

In November 2024, we administered our first APS Skills, Habits, and Mindsets survey. As a reminder, the survey is being administered to help us gauge whether we’re providing a welcoming environment and whether our students are developing the soft skills they will need to succeed after high school.

The survey asks students to self-reflect on perseverance, self-efficacy, self-management, sense of belonging, social awareness, school climate, and school safety. We want you and your child to be comfortable with the survey. Toward that end, we’re giving families an opportunity to see the survey ahead of time so they know exactly what their child will be asked. We’ve created two surveys, one for students in third- through fifth-grade and a second for students in sixth- through twelfth-grade. 

Students will have the opportunity to take the survey for a second time this spring. Our school will administer the survey beginning the week of March 11th-March 21st. Each teacher will  administer this survey individually based on their class daily academic schedule. 

Our hope is that all of our students in third- through twelfth-grade will participate in the surveys, as their feedback will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our school to their needs. Students who don’t feel they have enough information to answer a question will be able to skip the item. Responses will be accessible to school staff, but there will be no public disclosure that identifies any students.

While our goal is to get 100 percent participation, we will respect the decision of any parent or guardian to have their child skip the survey. To opt out, please complete the APS Skills, Habits, and Mindsets Student Survey OPT-OUT Form. Be sure to include your student’s ID number. Our front office can provide the ID number to you if you need it. If you opted-out of the survey in the fall, you will not need to opt-out again. 

Important Message From the Nurse About Measles

Cases of measles have been confirmed in New Mexico. Because of this we want you to have more information.  Most people who get measles have not had the measles vaccine. The first signs of measles show up 7-14 days after being exposed and may include a fever, cough, runny nose, and pink eye. About 2-4 days later, a rash starts at the head and moves down the body. Some people with weak immune systems might not get the rash.

Measles can cause serious health problems, like pneumonia, brain swelling, and even death.

People can get measles by being near someone who has it. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, they spread germs in the air. A person can spread measles for 4 days before and 4 days after the rash shows up. After someone with measles leaves a place, the virus can stay in the air for up to two hours.

The people most at risk for serious illness are:
• Anyone who hasn't had two doses of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
• Babies and young children under 5 years old.
• People with weak immune systems.
• Pregnant students and staff.