A partial list of Accomplishments, Awards and Monte del Sol tidbits
Our Boys' Varsity Soccer team have been seeded 5th in the 2011 State Championships and our Girls' Varsity team is playing in State for the very first time. Go Dragons !
In September 2010, Head Learner, Angela Ritchie, was one of ten Charter School principals nationwide chosen to present at a national conference sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Monte del Sol was one of only 50 Charter Schools who's best and innovative practices were represented at the Best Cooperative Practices between Charter and Traditional Public Schools' Conference.
Our kitchen and flower gardens are more abundant than ever under the guardianship of John Simmons and Erin O'Neil before him. In Fall 2010, we harvested over 50 lbs of organically-grown vegetables each week, all of which were prepared for school lunches.
In Summer 2009, we created a Memorial Garden to honor the lives of 10th grader, Rose Simmons and 11th grader, Julian Martinez. The Memorial Garden also honors the lives of students and graduates, Isaiah Nash, Skye Seppanan, Brandon Copelin-Brown and Chris Calleweart.
The Foundation for Monte del Sol has been the recipient of five Frye Family Scholarships for each of the last six years.
In May 2009, The Foundation hosted a successful Mothers' Day/Mother Earth luncheon for over 200 Friends of Monte del Sol in our flowering Courtyard. The delicious meal was prepared by Chef Andre and our Culinary Arts Students.
In Spring 2009, 10th Grade Student, Colin O'Hara, received the Jon Smeltzer Memorial Award for Best Delegate and Best Diplomat by The Council of International Relations for his work with Model United Nations.
We have received grants from Los Alamos National Lab for the last four years for our Middle School summer remedial program.
Noted author, Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, spoke at Monte del Sol in Fall, 2008.
Our Special Services dept. was awarded the Jacob K. Javits Grant for Gifted Education.
Jamillah Abdullah, Class of 2009, received a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship.
Our Girls' Track team broke State records in the 2008 and 2009 seasons and several players exceeded their personal best.
In 2008, English teacher Andrea Cermanski spent the Fall Semester in Kolkata, India on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Scholarship. Her Indian counterpart, Sohini Das, joined us for that semester and won our hearts.
Inspired by Ms. Das, five students and a teacher spent a month in India in the summer of 2009.
Seventeen Monte del Sol students have been chosen to participate in the Bali Art Project, in Bali, Indonesia, over the past six summers.
Several of our students have traveled with the Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance's service program worldwide.
Our award winning Mentorship Program has matched over seventeen hundred students to over 700 volunteer mentors from all professional arenas in Santa Fe since the inception of the program in 2000. Each May, the three-day Mentorship Festival has showcased the students' high-quality work in local theaters to their peers, parents, the press, and the public.
In 2007, Visual Arts teacher, Nancy Sue Michels, received the Partners in Educaton Teachers who Inspire Award.
In 2006, History teacher, Liso Otero, received the Partners in Education Teachers who Inspire Award.
In March 2005, Choir, History and Government and Economics teacher, Ms. Terry Wyrick, was awarded the 'Golden Apple' New Mexico Teacher of The Year.
In 2004, we received the National Civic Star award from the American Association of School Administrators for our Mentorship Program.
In 2004 and 2005, The Ronald M. Simon Family Foundation awarded high school and college scholarships, totaling over $300,000 to Monte del Sol students Anarosa Torres Cruz, Cesar Sanchez Guardado, Tsetan Tenzin Gyaltsen, Pilar Nieto, Yadira Martinez, Janet Romo, Isaiah Nash, Raymi Reynolds Lynch, Hector Sanchez, Daniel Loya and Tenzin Nyima Lhamo.
In 2006, we received a $208,000 grant from the State of New Mexico to install a 75,000 gallon water catchment tank; 25,000 of those gallons to be used for sewage treatment and subsequent irrigation;
Monte del Sol is one of only a handful of charter schools in the country to construct its own building;
Our World Language teachers have taken students to Oaxaca, Mexico five times including for summer programs; to Tsuyama, Japan three times, and to England, France and Spain four times. Plus, Monte students have participated in special trips to Russia, Belgium, India, Scotland and Bali.
In 2004, Founding Principal, Tony Gerlicz, was awarded a scholarship to attend a course for charter school leaders at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Monte del Sol has developed sister school relationships in Oaxaca, Tsuyama, Japan, Nantes, France, and Holguin, Cuba.
In 2003, we won 1st place in the statewide Jimmy Santiago Baca Poetry Slam Competition;
We have participated in the statewide Mock Trial competition since 2003.
Our annual student art exhibit has been hosted by Santa Fe's premier art venues, including by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum's Education Annex, The Center for Contemporary Arts and Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Please go to our Arts page for even more awards and accolades for our student artists.
Our Varsity athletics teams in soccer, basketball, volleyball, track and swimming have played in State competition in many seasons.
In 2003, we partnered with United World College on their Universal Declaration of Human Rights program;
In 2004, we received a competitive Federal Charter School Dissemination Grant to share best practices and partner with the Walatowa Charter School on the Jemez Pueblo.
Each year, the number of Juniors and Seniors registering for Advance Placement classes increases.
Our basketball team was first in the district and qualified for the State Tournament in '03-'04, second in district and went to regionals in '04-'05;
Our student-designed and built water catchment and greenhouse gained the attention of the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources as a pilot project in greening an existing school building;
Since the founding of the school we have hosted exchange students from Mexico, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark and Thailand;
In 2004, MdS Chess Team took first place in the middle school Northern New Mexico Chess Finals, and first place in the high school Booster division.
Student films have won awards in the Espanola High School and Warehouse 21 youth film festivals and two Monte del Sol students' films have been selected for youth entry in the International Santa Fe International Film Festival;
Four MdS students won 1st place in the '04-'05 statewide Desert Light film competition;
In 2004, two students returned with awards from a Spoken Word competition in Los Angeles, California.
Three students received '04-'05 all-state choir designations, a high honor for a small school;
MdS students were chosen to sing the National Anthem at the State Basketball Tourney in Albuquerque in '03 -'04 and '04 - '05;
In 2004, two eleventh graders were accepted early to colleges: one received a sizeable scholarship to attend Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle, Washington and one received a full scholarship to the United World College in Las Vegas, NM;
Monte del Sol has been selected by the New Mexico Study and Research Council to study our practices in effective school reform;
Our Charter has twice been renewed by the Santa Fe School District for a further five years: in 2004 and 2009. The next renewal requirement will be in 2014.