GPS City GuideSanta FeNew Mexico School for the Arts

Stop 3 of 18 · Santa Fe audio walking tour

New Mexico School for the Arts

Santa Fe Railyard · 2010 · Opened in a former Catholic school

What you'll hear here: about a minute of narration about New Mexico School for the Arts, and how it fits Santa Fe Railyard, written to be listened to on the spot rather than read at home.

Picture a former Catholic elementary school reborn in 2010 as this charter high school in the Santa Fe Railyard. The New Mexico Legislature in 2008 passed the bill that allowed this school to be created, and in 2010 it opened in a former Catholic elementary school. In 2019 it moved into this current facility, which previously was the Sanbusco Market Center, named after the defunct Santa Fe Business Company.

As of 2019 the state charters the school and it operates with a six-person school board; that year the school asked the state to reclassify it as a "special statewide residential public school" so it would no longer be a charter and could have its own superintendent and a nine-person school board. Admissions here are by audition rather than the lotteries most charter schools use. During the COVID-19 pandemic students used video recordings and altered dance routines to cope while classes were held virtually, and because classes were virtual the cafeteria’s construction work began in 2020.

Since 2019 the old Sanbusco Market Center has been a school, and every student inside won a place by audition.

Where it is

Coordinates
35.6854, -105.9476
Area
Santa Fe Railyard
Era
2010 · Opened in a former Catholic school
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Three stops free. No account needed. The audio plays itself as you walk.