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Las Cruces Academy offers a strong academic program with small classes.
We emphasize reading, writing, languages (Spanish & Mandarin Chinese), math (Singapore math), science, social studies, art, music, and physical activity.
Young children learn phonics to support their reading. We also support social development, encouraging students to take charge of many activities.
Some of our students started their own school newspaper; it was their idea and they have been doing the work.
We have many after school activities: clubs for theater, math, board games, engineering and Lego challenges, and American Sign Language.
Club or Organization: American Sign Language, Board Games Club, Engineering Club, Lego Robotics, Math Club, Theater Club
School Notes
We are a non-profit private school with a mission that
addresses students' academic, social, and emotional needs.
Las Cruces Academy serves students who are advanced and
motivated academically in one or more areas, by providing academic
challenge, individual attention, and a nurturing environment.
Our class sizes are small (average 9.8); our teachers are
experts with passion to give students a great education. Our
mission is to guide them toward realization of their full potential
intellectually, socially, and emotionally.
We are committed to recruitment of enthusiastic, highly
qualified teachers and staff and to small class sizes. A
comprehensive curriculum with emphases on math, science, and
language includes daily classes of English, Spanish and Mandarin
Chinese to prepare students to effectively engage in an
increasingly diverse world. Students are taught according to their
ability, not age nor class. Our student-centered curriculum
encourages self-directed learning, collaboration, and nurturing of
intellectual curiosity and creativity. While in the classroom and
at play we provide opportunities for social development and strive
to impart the values of honesty, compassion, humility, and
leadership. We believe that all of our students possess
gifts and talents. We provide a nurturing, loving and structured
environment for our students to gain self-knowledge and
self-confidence. Our hope is that they become compassionate people
and productive citizens and that they enjoy fulfilling lives.
We are in a beautiful and safe environment. Please
seeour page portraying our physical facilitiesand
neighborhood. OurFrequently Asked Questionspage gives
concise details of interest to parents and students. A
cohesive narrative about our curriculum provides another good
viewpoint: Our curriculum is indicative of how we achieve our
mission. Broadly, we have four major divisions of our curriculum,
based on nominal age groups. There are also mixed-level groups in
computer programming and tennis.
The four core groups are:(1) Early K/K. They have their
own classroom with all the teaching materials and equipment. Our
teacher is Katherine Bushma, with a degree in early childhood
education. Kindergarten students leave the class for Chinese
lessons for 5 periods each week. teacher Elizabeth Brasher teaches
social studies in place; Yolanda Guevara teaches Spanish in
place;
(2) Grades 1 & 2. They also have their own classroom with very
diverse teaching materials and equipment. Our teacher is teacher is
Arielle Lane, with a bachelor`s degrees in Wildlife Science, a
master`s degree in Education, and several certifications. Arielle
also teaches math to grades 1-8, collaboratively with Head of
School Dr. Lou Ellen Kay. Other teachers come to the
classroom to teach music appreciation. Students leave the classroom
for classes in Chinese (one of six levels, according to their
ability), Spanish (one of four levels), and science 1-2;
(3)Grades 3-5. Elizabeth Brasher teaches English,
writing, social studies, music, and PE. Head of School Dr. Lou
Ellen Kay teaches science 3-5 as well as cursive writing and varied
special course such as life skills or Chinese geography.
Students have classes in four different rooms, by subject and
by level. PE is in our enclosed courtyard; tennis is on the parking
lot where regulation striping has been painted professionally;
(4) Middle school, grades 6-8. We made an innovative curriculum
for this group, beginning in the 2015-16 academic year. Students
have 15 subject classes each week, 10 of them specific to their
group. Core classes include science 6-8 , taught by Dr. Vincent
Gutschick, ranked by Stanford in the top 2% of scientists in the
world in 2019. Classes in each subject meet from 1 to 5 times
weekly, totaling 52 periods of group learning.
All students have free access to our vast collection of books
(3,000 on display). Students access our networked computers for
class research and computer programming classes. Most students have
several periods not assigned to a subject, using these periods then
for reading. Beyond academic learning, our students learn
leadership and service.Besides initiatives within classes,
they participate in projects in the greater community. Our outreach
page tells the story.
Below we note how students may jump age boundaries, getting the
most advanced classes that reward them. Our academic curriculum is
designed to meet the needs of advanced and motivated students, in a
number of ways: Students get classes that challenge and reward them
by ability level, not age group. Our classes do have nominal age
groups, such as English 3-5 or math 3-5, but students progress at
their best pace. An advanced 2nd-grader is found in math 3-5. In a
math 3-5 class, one finds students working in Singapore math books
spanning 4 years. Classes are small 15 is a maximum, 10 is average
We set the range of subjects for effective learning. For example,
there are classes in both reading and writing for English, with
distinct pedagogies. Math, science, and languages are our core,
meeting the demands of the modern world. Students learn three world
languages, English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. We fill out the
curriculum fully.
The level of classes is advanced. Singapore math is a
world-leading method, about 1-2 grade levels above nominal grade
levels of ordinary math. Our kindergarteners learn phonics. Science
and technology are taught by Ph.D. scientists who have had prolific
careers in research and teaching. Subjects are not siloed. Writing
ability comes up in science; math comes up in science and
technology, of course. Student projects blend several
subjects.Our teachers are proven experts in their subjects.
No teacher has to span the curriculum, sacrificing mastery in some
subjects. Our teachers hold advanced degrees or certifications, up
through PhDs in the hard sciences.
Teachers develop their own curricula, which we review for
progress. We do not impose a restrictive outline. Overall, our
curriculum most closely resembles the International Baccalaureate.
We plan to certify that we meet IB criteria. Only Singapore math
has standard textbooks. The coverage of topics in all classes is
reported in our weekly newsletter by every teacher. Students spend
their time learning, not taking standardized tests or preparing for
them the way that public schools spend an estimated 28 days
annually. Our teachers give their own tests. We use
standardized testing once annually with no teaching to the
test and using the results the proper way: guiding our curriculum,
not imposing consequences for students or teachers.
Our students are already doing well; upon moving to public
schools, they typically get advanced or very advanced placement.
Our early graduates have entered excellent universities. Outside of
formal subjects, our students have other opportunities to grow
academically and socially. We have six after-school or lunch-time
clubs: engineering/ Lego challenges, theater, American Sign
Language, math, yearbook, and board games . Students as young as in
early kindergarten participate. Interesting projects also arise;
students have come before the semester began to build PCs from
scratch, learning about electronics, mechanical and electrical
construction, operating systems, and user accounts.Our
special class sessions and our range of activities outside the
classroom - field trips, special performances by our students, and
more - is much outsized for our enrollment. We post about ten
suchspecial opportunitiesfor our students each month on
our News & Events page. Scroll down to the archives to see
summaries of even more.
Las Cruces Academy's tuition is approximately $9,620 for private students.
What is the acceptance rate of Las Cruces Academy?
The acceptance rate of Las Cruces Academy is 80%, which is lower than the national average of 87%. Las Cruces Academy's acceptance rate is ranked among the top private schools in New Mexico with low acceptance rates.
My 5-year-old son was a student at the school on the first day it opened in 2009, and he stayed there for six years until he entered middle school. What a tremendous boost he received at the LCA! He always performs way ahead of his grade level, and right now he is a sophomore atlas Cruces High School taking pre-calculus among other advanced classes. If you are thinking about private school, the LCA is the best place in doa Ana county to send your child.
- Posted by Parent - Steve
52/29/2020
We are very happy that our child is in his second year at the Las Cruces Academy (LCA). The school's highly-educated teachers and administrators offer a rigorous academic education in an intimate setting. As a private school, its students are not required to take stacks of stressful standardized tests. Nor is evaluation limited to traditional numerical or letter-grades, which can hide as much information as they reveal. Instead, teachers are able to provide custom feedback for parents on their child's progress. These things do not compromise rigor: Evidence that LCA succeeds in teaching fundamentals such as math, reading, science, and social studies (not to mention Chinese and Spanish) comes from the spring 2019 Iowa Test of Basic Skills, where LCA ranked in the top 1% of schools nationally. But what is even more unique is the way in which students uniformly look up to their teachers as mentors and relate to the school grounds as a second home. For example, the rows of books, games, and activities lining the hallways make its common areas feel like somewhat like a giant living room (I've borrowed some of the books myself!). During recess and after school, students can be found reading, playing games, drawing on or cutting up scrap paper, playing ping-pong, or chatting informally with their teachers, who circulate to offer guidance and foster productive social interactions. The importance of supervised free play as a complementary source of learning and of social development is stressed by LCA's administrators. After school, teachers and parents organize clubs that are tailored to meet students' interests. In summary, the school's unique layout, intimate environment, and committed teachers offer students sound academic training and help them to grow into curious, active, well-rounded people.
- Posted by Parent - Kristian Finlator
52/28/2020
I currently have two children enrolled in their second year at Las Cruces Academy. They are truly thriving and enjoying going to school every day. The pace and depth at which they are learning subjects at diverse as Computer Programming, History, Chinese, is wonderful to see. It is a very special place in which children can develop confidence as well as a love of learning.
- Posted by Parent - S. Tabibi
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