SDE Announces Schools Required to Offer Supplemental
Services to Eligible Children, Expands Providers’ List

(Santa Fe, NM)-The New Mexico State Department of Education (SDE) announced today that 95 schools in school improvement are required to offer supplemental services to eligible children as a result of the 2003 ratings and expanded to 12 the number of service providers available to parents. The schools include corrective action schools and schools in their second year of school improvement.

The SDE’s Grants Management Office will hold a meeting for district Title I directors on the approved service providers on Friday, August 29, beginning at 8:30 a.m., at the Wyndham Garden Hotel, located at 6000 Pan American Freeway, NE, in Albuquerque.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to provide parents with choices relative to supplemental educational services if schools are not making progress. The services must be provided in addition to the regular school day and must be of high quality, research-based and specifically designed to attain academic proficiency and increase academic achievement.

“Through supplemental services we can provide solutions for parents, help children master the basics of reading and math and build on school improvement efforts already underway,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael J. Davis. “Helping all children learn is doable, no matter what their background.”

Five new service providers were named to provide supplemental services, including tutoring and academic enrichment activities, for eligible children. The following contractors were selected: Albuquerque Public Schools (serving only Albuquerque), Youth Development, Inc. (offering services primarily in Albuquerque, but also in Belen and Los Lunas) and Ethelbah * Lawrence & Associates (offering services primarily in Albuquerque), all of Albuquerque, Lightspan, Inc. (serving all New Mexico schools) of San Diego, California, and Positive Outcomes, Inc. (serving Socorro and Magdalena) of Socorro.

The districts and schools affected are as follows:

In December 2002, the SDE announced the following service providers: Club Z! (offering services primarily in Albuquerque) and Rio Grande Educational Collaborative (serving only Albuquerque) of Albuquerque, Compass Learning Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona, (serving all New Mexico schools with Internet access capability), JRL Enterprises Inc. of New Orleans, Louisiana, (serving all New Mexico schools), The One Room School House of Las Cruces (serving only Las Cruces), Tutor.com of New York, New York, (serving all New Mexico schools with Internet access capability) and the Zuni Public Schools (serving only Zuni).

“If parents are interested in these additional services they have the right to select the service provider of their choice. However, schools may work with the parents to help guide their decision based on a student’s specific needs,” said State Superintendent Davis.