Education secretary rides 'Express' to Fort Sumner, House

New Mexico Secretary of Education Christopher Ruszkowski visited eastern New Mexico on Wednesday to celebrate a pair of first-time achievements at area schools.

First Ruszkowski visited Fort Sumner Middle School to celebrate that school’s first A grade before traveling northeast to House Elementary School to recognize its A, the first time a House school has earned the top grade.

Ruszkowski was in the region as part of the Straight A Express, a campaign the Public Education Department began last year to recognize the highest-achieving schools in the state.

He said of the 850 schools in the state, this year only about 120 earned an A. School grades are based on several assessments including the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam.

Fort Sumner’s assembly featured a packed gymnasium with screaming students wearing school shirts with the phrase “we worked too hard to quit now” on the back.

The students played several different games and finished the event by dumping buckets of cold water and smashing pies into the faces of school officials, the latter Ruszkowski said was a first that he’s seen on the Straight A Express.

Fort Sumner Municipal Schools Superintendent Matt Moyer said he appreciated the opportunity to host PED representatives and show off what Fort Sumner schools have to offer.

“Our kids, our teachers, our community worked extremely hard last year and they deserve to be recognized for their efforts,” Moyer said.

Ruszkowski said Fort Sumner has the opportunity to earn an A at all three schools moving forward and praised the district’s success on the PARCC exam, noting it doubled the statewide averages in math and reading.

“That kind of progress, that kind of growth needs to be celebrated in every corner of the state,” Ruszkowski said. “My sense is this is a district that will continue to rise and continue to make New Mexico proud.”

Meanwhile the ceremony in House included a question for Ruszkowski from grades K through fourth and concluded with a tour of the school.

Ruszkowski was asked how many schools besides House Elementary made the jump from a D to an A this past year, which he said was in the single digits.

“That’s a big deal. Going up three grades in one year, that’s incredible progress. It’s very, very, very rare,” Ruszkowski said.

House Municipal Schools Superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot told The News that Wednesday’s assembly both celebrated the elementary students for their efforts and motivated the district to keep working hard.

“I think it was motivating for me as a leader of the school, I think it was motivating for my staff, I think it was motivating for my students that weren’t in elementary to maybe set their sights to be more academically engaged,” Lightfoot said.

Ruszkowski said Fort Sumner and House marked the 80th and 81st school districts he has visited since taking over as secretary of education in August 2017.

Representatives from the PED will also be visiting Clovis, Dora, Grady, Logan, Melrose, Portales and Texico schools next week, though Ruszkowski will not be present.