Santa Fe’s school board voted unanimously to name a new International Baccalaureate school scheduled to open next fall the “Nelson Mandela International Magnet School.”
Nelson Mandela
The recommendation to name the school after the former President of South Africa and human rights advocate who died in December came from Tony Gerlicz, who has been hired as principal of the school.
During Tuesday’s school board meeting, Gerlicz outlined reasons why naming the school after Mandela was appropriate. He noted Mandela was a strong proponent of education and famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” among other quotes.
He also mentioned that Mandela served as president of United World Colleges, which adopted International Baccalaureate curriculum at many of its schools, including the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West in Las Vegas, NM.
The new school will open its first year in a wing of De Vargas Middle School and will operate as a separate school, though some facilities will be shared. A long-term location has yet to be determined.
The new school will follow an IB curriculum and will open with approximately 100 seventh- and eighth-grade students. An additional grade will be added each year until it becomes a grade 7-12 school in 2018.
Superintendent Joel Boyd said students will need to apply for admission and the first group will be chosen by lottery. That drawing is expected to take place at the end of March or early April, he said.