Socorro Public Schools sets baseline year for CTE growth, expands certifications and pathways

Socorro Public Schools is establishing its first comprehensive baseline for Career and Technical Education progress, marking a shift toward tracking individual student outcomes, expanding industry‑recognized certifications and strengthening bilingual and dual‑credit pathways.

During a progress monitoring report to the school board Feb. 9, Superintendent Joyce Gormley said the district has overhauled how it collects and analyzes CTE data, moving from simple counts to identifying discrete students earning credentials.

“This year was our baseline‑setting year, since data previously was only kept by number and not by students,” Gormley told the board. “We want to increase the number of students who are post‑secondary ready, not just the same kids earning more things, but more kids earning at least one of these things.”

The district currently offers six industry‑recognized certifications, including OSHA‑10, CPR/First Aid, multiple welding credentials, plant science and pro communications. Cybersecurity was added this year, and sports medicine students earn CPR/First Aid as their program credential.

A total of 43 students earned OSHA‑10 last year, while 17 earned CPR/First Aid, according to the report. Welding students earned a range of specialized certifications, and new plant science and pro communications credentials were added to the list.

Gormley noted that the state recognizes 205 possible certifications.

 “Could we look at that list and see how many more? That’s an area of possible expansion,” she said.

The district is also working to broaden access to the New Mexico Bilingual and Biliteracy Seal. Currently, Socorro High School offers only one pathway, which depends on students already speaking a language other than English.

To expand access, the district plans to add Spanish III and IV to create a full four‑course sequence. Gormley is also pursuing a tribal consultation to establish a memorandum of understanding that would open a Native language pathway.

“If we had four courses in a language other than English, that opens up two different pathways,” she said. “A tribal MOU would open up a third.”

Socorro High School Principal and CTE coordinator Elizabeth Rivera said the district’s CTE budget, about $120,000 total, including $20,000 in federal funds, is fully committed to sustaining six existing programs, covering materials, supplies, travel and student organization competitions.

“The reason we’re not expanding CTE programs is because enrollment would have to significantly increase for us to pay for another full‑time teacher,” Rivera said.

Despite the constraints, she emphasized the value of travel and competitions for students’ confidence and career readiness.

The district continues to strengthen dual‑credit offerings, including a cybersecurity program that allows students 16 and older to test for an entry‑level certification that can lead directly to jobs paying $45,000 or more.

AP Chemistry now counts as a completer course in the health sciences pathway, and CTE funds will cover AP exam fees this year. Rivera requested budget support to compensate teachers for required AP training over the summer.

“Their time is money,” she said. “AP is rigorous and structured, and it takes a lot of training.”

Board members thanked Gormley, Rivera and Director of Technology Jeff Tull for the depth of the report and the district’s shift toward student-level tracking.