Bernalillo Public Schools launches Community Learning Saturdays for families

Bernalillo Public Schools used Community Learning Saturdays to turn extended learning time into a family-facing program, adding five days to the school year and five Saturdays for community learning. The district said those sessions were meant to bring parents into classroom work through family engagement, arts, music, games and lessons that show families how to reinforce learning at home. Superintendent Matt Montaño said the idea grew out of COVID-19, when families could see “behind the curtain of the classroom,” and he said parents should be treated as partners in their students’ education.

That approach landed in a district that serves Sandoval County communities from Algodones and Cochiti Lake to Peña Blanca, Santo Domingo Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, Placitas, Bernalillo, Sandia Pueblo, Zia Pueblo and Jemez Pueblo. Bernalillo Public Schools says its Language, Culture and Family Engagement Department is built around bilingualism and biliteracy, and its Family Engagement page points families to food, medical, dental, mental-health and community resources. The district also says each school has at least one counselor available, giving Community Learning Saturdays a practical role beyond academics: connecting families to support they can use on the rest of the week.

The real test is whether the Saturdays move numbers, not just turnout. Bernalillo already has an Accountability and Assessment Department, and its tribal education report is organized around student achievement, attendance, graduation rates, parent and community involvement, and dropout-prevention and attendance initiatives. The district also said student attendance is on a positive trajectory, crediting parent and family engagement events, early intervention and incentive-based rewards. That gives Bernalillo a ready-made scorecard for Community Learning Saturdays, if the district uses the program to lift attendance, strengthen academic performance and deepen family participation rather than simply add another event to the calendar.

The policy backdrop reaches well beyond Bernalillo. Legislative materials say extended learning programs have existed in New Mexico in some form since 2003, and House Bill 130 in 2023 replaced K-5 Plus and the Extended Learning Time Program with K-12 Plus for schools running calendars longer than 180 days. Bernalillo’s version is narrower than a full calendar overhaul, but the district is betting that stronger ties with families, paired with classroom-linked learning, can produce the kind of measurable gains state officials have sought for years.