Rio Rancho elementary earns New Mexico's only Cognia STEM certification

Colinas Del Norte Elementary’s new Cognia STEM certification does more than add a line to a school profile in Rio Rancho. It gives 561 students in grades K-5 a stronger foothold in hands-on science, technology, engineering and math work, including a NASA-linked CubeSat project that pushes classroom learning toward future aerospace and tech careers.

The school was celebrated Wednesday, May 13, after becoming the only public school in New Mexico to earn the prestigious designation from Cognia, the nonprofit accreditor that evaluates schools around the world. Colinas Del Norte also says it is the first elementary school in the state to receive official STEM certification, a milestone that school leaders and Rio Rancho Public Schools said reflects years of work rather than a single program or grant.

Principal Emily Key said the certification process was meant to show whether students were getting real access to STEM learning, not just isolated lessons. Cognia’s review focused on whether classrooms pushed children to ask questions, solve problems and take ownership of their learning. A Cognia representative visited the campus over roughly a year, observing coursework, student engagement and the way teachers structured lessons.

Rio Rancho Public Schools said the effort stretched across about two years and included professional development, instructional practices and school-based initiatives. That matters in Sandoval County because it shows the certification was built through staff training and a schoolwide culture shift, not a quick add-on that other campuses could copy overnight.

One of the clearest examples is Colinas Del Norte’s STREAM project, which blends science, reading and art and is part of what every student takes each year. In that project, students 3-D print components and assemble CubeSats, small satellites that can collect data such as altitude, barometric pressure, time, date and temperature. The school then partners with NASA to send the CubeSats into space and brings the data back into the classroom.

NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative is designed to give U.S. educational institutions and nonprofit partners a low-cost route to space, with the broader goal of strengthening STEM education and workforce development. At Colinas Del Norte, founded in 1995 as the first new school built by the Rio Rancho district, that work now gives families a local public-school example of what an early pipeline into advanced science and engineering can look like.