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Welcome to Las Cruces Academy's online home! We're a private, secular school for gifted and academically advanced children who thrive in this alternative to other schools. Our focus is on languages, math, and science, but we fill out a good education with a variety of other subject areas. All children learn English, Spanish, and Chinese. We also understand that good teachers, intellectual freedom and engagement, and a supportive social environment are the most valuable gifts we can give to students. Please read on, and, if you wish to explore having your child join us, please visit the Admissions page at right. The navigation bar at right leads you to much more detail about our philosophy and curriculum (or you can click here). We also are pleased to share news of what is happening at the school currently.

We plan to grow into a pre-K to 12 school on a campus of our own, for which we are actively seeking both the land and the capital funding. Currently, we have students in grades K - 4. The school day is long, in formal terms (8:15-4:15) but students love to stay longer. Students can arrive as early as 7:30 AM and stay as long as 5:30 PM, as a convenience for parents and guardians.

Our students of all ages do hands-on science. Presentations and demonstrations are given by Ph. D. scientists. We use the highly successful Singapore math program. Our students spontaneously count in Chinese or Spanish when they exercise. They have access to over 3,000 books that have been donated and purchased by many people. Young as they are, a number of the students are forming a chess team under the mentorship of teacher David Lither.

In our Articles of Incorporation we have given ourselves a mandate to do outreach to the community and the public schools. A concrete plan is for our students themselves to develop and run a public museum. In this effort they will use a number of scientific and cultural artifacts that the Academy founders, Drs. Lou Ellen Kay and Vincent Gutschick, have acquired in their scientific careers and in travels to 36 nations.

Take the time to learn more about us, then contact us to arrange an in-person visit or just to let us know what you think! Click on the Admissions tab at the right if you are interested in enrolling your child.

Updates:

Our annual fundraiser - and our showcase to the community - is coming up on February 20th from 7 to 10 PM. Cherries and Chocolate is an evening of music, desserts and drinks, socializing, and a silent auction, all for a $30 entry fee. Tickets are $30 as Friend of the Academy or $100 as Supporter of the Academy. They are already available online at the Eventbrite sales site; you can simply click here: button to go to ticket site ) We will soon have tickets available at the Academy itself and at selected businesses. This year, since the Academy is open and we wish you to see it, Cherries and Chocolate will be held at the Academy, at 212 S. Downtown Mall. That's at the south end, just below White's Music Box, on the west side. Our entrance is on the mall side. More details about parking and location are available at the Eventbrite Web site, as well as at the tab at right, Contact.

Here are scenes from our 1st fundraiser in 2008.
Items that sold at the silent auction in 2008 are here.
Here's a preview of the 2010 silent auction.

Good news - community support:

Scholarships:El Paso Electric Company''' has given the Academy $2,500 to be used toward scholarships. Todd Dickson of the Las Cruces Bulletin took pictures of ELPE Vice President Clay Doyle giving us the check, with our students gathered in front. This generous bequest expands the funds we have been given by individuals. We will be setting up the best ways to distribute these funds soon, particularly to broaden the representation of the community in our school.
Capital fund: We just began our campaign to raise funds for acquiring land (to be located soon, and which may also be donated), preparing the site, and putting up buildings. The campaign will continue as we expand our grade offerings. Dr. Sangeeth Shanbhag and Prasanna Pai, Dr. Jean-Pierre Reinhold and Natasha Preiss, and Marcus and Iris Chavez, parents of four of our students, have started us on the road with their donations. Thank you! Prasanna Pai is leading the campaign. He is also the new director of First Step, the nonprofit provider of women's and children's health services - a busy man!
If you are a potential donor to the Academy, please consider augmenting the scholarship fund, capital fund, or our general fund. We plan to grow to a full pre-K - 12 school over the years, with your help.
You can donate by shopping.
is a national program in which selected merchants donate a percentage (typically 1% but as much as 16%) of your purchase price to us. It has raised over $220 million for schools and non-profits in the last 11 years. For us to get this benefit, you need to sign up, simply providing your name and your credit card number on a secure Web page (https) - no other information, not even address or CCV. Simply use that card at the participating merchants; there's nothing to carry or remember. There is complete privacy of your information at eScrip, which will not share your information with anyone. The signup link is accessed by clicking here or on the small banner below. Our group name is Las Cruces Academy Inc (no comma, no period); you can also find us by entering our group number, which is 500023723. There are both "bricks-and-mortar" merchants (few in our area - cruise lines, Macy's (El Paso, northern NM), Volvo (Hoy-Fox)) and a larger number of online merchants (click here to see the list. Thanks for considering this valuable program....and please tell your friends who can also support us this way
Target stores also have the Take Charge of Education program to support us. In this case, you would go to Target and get a new Target credit card, specifying our school name or our School ID, 151310. Purchases at Target with this card give us a percentage of the purchase price without changing your cost. Please tell your friends about this program, also.

You may find more good news and items of interest on the link at left, News and Events. Please visit us there, or simply click here. Coming soon are pictures of our successful book fair at Barnes & Noble and other events.

(Site last revised 26 January 2010)