RRPS School District Timeline

The timeline below depicts the major events in the creation and (short) history of our district since before its inception in 1994. We've come a LONG way in 14 years!

Pick a year: 1994-1999 | 2000-2003 | 2004-2006 | 2007-Present

1974First school in Rio Rancho, Rio Rancho Elementary School, built by Albuquerque Public Schools (APS).

1983Original Puesta del Sol Elementary built by APS (now St. Thomas Aquinas School); Lincoln Middle School built by APS.

1986Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School built by APS.

1990First phase of Enchanted Hills Elementary School built by Jemez Valley district.

1991Ernest Stapleton Elementary School opened by APS.

19931993 NM Department of Education approves the creation of the Rio Rancho school district and appoints an interim school board. The first school board election is held in October and the district’s first permanent board takes office.

1994

• Dr. Sue Cleveland is hired as Superintendent; on July 1 the district officially begins operations.
• Voters approve a $27.1 million bond issue and the 2-mill levy for school maintenance and technology.
  
  

1995

• Colinas del Norte Elementary School, the first new school built by the new district, opens.
• The district moves into its current central office facility on Laser Rd. NE, in the wake of the condemnation of the original district office building at Unser and Southern.
• Sandoval County and Intel reach an agreement under which Intel receives $8 billion in industrial revenue bonds; in return, Intel agrees to provide $30 million for construction of Rio Rancho High School.
• In December, the district receives full accreditation from the NM Department of Education and the North Central Association.
  
  

1996

• Eagle Ridge Middle School and Mountain View Middle School open. The two schools, built essentially to the same design, win national design awards.
• The site is dedicated for the new Rio Rancho High School and construction begins.
  
  

1997

• Rio Rancho High School opens with a freshman, sophomore, and junior class; it is featured in Time Magazine’s “What Makes a Good School” section as an innovative school ready to try bold new ideas. The school also wins a national design award.
• Voters approve a $22.2 million bond issue and renewal of the 2-mill levy.
  
  

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1999-2000

• Rio Rancho High School graduates its first senior class.
• Independence High School opens.
• The new Puesta del Sol Elementary campus opens.
• RRPS and its schools are fully accredited by SDE and the North Central Association.
  
  

2000-01

• Dr. Sue Cleveland is named a recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding New Mexico Women.
• District employees, the State Department of Education, and Rio Rancho voters approve charter district status for RRPS.
• Rio Rancho High School earns an “Exemplary” rating and Rio Rancho Elementary an “Exceeds Standards” rating in the first year of the NM Accountability ratings.
  
  

2001-02

• Eagle Ridge and Mountain View Middle Schools receive Piñon Recognition from Quality New Mexico.
• Enchanted Hills Elementary, Lincoln Middle School, Mountain View Middle School, and Rio Rancho Elementary school earn “Exceeds Standards” ratings.
• Puesta del Sol Elementary School and Rio Rancho High School are rated “Exemplary”.
  
  

2002-03

• Rio Rancho Mid-High School and Vista Grande Elementary School open.
• All district schools open before 2002 earn Piñon Recognition from Quality New Mexico.
• The district office earns Roadrunner Recognition.
• Enchanted Hills Elementary, Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary, and Rio Rancho High School earn “Exceeds Standards” ratings.
• Rio Rancho High School named “Science High School of the Year” at the NM Science and Engineering Fair.
• Suzanne Harper, Principal at Colinas Del Norte Elementary, is named a Milken National Educator.
  
  

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2003-04

• Voters approve a $23 million bond issue and renewal of the 2-mill levy.
• Enchanted Hills Elementary earns an “Exemplary” rating, and Rio Rancho High School “Exceeds Standards.”
• RRPS and its schools earn full accreditation through a Baldrige-based pilot project in cooperation with SDE, the North Central Association, and Quality New Mexico.
• Rio Rancho High School senior Nigel Reuel becomes the school’s first Presidential Scholar.
• RRPS’s enrollment officially doubles in size since the district was founded in 1994 when enrollment passes the 11,810 mark at the 120th day.
  
  

2004-05

• The RRHS Marching Band wins the Zia Marching Band Fiesta, thus becoming the state champion marching band (its first state championship)
• Dr. Sue Cleveland is named Superintendent of the Year by the New Mexico Coalition of School Administrators (NMCSA) and is honored early in 2005 as one of four national finalists for AASA National Superintendent of the Year
• In July, Maggie Cordova is named Special Education Administrator of the Year by the NMCSA; she passes away in January 2005. In April, she is posthumously awarded the CASE Harrie Selznick Award, the highest award given by the Council of Administrators of Special Education
• Theresa Saiz receives the NM PED Student Transportation Division’s STAR award as outstanding student transportation administrator
• Lisa Cour, Don Schlichte, and Margaret Terry win re-election to the school board
• A 43-member school, district, and community committee undertakes the first major revision to the strategic plan since 2001; the board adopts the plan in February
• All district elementary schools meet AYP in the first year of the new CRT-based state accountability system
• Rio Rancho High School’s wrestling team three-peats as state champions; the RRHS men’s golf team wins its first state championship
• The RRHS football team wins its first district title, but is defeated in the playoffs
• Colinas del Norte Assistant Principal Ellen Bruno is named the New Mexico PTA Principal of the Year
  
  

2005-06

• The new Stapleton Elementary School campus opens in August
• Phases I and II of Maggie M. Cordova Elementary School open in August; Phase III (remaining classrooms) are scheduled to open later in the year
• The Early Learning Center (later renamed as the Shining Stars Preschool) opens in the old Stapleton Elementary School facility
• The Rio Rancho Cyber Academy opens in a leased facility on Quantum Rd. across from the district office

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2006-07

• RRPS enrolls more than 14,800 students and becomes the third-largest district, passing Gadsden and Santa Fe.  The district’s enrollment increases by about 1,200 students
• The RRHS volleyball team wins its fourth state championship in five years; coach Toby Manaznares is the coach of the year
• The RRHS football, boys soccer, and girls soccer teams snare district championships
• RRHS hosts the state cross-country meet
• The RRPS maintenance department and Manager Sam Hart receive the Ben Lujan award for outstanding achievement
• 66% of RRPS schools earn “Meets AYP” ratings, including all eight elementary schools and two of the three middle schools
• The school board votes to name the district’s second high school in honor of its first and only superintendent, Dr. V. Sue Cleveland.  The Storm is chosen as mascot, and Carolina Panthers blue, black, and silver as school colors.
• The RRHS wrestling team recaptures the state championship, winning its fourth title in five years; first-year coach Jason Nickal is named coach of the year
  
  

2007-08

• In late August, groundbreaking ceremonies are held for Sandia Vista Elementary
• Cielo Azul Elementary’s groundbreaking a month later is almost delayed by a bear in the neighborhood, but goes off without a hitch
• On October 9 voters approve a $105 million bond issue, with 90% of the vote
• Can you say “dynasty?”  A green RRHS volleyball team, with only three returning seniors, brought home the school’s fifth volleyball state title in six years.
• In February, the board adopts the boundary committee’s recommendation for elementary boundary changes to establish attendance boundaries for Sandia Vista and Cielo Azul Elementary Schools
• The Rams girls soccer team wins its first state championship after a title game sportswriters describe as one for the ages.  After being down 3-0 midway through the final period, the team tied the game at 3-3, then withstood four overtimes and won in penalty kicks, 4-2.
• Seven Rio Rancho schools make AYP; of those that didn’t, most made AYP in more than 90% of applicable areas
• Five students -- Megan Johnson, Rachel Lopez, Nicolette Quesada, and Ford and Vaughn Carty -- qualify to exhibit at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the most ever in a single year from RRPS.  They take four projects to Atlanta, GA (the Carty brothers’ was a team project)
  
  

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2008-09

• Sandia Vista Elementary opens with a core facility and one classroom wing; the remainder of the building opens in October. 
• Cielo Azul Elementary opens with a core facility and one classroom wing; the remainder of the building opens in October.  For the first two months of the school year, kindergarten, first and second grade students attend classes at Colinas del Norte.
• The Rio Rancho Cyber Academy moves into a new building at 1330 Jackie Rd. SE
• The former Cyber Academy facility on Quantum Rd. is renovated as a permanent home for Independence High School
• Construction continues on V. Sue Cleveland HS
• The City of Rio Rancho honors its commitment to provide infrastructure to Cleveland High and constructs a road and water and sewer lines
• The school board reaffirms the plan to realign grade levels beginning in 2009-10 so that middle schools are grades 6-8 and high schools grades 9-12, with the 8th grade wing and core areas of the current Mid-High becoming a middle school
• The board adopts the recommendation of a 30+-member committee to realign the middle school boundaries for the three existing middle schools and a new middle school housed in the Mid-High facility (following the dissolution of the Mid-High at the end of the 2008-09 school year)
• The new middle school is named Rio Rancho Middle School; the mascot is the Phoenix and the school colors are silver (for Cleveland) and navy blue (for Rio Rancho HS).  Amy Torres is appointed the school’s first principal.
• The district moves forward with plans for the Career Technical Center in the 9th grade wing of the Mid-High; RRMH principal Lisa Dobson is named CTCC principal.
• The RRHS girls cross country team wins its first state championship (the boys finish sixth)
• The RRHS football team makes it to the quarterfinals before losing to Eldorado
• The RRHS wrestling team wins its sixth state championship in seven years, six wrestlers win individual titles including Max Ortega, who becomes only the second five-time wrestling individual champion in state history
• RRHS wrestler Louis Trujillo wins his second national wrestling title
• The RRHS band wins the Pageant competition and is third at Zia
• Craig Brandt is elected to the school board and Lisa Cour leaves the board
• Rio Rancho ES teacher Blythe Turner is the state’s Teacher of the Year
• Janna Stewart, teacher at Mountain View MS, is named an American Star of Teaching by the U.S. Department of Education
• Christina Lytle, Mountain View Middle School teacher, is named one of New Mexico’s seven middle school Golden Apple Fellows
• RRHS also is one of seven schools recognized for five-year improvement in ACT scores
• Megan Johnson, RRPS graduate, is named one of the state’s two AP scholars for 2008
• Despite a slowed growth rate (approximately 2.5%) and the nationwide economic slump, RRPS grows by about 300 students and enrollment passes the 16,000 mark
• RRHS Senior Kayla Chantel Evans is a National Merit semifinalist
• In January, the school board authorizes the district to move forward with bringing school transportation operations in-house rather than contracting the service
• The RRHS Lacrosse team wins its first state title
• RRPS overcomes a $4 million budget shortfall and an additional $566,000 in state cuts to end the year in the black without resorting to a reduction in force
• The RRHS baseball team wins its second state championship in three years, capturing a thriller 6-5 over La Cueva which includes a grand slam home run and a clutch throw to the plate to stop a late Bears rally
• President Barack Obama holds a Town Hall meeting at the Rio Rancho High School gym on May 14; more than 2,300 people attend to learn about credit card reform
• RRHS graduates approximately 935 students: 804 at RRHS, 103 at IHS, 24 at RRCA
• In late May, HP awards RRPS a $265,000 grant including equipment and professional development aimed at improving math and science achievement; the program funds a RRHS project where students design and build a small wind turbine designed for home and small business use

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2009-2010