Arizona School Becomes First in State to Implement NMSI Program

Earlier this week, we were thrilled to be at Sahuarita High School to help celebrate and kick-off a new expansion of our College Readiness Program in the Sahuarita Unified School District. This is our first expansion in the state of Arizona, and it is funded by an $880,000 grant, $500,000 of which was generously given by the Freeport-McMoran Foundation and the rest coming from local community businesses. Over the next three years, the district will use the grant money to help train their teachers, support their students, and cover some of the expense for Advanced Placement (AP)* exams.

In an interview with The Arizona Daily Star, Sahuarita Superintendent Manuel Valenzuela expressed his enthusiasm for the program, saying “What is exciting is that it will give us an opportunity to work with our entire community to implement high-quality programs that will open doors of opportunity for our students. Our goal is not only to prepare them for college, but allow them to go to college with the skills and readiness to achieve.”
 
The NMSI College Readiness Program currently is being implemented in over 560 schools across 23 states. Historically, schools that have implemented our program have seen an average first-year increase of 72% in the number of passing math, science, and English AP scores, compared 7.2% nationally, or 10 times the national average. We are also helping to close the gender gap in STEM, as the average first year increase in passing math and science AP scores for girls is 87%, compared to the 8.7% nationally.
 
We can’t wait to work with the incredible teachers and students at Sahuarita High School over the next three years as part of our goal to help improve American education.