Editorial on NMSA Opening

It’s tough enough to keep an established school running day to day, week to week. But to start one up from scratch and try to make a go of it is a mammoth undertaking.    The New Mexico School for the Arts, located in the former St. Francis Cathedral School in Downtown Santa Fe, is aiming even higher after opening for classes Tuesday. The charter school wants to be a model for the region and even the nation.    Move over, Julliard and New York High School for the Performing Arts!    OK, maybe that’s expecting a little too much. The school isn’t looking for students from around the country, but it is trying for representation from around the state. Some 20 students of the 141 enrolled are taking advantage of the offer of dorm space at the New Mexico School for the Deaf. Not surprisingly, though, Santa Fe students make up about 68 percent of the student body.    And why not? The City Different is widely known for its art scene, whether it be the opera or chamber music festival, the rows of galleries dedicated to the visual arts, a ballet company garnering favorable reviews across the country, or a growing presence of film and theater arts in town. If Laureate’s attempts to further strengthen the arts curriculum at the former College of Santa Fe (now to be known as the Santa Fe University of Art and Design) bear fruit, our hometown might develop a powerful onetwo punch in nurturing budding artists at both the high school and college level.    The New Mexico School for the Arts definitely drew interest, starting with 400 inquiries from students, leading to 275 completed applications and 245 auditions in the spring.    For those who have joined the inaugural classes at the New Mexico School for the Arts, enthusiasm appears to be high — among both students and staff. After all, how many schools greet their students with a song written by a teacher and sung by the faculty? And how many students eagerly audition to be accepted into high school?    “Here we had this little ember of idea that we carried for so many years in our hearts and minds, and it’s become three-dimensional,” said Catherine Oppenheimer, the board’s chairwoman, at the opening assembly Tuesday.    Head of School Jim Ledyard told students that “we set out on this adventure brimming with confidence and enthusiasm.”    Congratulations and best of luck to the school, its students and its teachers. We look forward to what their adventure will produce.