(December 18, 2015) Santa Fe, NM – New Mexico School for the Arts High School (NMSA) is proud to announce that the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) has awarded the school its fourth consecutive A grade, in a year that saw the introduction of more rigorous assessment criteria. This latest achievement of New Mexico’s only arts-focused, statewide, residential high school comes after only five years in operation. The NMPED measures a wide range of factors in determining annual grades, among them graduation and retention rates, mandated state and federal test scores, and college readiness. NMSA was ranked the tenth best high school in the state by both US News & World Report and Newsweek in 2015. Cindy Montoya, NMSA Head of School, said, “This achievement is a result of our team focus on getting all students career and college ready in arts and academics, combined with our growth mindset belief that any student who enters NMSA can learn and achieve. Thank you, everyone, for your commitment to NMSA!”