Word on the Bosque
Happy Holidays, Bobcat Family!
Dear Bosque Community,
There is much joy on campus as we finish our final days of the first semester of Bosque’s 30th year! Middle schoolers have been busy sharing their 6th-grade inquiry projects, the 7th graders are presenting their Newseum podcasts and reports as I write this, and the 8th graders wrapped up a large science unit on body systems (including a rat dissection I inadvertently walked into one day after lunch!), and upper schoolers are finishing up their final exams and projects. One of the best parts of my job is getting to spend time seeing our students in action, and I am always so inspired and impressed by the quality of our students’ engagement, confidence, and competence as learners! Our seniors are also starting to receive really exciting early application notices! There is so much to celebrate on our campus!
As we transition back to school in the new year, all eyes will be on the run-up to our 30th anniversary celebration, to be held the weekend of May 15-17, 2025. This is going to be an incredibly dynamic and FUN weekend for our whole community to honor 30 years of excellence at Bosque School. Please review the overview of events below and watch for further details and registration links in the new year. The weekend will culminate with the PARTY OF THE DECADE with our signature Bosque UNgala on the evening of Saturday, May 17 (UNgala= not your typical stuffy gala!). Please save the date now to join us for this amazing weekend to honor the past, present, and future of our beloved school!
Thursday, May 15, 2025: 6-9:00 pm Alumni Reception. Open to all alumni, their guests, and current and former staffulty.
Friday, May 16, 2025: 3-5:00 pm Family Picnic. Open to all community members.
Saturday, May 17, 2025: 6-10:30 pm Roots and Branches: Celebrating 30 years of growth and community. Open to all adults in our community, this UNgala will celebrate three decades of Bosque School and raise support for need-based financial aid.
In honor of our 30th anniversary, we have set our largest-ever Bosque Fund goal of $1.5 million. As we wrap up the first semester, we are thrilled to share that we have raised $753,250 in gifts and pledges for the Bosque Fund — halfway to our $1.5m goal! We are hoping that 100% of our community (that means YOU) will stand in support of our school at this point in time and help us close the gap!
As many of you know, the quality of a Bosque education is the exception—not the norm—in our state. New Mexico is consistently ranked 50th in the nation for child welfare and 50th in the nation for K-12 reading and math. Because of this, Bosque has made a commitment to support 50% of our students with need-based financial aid, which is more than double the national average for independent schools.
As a non-profit organization, the richness of our educational offerings and our financial aid commitments cannot be possible without the generosity of every one of our community members in their annual contributions to our Bosque Fund. As with most independent schools and universities, tuition does not cover the full cost of each student’s dynamic and immersive education. The Bosque Fund helps to close this gap, supporting 15% of the school’s operating budget and helping to fund everything from professional development for our amazing teachers to the equipment in our new advanced robotics class to the radio collars students were placing on porcupines in recent weeks to the amazing digital arts projected on this fall’s A Wrinkle in Time Mainstage production to the jerseys our pickleball team wore as they celebrated a huge win over Academy.
In line with our 30th anniversary, we have some very exciting leadership-level gift opportunities that you can review here. Whether you can contribute at a leadership level or a $3, $30, $300, or $3 million level (our gym is still looking for a name!), your tax-deductible contributions make an immediate impact on our current and prospective students and how those students infuse their brilliance into strengthening New Mexico. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about giving opportunities. You can make an online gift at the link below (information about other ways to give is available here). THANK YOU, in advance, for your partnership in supporting Bosque in its continued excellence in Challenging Education and Challenging Access!
I am deeply grateful to have the honor of sharing this incredible community with each of you. I love our students, my colleagues, our school, and most importantly, our mission and the positive impact we are having in the lives of our students and within our state. Thank you for your advocacy, engagement, and support of our cherished community.
I wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays and hope it brings with it meaningful connection with those you love, moments of joy, and rest.
All my best,
Jessie Barrie, Ph.D., Head of School
Philanthropy
As we approach the end of 2024, we invite you to join us in celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bosque School—a milestone made possible by the unwavering support of our vibrant community.
Bosque School was founded three decades ago by Dr. Peggie Ann Findlay and a group of dedicated individuals who believed in the power of transformative education—and saw a need to serve more students in Albuquerque. From humble beginnings at our first campus in the Northeast Heights to our beautiful location in the bosque, their vision has grown into a thriving institution that has impacted hundreds of students over the years.
When you make a gift to the Bosque Fund, you’re not just contributing once—you’re initiating a ripple effect that begins with our students. Bosque School students are the change makers of tomorrow, and your support empowers them to lead lives of intellectual curiosity and personal integrity, making compassionate contributions to a more just world. Through the Bosque Fund, we provide more than 50% of our students with need-based financial aid, double the national average for independent schools, ensuring that more children have access to the richness of a Bosque School education.
In honor of our 30th anniversary, we have set our largest-ever Bosque Fund goal of $1.5 million. Thanks to generous contributions, we have already raised more than $750,000. Now, we need your help to reach this ambitious target. Whether you can contribute $30, $300, $3,000, or $30,000, your tax-deductible gift will make an immediate impact on our students, our staffulty, and the many prospective families eager to join our community.
Your support today will create lasting generational impacts, continuing the legacy of transformative education that Dr. Findlay and our founding community envisioned. Every gift of time, talent, and treasure significantly impacts Every student, Every program, Every day at Bosque School.
Please make your tax-deductible gift by December 31, 2024, to help us reach our goal and maximize your impact this year.
Thank you for being an integral part of our journey and for helping us build a brighter future for our students and our world.
It takes a Village Day
On Tuesday, November 26, we hosted our 4th annual It Takes a Village Day. This joyful tradition manifests our core value of cultivating community and helps kick off the holiday season. Over 300 people, members of our students’ villages, came to campus to see Challenging Education in action and to celebrate our students’ work and achievements in the first semester.
Just as we recognize that it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to support a school, and we are honored to have you as part of our community. Thank you for having such a significant impact on the lives of our students. They are bright, tenacious, and good-hearted individuals who contribute so meaningfully to the day-to-day experiences on campus.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special day — as guests, volunteers, students, or staffulty — and for all that you do to support our school and mission throughout the year.
Model UN Students Win Big at Conference
In November, 20 upper school Bosque students traveled to Santa Fe for the annual Model UN conference. They represented Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, and Guyana. Over three days, they worked with high school students from around the state to debate and propose solutions for current global issues such as single-use plastics, the reintegration of refugees, the ethical use of autonomous lethal weapons in warfare, and ocean pollution. Our students were quick and adept negotiators; their work garnered the most awards a Bosque Model UN team has received in the recent past.
Horizons Albuquerque and Bosque School: Celebrating Ten Years of Partnership
By Denise Rael-Comstock, Horizons Albuquerque Executive Director
Since the summer of 2014, Horizons Albuquerque, a local educational nonprofit dedicated to advancing equitable learning opportunities for students in our community, has been utilizing the beautiful Bosque School campus. The Horizons Albuquerque program started at Bosque School with 46 students in grades 2, 3, and 4. As of this past summer, it has grown to serve 173 students across three campuses. One of the most significant impacts of this collaboration is the sense of belonging and inclusion it fosters. When the Horizons Albuquerque scholars arrive on the Bosque School campus, they encounter a welcoming atmosphere and an uplifting environment that radiates positivity and support. This immediate sense of belonging is compelling, as it helps students build self-esteem and belief in their potential.
Performing & visual arts
MainStage
Even though every evening of the Mainstage production of A Wrinkle in Time, based on the beloved classic by Madeleine L'Engle, was clear and starlit, inside the black box theater, it was a dark and stormy night. Behind a floor-to-ceiling semi-opaque screen loomed an ensemble of ominous figures. Doors opened onto vertiginous emptiness. Characters streamed on and off stage as the Murray family (seniors Mia B. as Meg and Lelia as Charles, junior Dusti as Mother) struggled with the mysterious disappearance of their father. Eventually, they undertake a quest to retrieve him, with the help of school friend Calvin (Hazel ‘25) and under the direction of charming and agile Mrs. Whatsit (Lily ‘25), the ever-quoting Mrs. Who (Marley ‘27), and the slow-speaking, deep-thinking Mrs. Which (Abigail ‘25) all of whom were once and future stars.
Winter Art Show
The outside temperatures had plunged, but it was warm and cozy in Budagher Hall as visitors streamed in to enjoy the Winter Art Show, which opened on Tuesday, December 10. The show included work from all art classes. Watercolor bird paintings and digital images represented David Minkus’ 6th-grade artists from his Digital Media and Photography class. Alaura Nellos’ students contributed observational charcoal drawings of chilies—using value to provide the illusion of three dimensions—and some beautiful ceramic sculptures of gesturing hands. The students in Nick Otero's classes showcased a variety of projects, including some from the new Art Alchemy class, where the focus was on using natural pigments that the students had made themselves. Introduction to Studio Art class, taught by Sasha Custer, featured large oil pastel pieces depicting impressions of the bosque. The Portfolio Development class was represented by pieces from each student’s thesis work. The Advanced Spanish Seminar modified shoes in ways that reflected their work understanding of their unit on migration and their experience at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many of the exhibits were accompanied by an artist’s statement, narratives that deepen the work’s impact and relevance. In addition to viewing the exhibits, visitors were included in fun, hands-on activities, including watercolor cards, tin ornaments, and paper snowflakes.
Novelists at Bosque
Several Bosque School students and faculty participated in National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo. Along with writers around the world, they attempted the incredible challenge of writing an entire novel in one month. Bosque School participants wrote 320,796 total words during the month of November as they banged out their novels and told their stories.
Field Science Students Collaborate with THE Bureau of Land Management
Summer 2024 meant time on the river for the Bosque School Field Science program. There were two river trips during which field science teacher Kim Fike and seniors Sophie and Ada gathered data for their ongoing North American river otter diet and food web study, and junior Jakob collected fin clips for his study titled "Isotopic Signatures of Individual Fish Species in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.”
On their first trip in July, the goal was to find evidence of river otter activity by identifying slides and latrines. The Bosque School participants joined the Taos Bureau of Land Management biologists who were conducting a fish population survey on the Ute Mountain section of the Rio Grande River within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. An arduous endeavor that needs very specific water flows and to be timed so that it doesn’t disrupt the raptors who nest along this stretch of waterway, the survey required a 25-mile, three-day float and ended with the scientists and participants hiking all boats and gear up 300 feet to the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge in New Mexico.
Bosque School’s Cantate Choir Shines This Holiday Season
Singers are especially busy during the festive winter season, and Bosque School’s upper school choir, Cantate, is no exception. They sang their hearts out at their annual winter concert in Budagher Hall on December 11, then made a quick transition to a major highlight of the season, performing with the New Mexico Philharmonic for their Home for the Holidays Concert.
Cantate joined forces with choir members from Moriarty High School and Cleveland High School to create a choir of over 75 voices. The stage was filled with 200 musicians singing and playing to a large audience at Popejoy Hall. Performing at this level required a lot of extra rehearsal time, which began in October, and the ability to learn a lot of music very quickly.
WELLBEING
Dr. Becky Bone, Bosque School Counselor and WELLBEING Teacher
As we approach the end of our first semester, I wanted to share some recent research published by the American Psychological Association. The APA has just released recommendations for adolescents viewing online videos. These recommendations put forth by the APA summarize the latest science on how video viewing affects adolescent well-being. This research also highlights the connection between adolescent development and sleep, exercise, and social interactions. Bosque School cares about adolescent mental health, brain health, and digital literacy skills. Also find the link for the American Psychological Association’s Health advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence.
Adolescents (ages 10-25) need approximately 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Technology in the bedroom can often compromise the amount of sleep our adolescents are able to achieve. If possible, designating a family charging station in a central location in the home can aid inestablishing sleep hygiene routines for both adolescents and adults.
Happy holidays from Bosque School and we are hopeful for everyone to enjoy a restful,technology-free (or at least technology-reduced) break! See you next year!
Bosque School At 30
While Bosque School is busy celebrating the number 30 this year, there’s another important number essential to its history—23. That’s the number of pioneering philanthropists that helped build Bosque School as we know it today on our beautiful campus nestled among the cottonwoods along the Rio Grande. Those 23 individuals and families each contributed $50,000 or more in an ambitious 1999-2000 fundraising campaign.
That funding allowed the school to acquire 23 acres of undeveloped land from its owner, Ray Graham, who gave the school the property for $100,000, a tiny fraction of its value. The subsequent grand total of $1,150,000 was paid for the construction of the first four buildings of the school, facilitating the move from its rented church space in the northeast heights and laying a foundation for the financial future of the school.
Bobcat Highlight
Meet Kayhaan M., this month's Bosque Buzz honoree, celebrated for her enthusiasm, engagement, and contributions to our community. Kayhaan thrives in all her classes, inspired by the passion of her teachers, and participates in a variety of clubs, including Women in STEAM, Tech Club, and Mock Trial. She recommends The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for its compelling themes and encourages prospective families to explore the abundant opportunities Bosque offers to nurture students’ interests.
We are thrilled to spotlight Akash A., a standout student at Bosque School. Akash's enthusiasm for learning and active participation in various school activities exemplify the vibrant and inclusive community at Bosque School.
Meet Amy Lucero
Amy Lucero, Bosque School’s Director of Admission & Enrollment Management, is passionate about guiding families into the Bosque community and fostering student growth. She's taught courses like Feminism & Gender, sponsored student organizations, and champions safe spaces for identity exploration. Outside work, she enjoys musical theater, staying active, traveling, and cheering on Bosque athletics. With a bachelor's degree in Women and Gender Studies and a master’s in progress, Amy continues to make a meaningful impact.
Meet TRISTA FUSSNER
Meet Trista Fussner, a dedicated middle school science teacher. With a rich background in biology and mathematics, Trista brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her classroom. Beyond her teaching role, she co-coaches the school's robotics team, inspires students to engage in STEM activities and fosters an inclusive environment that encourages middle school girls to explore science and technology. Her commitment to hands-on learning and real-world scientific exploration makes her an invaluable asset to the Bosque School community.
Mountain Bikers Build Momentum
In its third season, the Bosque School’s mountain bike program has blossomed into a thriving team with a mix of returning athletes and new members, including some enthusiastic new middle school athletes. Coach Kim Fike is thrilled to see the students' passion for the sport. "Whether they're brand new or more experienced riders, they all just love being out on the trails. It's so rewarding to see them push themselves and have a blast doing it."
One unique aspect of the Albuquerque mountain biking scene is the collaborative nature between the different school teams. "We have all-city practices where everyone gets together — it's awesome for the kids to ride with athletes from other schools and learn from different coaches," Ms. Fike explained.
Submit photos and stories to our marketing and communications team, and your alumni photos and stories to the philanthropy department.