Our Mission
The New Mexico Academy for the Media Arts (f.k.a. Media Arts Collaborative Charter School) offers secondary students a comprehensive, project-based, cross-curricular education centered in the media arts. We prepare our graduates for positions in the media industries and for the rigor of post-secondary education.
Our History
The New Mexico Academy for the Media Arts was created by a group of visionaries who share a passion for the media arts.
Media Arts is the first, state-chartered public school by the State of New Mexico Public Education Department. Media Arts opened in September 2008 with 9th and 10th grades, and is now at full capacity with grades 6 – 12. As a public charter school, the Media Arts focus is rigorous high school academics wrapped with electives exclusively in the Media Arts. The school offers Film & TV Production, Film History, Documentary Film, Journalism, Business of Media, Animation, Screenwriting, 3-D Modeling, Game Development, Web Design, Photography, Media Literacy, Visual Art, Graphic Design and Web Design, as well as content courses that meet high school graduation requirements and entrance into colleges and universities.
Media Arts is also proud to offer a vibrant Dual Credit enrollment with CNM, UNM and IAIA. Internship opportunities with the Media Industry offer additional elective credits. All of these unique learning opportunities are what afford Media Arts a high profile, sought-after school for public attendance.
Media Arts provides an integrated, inclusive curriculum through hands-on experiential learning that satisfies New Mexico standards for graduation from secondary schools. We seek to prepare students for an education in the media arts at the university and community college level, as well as to prepare all students to understand the role of Media Arts in the world and how people’s lives can be affected by them. Our mission stems from the need to provide an education that recognizes the extensive influence the media has on our children and society. Our vision is for Media Arts to contribute sustainability to the growth the state of New Mexico is experiencing in the film and television industries through new generations of New Mexico residents, with marketable skills playing important creative roles in these industries.
Media Arts is designed to deliver a media arts education previously unavailable to high school students in New Mexico. The Mission Statement declares MACCS will:
prepare students for an education in the media arts at the university and community college levels, as well as to prepare all students to understand the role of the media arts in the world and how people’s lives are affected by them.
All core subject areas are collaboratively integrated with media arts. Students will work to create digital films, study journalism, produce television and radio programs, design web pages, and create short animated movies, instructed and supervised by professionals in these fields. They will assist in creating Community Outreach Media Projects on issues of interest to the school and local community, and engage in an Internship program with media industry professionals. Media Arts students will enjoy full access to a television studio to produce media for the public as part of their course work. Our goal is to give New Mexico youth the opportunity to work as directors, cinematographers, professional animators and journalists here in New Mexico.
The Media Arts educational method is an outcome-based model designed to allow students to advance in an individual program of study based upon their needs and interests. Each student will collaborate with a team of teachers, mentors and parents to map out classes and to assess progress.
Awards
Media Arts and its students have received significant recognition:
- Media Arts has received 10 Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards.
- Media Arts was the only public school to be named to its list of the city’s top schools by ABQ the Magazine.
- Over 20 National Geographic’s “Future Voices of New Mexico Photography Contest” student work placed in the “Best Overall Photo” Category.
- National Stock Market Game/Competition – Media Arts students took third place out of over 10,000 teams.
- Microsoft’s Robo Rave – Media Arts students took third and fourth place, beating out many schools that focus on science.
- Student work won recognition or top-place honors in several local independent film festivals, such as the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Fest and the Digital Deserts Film Festival.
- The City of Albuquerque awarded Media Arts the Creative Bravos Award in 2012.
Affiliates
Media Arts is proud to hold membership or affiliation with the following non-profit agencies:
For more than a century, the people of the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers® (SMPTE®), pronounced “simp-tee”) have sorted out the details of many significant advances in media and entertainment technology, from the introduction of “talkies” and color television to HD and UHD (4K, 8K) TV. Since its founding in 1916, the Society has received an Oscar® and multiple Emmy® Awards for its work in advancing moving-imagery engineering across the industry. SMPTE has developed thousands of standards, recommended practices, and engineering guidelines, more than 800 of which are currently in force today.
The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) is at the forefront of creating and sustaining personalized, equitable, and intellectually challenging schools. Essential schools are places of powerful learning where all students have the chance to reach their fullest potential.
Our vision is to drive transformation in education to benefit the diverse needs of students, families, and communities. Our mission is to lead and support public charter school quality, growth, autonomy in New Mexico.
NAMAC fosters and fortifies the culture and business of independent media arts. Through dialogue, collaboration, research and advocacy, we connect, organize and develop organizations.
The New Mexico Technology Council (NMTC) is a member-driven association of businesses, organizations and tech professionals working together to promote the growth and success of New Mexico’s technology business sectors. We believe our technology community is the catalyst for inspiration and leadership that transforms our state into a world-center for business innovation, creative thinking, community involvement and educational support.
New Mexico Women in Film is a New Mexico-based outreach network committed to the professional development and achievement of women in the film and television community through Mentorship, Networking, Education, and Community.
The New Mexico Film Foundation is dedicated to empowering local filmmakers with the resources, education, and community they need to thrive. We are committed to growing a vibrant independent film community that uplifts local talent and strengthens the ecosystem for a sustainable statewide film industry.