'Our forever home': Sandoval Academy of Bilingual Education opens new building

RIO RANCHO — The way Jackie Rodriguez sees it, Sandoval Academy of Bilingual Education has found its “forever home.”

The executive director and head of school made finding a new facility for the state-authorized charter school a priority ever since 2017, when she stepped into the role. On March 25, her work became a reality when she addressed a crowd of students, staff, parents and supporters at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building on Quantum Road.

The event came as SABE, serving grades K-8, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and had its contract renewed by the Public Education Commission in December 2024. The PEC voted to renew the contract for a five-year term from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2030, without conditions, according to the body’s website.

For Rodriguez, those developments serve as a welcoming backdrop to the fact that SABE is set to open the doors of the new building in June. The school offered an open house to community members following the ceremony.

In an interview, Rodriguez said she’s seen a sense of excitement in her students and staff when they walk through the building, whether it’s the fresh paint or the posters of student testimonials adorning the walls.

“Our students are embraced and loved when they are in our buildings, but they are also provided a great education in two languages,” Rodriguez said.

She was referring to the dual-language model in which more than 200 students divide up half the school day learning in English and Spanish.

SABE has resided in a building on Fulcrum Way Northeast, but the facility was not built for a school, according to Rodriguez.

“I knew the limitations of the building we were in,” she said. “While it suited us well for the 10 years we were there, it didn’t allow us to expand. It’s sort of like a house you outgrow.”

Charter schools don’t have the same opportunities when it comes to investing in facilities as traditional schools, Rodriguez said. That’s why SABE officials entered into a lease-purchase agreement with Rachel Matthew Development, based in Albuquerque. The agreement allows SABE to take ownership of the building.

Steve Nakamura, the chief visionary of Rachel Matthew Development, said his firm had worked with SABE for several years to try to find a new location for the school. The parties ultimately settled on a building off of Quantum Road, within a business complex that also includes district offices for Rio Rancho Public Schools. Rachel Matthew Development worked to create what was once a call center into a building with classrooms. The school picked the colors for the building’s exterior.

“We were here when it was nothing — and then to know that we turned it into this facility and we’re going to bring the kids in here is a good feeling,” Nakamura said.

He added that he would like students to feel safe and have a good learning environment with as few interruptions as possible inside the new building.

One student, Francesca Greenham, a fifth grader, said the new building is “very cool,” but it’s so big that she got lost inside.

Makenna Prestien, a seventh grader and student ambassador, was one of a number of student representatives who spoke during Tuesday’s event. Prestien, who just moved to New Mexico with her family from Alaska, said the instructors at SABE are skilled at teaching Spanish and pacing student learning.

She said the new building is a noticeable upgrade from the current facility. While that building “gets us what we need ... I think this (new building) will help us a lot more.”

SABE officials, Rodriguez said, are hopeful for a second phase, installing a multipurpose room, science labs and classrooms in the new building.

“We hope to be a staple of the community for many more years,” Rodriguez said.