FW: Discontinuation of School of Choice at LAHS

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Rebecca Foley

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Mar 26, 2026, 3:34:48 PMMar 26
to public....@laschools.net, Brandi Hults, j.f...@laschools.net, w.po...@laschools.net, h.b...@laschools.net, k.ho...@laschools.net
Good afternoon,

I am following up with the school board regarding the email that I sent below to the HS principals, the school superintendent, and the entire school board.  Regretfully, no one to whom I sent this email has responded.  While I realize that I was quite negative in the email, I was expecting better of the school administration and elected officials.  Perhaps this email will be better received.

Today I am writing to ask that you please reconsider the discontinuation of the School of Choice (SOC) at LAHS.  The email the parent’s received indicated that the discontinuation was due to lack of funding.  A coworker, whose son participated in SOC, was told that it was due to lack of enrollment.  Regardless of the reason, I would like to impress on everyone who reads this letter that SOC is a vital program for the LAHS students who don’t learn well in the traditional classroom.  SOC is also the best kept secret at the high school.  The only way I learned about the program was by word of mouth from a parent of an SOC participant.  When I tell parents about what a wonderful program SOC is, they always remark that they had no idea such an amazing resource exists at LAHS.

Not every child at LAHS is a high achiever.  Not every child learns well in the traditional classroom format.  Not every child has a home life that supports their academic goals.  These are the children for whom SOC serves.  Los Alamos doesn’t have a private school option where children can have their education tailored more toward their individual needs, but LAHS had SOC, which provides something akin to a private school experience.  The children who have had the privilege to participate in SOC have received specialized attention from the best instructors LAHS has to offer.  I would wager a guess that most SOC participants have thrived after high school because of the educational gifts they received from this unique program. 

I do hope that it is not too late for SOC.  If the issue is with funding, perhaps charging a fee for the specialized instruction could be put in place to defray the cost.  If a child wasn’t able to afford the program, perhaps the Los Alamos Public Schools Foundation could offer a scholarship.  On the other hand, if the issue is with enrollment, then please spread the word far and wide.  I know that the more parents who know about this amazing opportunity, the more children you will get asking to enroll.  LAHS is unique for so many reasons, and SOC is a shining example of that.  For all the future children who could benefit from an alternative learning experience, please reconsider your decision to discontinue SOC.

With kindest regards,
Rebecca Foley

15 March 2026

Dear Mr. Ziegler, Ms. Montoya, Ms. Guy, Ms. Wyman, Ms. Coupland, Ms. Colgan, Ms. Serrato, and Mr. Jaurigue, 

My name is Rebecca Foley, and my son Ben is a senior at LAHS as well as a School of Choice (SOC) participant.  This week we received an email regarding the discontinuation of SOC.  To say that my family is shocked, sad, angry, and confused would be an understatement.  SOC has been the ONLY thing about attending LAPS from K-12 that has made him feel excited to go to school, and I know that there are so many other family who have had the same experience as us.

To be frank, Ben’s experience with LAPS has not been the stellar one that people rave about when selling Los Alamos to young people moving to town. My observation is that LAPS only prioritizes and celebrates the top tier of students, which is shameful.  If your child finds themselves below the top tier of students, it is a rarity that they encounter teachers who can show an interest in your child and encourage their academic pursuits.  To be clear, I don’t fault the teachers. Teachers are under paid, over worked, hamstrung by useless testing requirements, and have too many students to be able to have effective classroom management.  Fortunately, at the high school, the kids who, for whatever reason, didn’t thrive in that sort of environment had the ability to apply to SOC.

We are so very thankful that Ben had SOC made available to him.  Only in SOC was Ben able to engage in a different classroom format, experience learning in a way that suits him, and he THRIVED.  Through SOC, Ben had access to the best teachers LAHS had to offer.  Because of the small classroom size, Ben was able to get to know his teachers and they him.  The personal component of SOC drove Ben to want to perform and do high quality work for his teachers because he knew they cared about his education.  In a normal classroom, Ben has NEVER received that type of care and attention from his teachers.  

SOC has been a gift to Ben and so many other LAHS students, and it is a travesty that you all are letting it go.  For a school administration that seems to pride itself on transparency, it seems very unusual that cancelling such a unique, special program would be done without any public comment.  The optics certainly seem like there was no option for public comment because this program wasn’t tailored for the top performers, so why care.  Shame on all of you for discontinuing a program that was for the kids who disappear in the system.  All you have done is cement in my mind that LAPS truly only cares for top tier students. 

In closing, the one thing I am selfishly thankful for is that this decision was made at the end of my son’s time with LAPS.  Without SOC, Ben’s academic performance would have adversely affected, and he wouldn’t have gotten into all the colleges to which he applied. How sad it is that you have taken away similar outcomes from future students who could benefit from the amazing SOC program.

Regards,

Rebecca Foley

 

 



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