Since its founding in 2004, Breakthrough Santa Fe has been a leading local college access organization that has demonstrated its effectiveness at preparing first-generation and low-income students to be successful in college while preparing the next generation of educators for careers in education. With an innovative six-year model that follows students and families from middle school to college matriculation, Breakthrough Santa Fe creates opportunities for students who would otherwise not have a reliable pathway to college. Its core program is a six-week summer session, staffed by college-aged Teaching Fellows and veteran teachers, that prevents summer slide, builds the Breakthrough community, and inspires college-aged students from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in education.
For students enrolled in its program, Breakthrough Santa Fe boasts a retention rate of nearly 100%—students and families who start our program stay with us for six years. Breakthrough Santa Fe’s Class of 2020 had a 95% High School graduation rate, and nearly all of them went on to college. Nearly twenty members of the Class of 2020 (out of 36) attended school outside of New Mexico, including two attending Ivy League institutions. In the Middle School Summer Program, Breakthrough’s most high-touch and flagship program, students demonstrate up to two grade levels of improvement while consistently reporting increased self-efficacy and self-sufficiency—both academic and noncognitive results that lead Breakthrough Santa Fe students to better outcomes during the traditional school year. Finally, nearly 2/3 of Breakthrough Santa Fe Teacher Fellows continue on to careers in education, often bringing the values and skills they learned as a teacher with them into the rest of their working life. For more information on Breakthrough Santa Fe, visit: www.breakthroughsantafe.org
Breakthrough Santa Fe is an affiliate of Breakthrough Collaborative, a national nonprofit. As part of the national collaborative, Breakthrough Santa Fe staff have access to resources, colleagues, and expertise from other Breakthrough sites around the country. For more on Breakthrough Collaborative, see: www.breakthroughcollaborative.org
Breakthrough Santa Fe is housed at Santa Fe Preparatory School, a fully accredited, coeducational day school serving approximately 320 students in grades seven through twelve. A private school that takes its public purpose seriously, Santa Fe Prep has generously hosted Breakthrough Santa Fe since the program’s inception in 2004. Accredited by the Independent School Association of the Southwest, Prep is also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Santa Fe Prep, visit: www.sfprep.org
