What our parents have to say

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The mission of Rio Grande Academy of Fine Arts (RioGAFA) is to educate students through an arts-integration curriculum that promotes problem solving and creativity and supports all K-12 students to achieve grade-level standards.

Arts integration, as defined by the Kennedy Arts Center, “is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in the creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.” RioGAFA will achieve our mission by using the arts as a vehicle to learn in all content areas. We define the arts as creative writing, culinary, dance, drama, media, music, and visual arts.

The vision of Rio Grande Academy of Fine Arts (RioGAFA) is to develop an environment that will encourage and engage creative minds through a rigorous, arts-integrated, and arts-enhanced curriculum that will inspire and empower students to become independent, creative, and problem-solving thinkers. Learning will be provided in both the arts and through the arts. RioGAFA is the first school of its kind that will be academically rigorous while students will be learning and demonstrating their skill acquisition through multiple art forms. 

At RioGAFA, arts integration isn’t just teaching—it’s living. We blend creativity and academics, connecting New Mexico and National Core Arts Standards through visual, performing, culinary, creative writing, and gardening arts. Students build skills, broaden cultural understanding, and deepen learning, all while preparing for the real world with communication, collaboration, and critical thinking at the core.

Led by RioGAFA educators and talented local artists, Artistry Block gives students 60 minutes each day to dive into music, dance, theater, media, and visual arts. With a new art focus each day and schedules that rotate quarterly, students might find themselves painting one day, learning ukulele the next, or exploring hip hop, sewing, culinary arts, recycled fashion, or theater. Three days a week, they get to choose their own art adventure—making creativity personal, exciting, and ever-changing.