Inside MAS' Dual Credit Pipeline: Orientation Day for CNM Sets the Tone

In a brightly lit classroom at Mission Achievement and Success (MAS) Charter School’s Yale Campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a cluster of high school students stared at a login screen that could help shape the next three to four years of their young lives. 

Cursors blinked, hands went up, and within minutes, Central New Mexico Community College’s (CNM) student portal (myCNM) began to feel less like a wall and more like a doorway.

This isn’t your typical orientation. At MAS, a school known for offering an exceptional and engaging college-preparatory education to all students regardless of background, income, or past academic performance, “college-preparatory” extends well beyond what students learn and study in order to meet state testing requirements. 

Unlike typical schools, MAS, in partnership with CNM, offers its students the opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school. In some cases, the school’s students have graduated high school with one or more associate degrees or nearly all of their required credits for the first year of college. Best of all? It’s free!

School leaders say MAS sends more students through CNM’s Dual Credit Program than any other high school in New Mexico. For the Fall 2025 term, counselors have already placed students in 177 individual course registrations. That’s just one snapshot of the program’s scale and the school community’s appetite for earning college credit while in high school.

“Our objectives are to help students become independent and to give them the knowledge to be successful in their first college-level course,” said Ms. Charlotte Romero, a College and Career Readiness Counselor at MAS who was among the leaders of last week’s orientation. “They’re very nervous going into this anyway, so doing a little orientation with them puts them at ease a bit.”

How the Orientation Works

The students who filed into last week’s sessions had already completed CNM’s online orientation. MAS uses its own in-person meeting to turn that baseline into know-how. Staff members walk first-time CNM enrollees (mostly sophomores and juniors, plus an occasional freshman cleared by the team) through the mechanics that matter on Day One: 

• How to log in with CNM credentials
• Where to find syllabi, grades, class locations, and instructor information inside the platform
• How to start, save, and submit assignments using Brightspace, CNM’s online learning management platform

“We go through those steps with them on a projector,” Ms. Romero said. “They’ll know where their syllabus is. We’ve set up a classroom with a printer, hoping they can log in, pull up a syllabus, maybe print it out, and get started on a positive experience.”

Email for these high school students taking college classes is treated like a lifeline. “Email is critical. We teach them to advocate for themselves,” said Tara Jones, who works alongside Ms. Romero in MAS’ College & Career Readiness Department. Students practice professional communication and are encouraged to copy MAS counselors on messages to professors to make sure that guidance is timely and concrete.

The culture that makes this possible starts long before a CNM login. Cohorts at MAS are named after New Mexico colleges and universities beginning in kindergarten (e.g., UNM, Eastern, Highlands, NMSU), and staff members talk openly about life after high school. “They’ve been working toward this point for at least four or five years,” Ms. Jones said.

Who Starts When

Students must be at least 14 years old to enter the Dual Credit Program. At MAS, that means that the freshman year includes focusing on the CNM admission application, directed self-placement, the Accuplacer / ALKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) exam, and a parent agreement that spells out responsibilities for the student and family. Most students begin CNM coursework in 10th grade. “Some do start as freshmen, but that’s on a case-by-case basis,” Ms. Romero said.

This fall, CNM’s official start date is Sept. 2, with some sections beginning Sept. 22. Classes typically meet twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday, so a student’s first meeting can fall after the semester’s opening day.

About 40 percent of dual-credit seats are online. Those sections are reserved for students who have already shown they can pass a college course and manage the independence of asynchronous work. The remaining classes are in person at CNM’s main Albuquerque campus.

Getting There, Being Safe, Staying On Track  

MAS does not provide transportation or laptops —two items that counselors emphasize early and often. CNM offers a device loaner program, however, “the waitlist is long,” Ms. Romero said. (Applications for the student loaner laptop program open two weeks before the start of each term and close two weeks after it begins, according to the CNM ITS Support page on the college’s website.)

Many students walk from MAS to CNM, a trip which staff describes as about 10 minutes along a safe primary street. Others drive, carpool, or get dropped off and picked up by parents or family members. CNM’s campus security presence is part of the orientation briefing, and when MAS organizes group visits, staff members often walk with students. Typical class sessions run about one hour and 15 minutes.

Schedules vary by student. Seniors qualify for early dismissal from MAS’ Yale Campus in the afternoon to prepare for their classes. Juniors are expected to have the same option next semester. Other students finish the MAS day on the regular schedule, then attend evening or online classes.

Course Load and Credit

Counselors start students with one three-credit CNM class for a standard 15-week term. After a successful first outing, students may take two courses, and eventually three. The limit is three, even for seniors, because MAS coursework remains the priority. The credit math is simple but powerful: a three-credit CNM course also counts as one MAS elective credit and appears on both the college and high school transcripts.

And the support does not end after orientation. “We meet with each student, and if possible, their parent once per semester,” Ms. Jones said. Counselors review program choices, map out upcoming classes, and talk through what it takes to reach a certificate or degree. MAS performs weekly grade checks and uses those moments for encouragement or intervention. 

“If a student isn’t successful, we meet with them: ‘What’s going on? What are we missing? How can we help you?’” she said. Students who struggle may sit out a subsequent term and reenter when ready.

Ms. Jones, who co-leads the college and career counseling team and brings extensive high school experience, focuses on keeping supports practical and consistent with classroom demands. The partnership between Ms. Jones and Ms. Romero — the former with deep higher-education administration, the latter with secondary-school systems — anchors the dual credit offering for MAS students / families navigating college for the first time.

Cost, Access, and Outcomes

There is no tuition for families and required course materials are covered. That commitment, Romero and Jones say, removes one of the most persistent barriers to early college credit. The College & Career Readiness team also tracks students after graduation using systems that reduce the need for physical check-ins.

Scale is another point of pride. “We send more students through the dual-credit program than any other high school in New Mexico. That’s a fact,” Ms. Romero said. Success shows up in transcripts and in stories. “Two years ago, we graduated a student who earned two associate’s degrees while still at MAS, and he now attends the University of Michigan.” Ms. Romero said. Many others finish high school with dozens of transferable credits and a clear plan for what comes next.

What Families Should Know Now

Students will continue to receive hands-on help with myCNM, Brightspace, and email etiquette, and are encouraged to copy counselors on messages to instructors.

• Freshman year lays the groundwork: That includes Accuplacer / ALKA (course placement testing), admissions, and directed self-placement, along with a family agreement that clarifies technology and transportation responsibilities.
• Most students begin with one CNM class and can add more as they demonstrate success.
• About 40 percent of seats are online and require a reliable home computer and internet connection.
• Tuition and required materials are covered by MAS.

The larger message is confidence. “Orientation puts them at ease,” Ms. Romero said. “They’ll know where to find their syllabus, who their professor is, how to contact them, and how to navigate myCNM to find their class and assignments.” For parents, it is the start of a partnership. For students, it is the first step over a threshold they have been hearing about and looking at since kindergarten.

For more information about MAS’ approach to college and career services, please visit the College & Career page on the MAS website, or email colleageandcareer@mascharterschool.com.