Rio Rancho Public Schools and Central New Mexico Community College are in the process of expanding Career Technical Education (CTE) opportunities in the skills trade.

In 2022, RRPS purchased a 74,000-square-foot building to house skilled trades classes and courses. The design and buildout is currently underway and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.

As the design and buildout continues, RRPS is now accepting submissions for recommendations of what the CTE Center should be named. Recommendations can be submitted online. All submissions will be reviewed, and the CTE Center will be named by a vote of the Board of Trustees. After the vote, the name will be publicly announced.

“The entire purpose of the CTE Center is to benefit our community for years to come by preparing our students for the skilled workforce, so it only makes sense to involve our community in the center’s naming process,” RRPS Superintendent Dr. V. Sue Cleveland said. “We are very excited to collaborate with the public, and we look forward to reviewing all naming recommendations.”

RRPS and CNM will work cooperatively at the CTE Center to provide skilled trade courses in a work-based learning environment that will serve both RRPS and CNM students. RRPS students will select a career pathway (welding, plumbing and pipefitting, residential carpentry, electrical, photovoltaic, multimedia/film, computer information systems (CIS) networking, food management) that will lead to industry certifications upon graduation, preparing them for high-skill, high-demand and high-paying careers.

The deadline to submit a name recommendation is Sept. 15.