Statement of Purpose
Santa Fe Prep is an ambitious and diverse learning community dedicated to active discourse. We value our place in the community of Santa Fe, which enriches and defines us. We cultivate qualities of character, scholarship, and citizenship in our students that inspire them to act responsibly and compassionately at home, at school, and in the world.
Through the many dialogues that unfold on campus each day, our students exercise their minds in active inquiry. The discourse of Santa Fe Prep promotes the joy of discovery, the power of critical thinking and reflection, and the thrill of creativity. Our commitment to collaborative learning fosters an inclusive school environment grounded in trust, where students honor and respect each other and themselves.
The world is full of possibility. Empowered with the values and qualities inherent in our School, our students can embrace lives of thoughtful purpose.
Our History
In February of 1961, a small group of parents and community leaders founded Santa Fe Prep. Their goal was to create a college preparatory school where young people would be challenged, engaged, and nurtured. The school opened on historic Canyon Road in 1963 with sixty-three students in seventh through ninth grades.
Enrollment increased dramatically, and in the early 1970s, the school moved to our current site, a thirty-three-acre campus nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Since that time, Prep has added a state-of-the-art science wing, upgraded a campus-wide technology system, renovated existing buildings, such as the historic Meem art facility, Main School Building, and Driscoll Auditorium, built a new School Commons in 2001, and completed a LEED-certified library building in 2006 that houses over 13,000 titles.
Today, we are a fully accredited, coeducational day school serving approximately 320 students in grades seven through twelve. One of only six schools in New Mexico accredited by the Independent School Association of the Southwest (others are Albuquerque Academy, Sandia Prep School, United World College, and Rio Grande School), Prep is also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools.
Over 2,000 Prep graduates are making their way in the world, linked by an education that has served as a cornerstone of their success.