Middle School

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Lauren Gutierrez

6th Grade Teacher

I am excited to be a part of the growing middle school at NMIS! This is my third year at NMIS, but my twelfth year as a bilingual teacher. Previously, I taught 4th and 5th grade dual-language before taking on the role of Garden Teacher, during which time I built a school garden and designed and implemented a bilingual K-5 garden curriculum. This experience deepened my understanding that learning in school should be purposeful and applicable to the real world.

My first experience as an educator was when I lived and worked in a rural village in the northern mountains of Nicaragua. During my three years there, I worked with a team to develop an educational program for high school students that provided opportunities for students to learn computer skills, English, entreprenuership and critical literacy, which was the course I helped develop.

As an educator, I see it as my role to facilitate learning through experience, discourse and the shaping of opportunities for students to apply their learning in a variety of contexts. I believe that in order for learning to be transformative, it will be uncomfortable to some degree – productive struggle is a necessary component of learning. I also know that community trust, communication and inclusiveness must be the foundation of teaching and learning so that all learners can be successful.

As an educator I strive to:

  • Be inclusive of all students, their identities, needs and ideas and thus create a safe learning space for everyone
  • Teach through inquiry, emphasizing universal concepts
  • Emphasize “learning to learn” in parallel with content learning goals
  • Develop learning in local and global contexts
  • Teach responsively: inform and adapt teaching continually in response to feedback from students

Eva Ornelas

7th Grade Teacher

Bio Coming Soon!

Amanda Kraft

8th Grade Teacher

This is my sixth year at NMIS, and my 13th year as a classroom teacher. I would characterize my teaching as culturally responsive, creative, and hands-on & experiential.  It gives me great pleasure to connect with my students, learn alongside them, and incorporate my own interests in the classroom: growing food, animals, music, internationalism, and world language. I appreciate the Middle school sense of humor, and I hope to be a mentor to my students along with teaching them. 

I teach Science (in Spanish), Social Studies (in English) 8th grade Design and offer electives in Model UN, Science/Engineering, guitar and arts and crafts.

I achieved National Board certification in the area of literacy in 2019, and was awarded as a finalist for the Presidential Award in Math & Science Teaching in 2023.

7215 Montgomery Blvd NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505) 503-7670