New Mexico
NMPED summer reading boot camp wraps up
Thousands of New Mexico students are returning to the classroom with some extra reading skills under their belt.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Thousands of New Mexico students are returning to the classroom with some extra reading skills under their belt.
The Public Education Department invited students all over the state to take part in a summer reading boot camp this year to help boost literacy rates.
PED leaders say they’re still reviewing the testing data to see just how much children improved.
They say the feedback from parents and teachers already shows there’s a lot of optimism for New Mexico’s students.
“When we all come together and we focus on, very intentionally, about what we want to do when it comes to instruction, we can see tremendous impact in a very short amount of time,” said NMPED Secretary Arsenio Romero.
This summer, parents and teachers all over New Mexico focused on the startling number – 38%. That’s how many New Mexico students are considered proficient readers.
“We knew that this was important, because reading is the cornerstone for all learning. If we can create confident, proficient readers, they’re going to be able to be successful in all the other core areas,” said Romero.
So state lawmakers chipped in $30 million to get more students back on track before the new school year.
PED leaders say more than 9,500 children participated in structured literacy programs across more than 100 sites this summer. That includes some non-traditional ones like a ranch up in Mora.
“We saw students from the age of 5 years old all the way to about 13, 14 years old, being able to work in very small, structured groups all around the science of reading and structured literacy,” Romero said.
While the PED is still collecting the hard data, they say all signs point towards a glowing success.
“Talking with instructors, they were so excited and ecstatic with what they saw happening every single day, them telling me that they could see the learning happening right in front of them,” said Romero. “Another family said my student was reading alone at bedtime. They’ve never done that in the past. My child got quicker at reading and participated in the program. My student gained confidence in her reading. So it was just conversations like that, that really reiterated to me that we were doing the right thing, and this was an investment that we needed to make.”
PED leaders say they actually had a surplus of willing instructors this summer, which is a good sign the community wants to help boost those literacy scores.
Officials say they plan on asking state lawmakers for another $30 million for next year, and there’s already conversations about summer boot camps in other subjects like math.
MORE:
Leapfrog released its 2026 spring hospital safety grades.
Grades are assigned based on overall performance, including patient safety.
The Leapfrog Group’s goal is to publicly report patient safety and quality information for the benefit of consumers, purchasers, and referring physicians as they make decisions about where to seek care and where to direct patients,” the company stated on its website.
Here’s how your local hospitals performed.
MountainView Regional Medical Center – A
Leapfrog gave MountainView an “A.”
“Being the only hospital in Doña Ana County to earn an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group speaks to the high standards our team sets – and meets – every day,” said MountainView CEO Patrick Shannon. “This achievement reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and employees to deliver the safest care possible for our community.”
“An ‘A’ Grade is a strong sign that MountainView is deeply committed to protecting patients from harm,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “We commend the leadership, Board, clinicians, staff and volunteers for the role each played in earning this distinction.”
The hospital performed better than average in several areas including low infection rates, addressing safety problems, and ICU care. The hospital received below average performances ratings in surgical site infections post colon surgery, communication about medicine and discharge, communication with doctors and nurses and nursing and bedside care for patients.
Memorial Medical Center – B
Memorial Medical Center received a “B” grade from Leapfrog.
The hospital performed well in effective leadership, reduction and prevention of infections and addressing safety problems.
The hospital received below average ratings for kidney injury after surgery, serious breathing problems, harmful events, communication about medicine and discharge, and communication with doctors and nurses.
Not rated by Leapfrog were Three Crosses Regional Hospital.
Nearby top rated hospitals
Leapfrog gave an A to William Beaumont Army Medical Center and Del Sol Medical Center in El Paso. Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso received a B.
How did other New Mexico hospitals perform?
A recipients were:
- CHRISTUS Southern New Mexico in Alamogordo
B recipients were:
- Lovelace Women’s Hospital in Albuquerque
C recipients were:
- Carlsbad Medical Center in Carlsbad
- CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa FE
- Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell
- Lovelace Medical Center-Downtown in Albuquerque
- Lovelace Regional Hospital in Roswell
- Lovelace Westside Hospital in Albuquerque
- University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque
D recipients were:
- San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington
- UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center in Rio Rancho
Explore the full survey results at https://www.hospitalsafetygrade.org/.
Jessica Onsurez is editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News. Reach her by email at jonsurez@usatodayco.com.
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The Social Security Office released the most popular baby names for 2025 on Thursday. And here in New Mexico, we saw some familiar names top the charts once again.
Coming in at No. 1 for girls is Mia, and as for the boys, Noah ranks No. 1. That’s no change from 2024 when Mia and Noah also led the pack, both coming in at No 1. For 2025, there were a total of 66 babies named Mia and 115 babies named Noah, while in 2024, there were 81 Mias and 105 Noahs.
What do the names mean? Online sources list a few different interpretations for Mia, but one common association is with the Italian word “mia,” which means “mine.” As for Noah, the name is most commonly associated with the prominent bible figure. It’s thought to mean “rest,” or “comfort.”
Here’s a look at some of the other top baby names in New Mexico for 2025.
- Girls:
- Olivia (65 total)
- Sophia (65 total)
- Sofia (60 total)
- Camila (59 total)
- Eliana (57 total)
- Isabella (56 total)
- Amelia (53 total)
- Aria (45 total)
- Aurora (45 total)
- Boys:
- Liam (109 total)
- Mateo (99 total)
- Elijah (76 total)
- Santiago (70 total)
- Sebastian (69 total)
- Ezra (67 total)
- Elias (66 total)
- Ezekiel (66 total)
- Levi (69 total)
Nationally, Olivia and Liam are the most popular baby names, and have been for the past seven years, according to the Social Security Administration. As for the fastest-rising names, Klarity jumped nearly 1,400 spots on the girls’ list, and Kasai jumped 1,108 for boy names.
Other names rising in popularity for boys include Atlas, Adriel, Emiliano, Arthur, and Archer. On the girls’ list, Ailany, Sienna, Amara, and Georgia are becoming more popular.
You can find the full list by state online.
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