Serving the Youth of New Mexico and Their Families since 1903

The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired was founded in 1903 as a land grant school governed by a Board of Regents. Three years later, the school opened its doors in Alamogordo, New Mexico with 21 students, two teachers and a superintendent. It is a specialized school which provides residential, academic, support, and outreach services to the students who are blind and visually impaired in New Mexico. Today, the residential campus is still located on the original site in Alamogordo with a second campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico that houses an Early Childhood Program and as well as the school’s statewide services.

Mission Statement:

NMSBVI, an innovative leader and unifying entity in the field of educating students birth-high school who are blind or visually impaired, will identify and ensure quality education through collaborative relationships with students, families, and local/ state/national partners to provide outstanding advocacy, training, resources, and support services, thus ensuring that all students who are blind or visually impaired will become independent, productive members of their communities.

Goals:

We will foster an atmosphere of creativity that results in innovative practices and programs.

We will create a training system that results in sufficient numbers of specialized staff in the field of blindness and visual impairment
for the state of New Mexico.

We will create a system to convey and receive information about blindness and visual impairment educational services, trends, research, etc.
to all those involved or interested in serving students who are blind or visually impaired.

We will build a system of data-driven decision making that will be used collaboratively to determine goals, services and settings for educating
New Mexico students with blindness or visual impairments.

We will develop a system that supports the successful transition of students with blindness or visual impairment and their programming across settings.

We will acquire community support and the resources essential to advance the success of each student with blindness or visual impairment.