Pueblo of Zia Education Department Connection Program

The Pueblo of Zia Education Department’s Connection Program provides prevention and intervention initiatives of mentorship, educational services, and community-based support. The Connection Program’s goal is to improve student academics by increasing attendance percentages, on-time graduation, more students enrolling in post-secondary school, and obtaining meaningful careers. Primarily, to address students who have entered the juvenile justice system and/or have been victims of abuse, the Connection program has provided advocacy to the students and families for supportive services in representing and implementing educational plans. The Connection program has developed a program that provides a holistic approach to ensure the students hold value to cultural relevance in the education endeavors. This program is currently staffed by the Education Services Manager who is responsible for the program's implementation of services. The program plans to add two Student Success Coordinators to provide more direct services to the Zia students. Student Success Coordinators will provide more one-on-one support, college, and career advisement, conduct more activities for students, families, and the community. The program will have the ability to support a wider range of students across the 7 districts our students attend.