Our History
Amy Biehl High School (ABHS) was founded in 1999 by two inspired public school teachers started their own charter school determined to hold themselves accountable for a student’s success after high school. They named the school after a young woman from Santa Fe who died tragically while working to end apartheid in South Africa. Like its namesake, the school focuses on scholarship and community service, requiring that every student pass two college classes, and complete a year-long community service project that relates to their college studies.
ABHS has become a national model in education reform. In 2004, in recognition of ABHS’s progressive graduation requirements, the school was designated one of twenty ‘Mentor Schools’ in the nation, by the Coalition of Essential Schools, a national education reform organization funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
In 2006, Amy Biehl High School moved downtown into the former post office and courthouse to become the first urban high school in more than thirty years. The school raised $4 million to renovate this historic treasure in partnership with the General Services Administration, the State Historic Preservation Department, Governor Bill Richardson, Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, 24 Legislators, the Public Education Department, the Albuquerque Public School District, and a group of community partners, companies and corporations. In the fall of 2006, Amy Biehl High School won the National Trust for Historic Preservation award for best collaboration with federal and state agencies to save an historic structure.
“There was no reason to start a school unless we
were going to do something risky and dramatic.”
Tony Monfiletto
Albuquerque Journal, 2004
Amy Biehl's Story and Legacy
Amy Biehl, a graduate of Santa Fe High School, understood that, as an American, she had it better than many people in much of the world. She also believed that she had a duty to give back—to make life better for others who were not so fortunate. To that end, Amy went to South Africa at the age of 26 as a Fulbright Scholar to help that country’s leaders develop a new constitution. While conducting voter registration for South Africa’s first all-race election—the election that would end apartheid—she was killed in a riot.
Though devastated by her death, Amy’s parents wanted to stay true to their daughter’s vision of a better world. After going through the country’s Truth and Reconciliation process, Amy’s family forgave the men who had participated in her death. Two of those young men work at the Amy Biehl Foundation, which Amy’s family created in Cape Town to further her work and honor her life. To learn more about the Amy Biehl Foundation in South Africa, visit www.amybiehl.org.
