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Albuquerque Academy

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        • We believe that children's lives change when their natural passion for learning is nurtured and transformed into habits of life-long learning and reflection. We believe that the world changes as these children learn to serve country and community with wisdom, conviction, and compassion.

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        • Our admission process allows us to meet families, like yours, with curious and motivated students who would benefit from an Albuquerque Academy education and contribute to our community. We’ll get to know each other through the admission process that includes workshops, group activities, and other fun, child-centered events.

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        • Albuquerque Academy is an independent, college preparatory day school for boys and girls in grades six through twelve. The Academy prides itself on offering an educational program based on creative, independent doing and thinking.

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        • Inherent in the Albuquerque Academy mission is a commitment to supporting the wider community through outreach and community service. In addition to the Community and Global Citizenship program that is part of the curriculum, the Academy offers a number of other programs for the wider community.

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You are here: Home / Counseling and Human Development

Counseling & Human Development

The counselors at Albuquerque Academy promote skills-based, social-emotional learning, including helping students develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, empathy, and healthy decision making. We believe that these skills are the hallmarks of young adults who are successful in their relationships, college, and workplace environments.

Extras for Students

Puberty Club with Lorrie Swanson and Chris Peknik
Grade 6
Tuesday afternoons at 3 p.m.
Online; parents may register their student by emailing Ms. Swanson.
In this three-session workshop, we cover the basics of human reproduction and the physical and emotional changes that come with puberty.

Yoga and Journaling with Anna Balsamo
8-9 Division
Monday afternoons at 4 p.m.
Meet at the McKinnon parking lot.
Yoga and journaling encourage self-awareness and make connections. We move through beginner-friendly yoga sequences to learn mindfulness skills, connect with our bodies, and find new ways to relax and destress.

Name Your Game with Kevin Mancini
8-9 Division
Wednesdays 4-5:30 p.m.
Meet at the McKinnon parking lot.
Name Your Game club is a chance to let off steam and build relationships. We’ll play any game that’s COVID-safe, from disc golf to video games.

Resources

  • Make a Referral
  • National Suicide Prevention Hotline
  • NM Connect App: iPhone or Android
  • Meet the Counselors
  • Mental Health Mondays
  • Creating a Space for Healing webinar recording and handout

Meet the Counselors

Cathann Dragone-Gutierrez

10-12 Division
dragonegutierrez@aa.edu | 596-0590

Cathann was born and raised just outside of Manhattan. After attending school on the upper west side, she and her girlfriends took a road trip across the country. It was then that she fell in love with star-drenched skies in the land of enchantment. After attending UNM for her masters in counseling, she has spent her career working with children and families in both a school and clinical counseling setting. She is an experienced supervisor and worked as a clinical director for a community counseling agency. Her approach to counseling is relationship-based, grounded in interpersonal neurobiological tenants and trauma informed. She spent several years as an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate-level social workers on the topics of grief and loss and issues in supervision. She is an endorsed level-3 infant mental health specialist and child-parent psychotherapist. When she isn’t reading professional texts, she spends her free time raising her two daughters, cooking big Italian meals, hiking with her husband, gardening, and doing yoga. She loves travel and has a knack for finding unique Airbnbs and planning family vacations.

B.S., Family Studies and Human Services, University of New Mexico
M.S., Counseling, University of New Mexico 

Make an appointment.

Anna Balsamo

8-9 Division
ingraham@aa.edu | 828-3221

Anna fell in love with working with students as an art therapist and counselor at a large public school in Colorado before joining the team at Albuquerque Academy. Anna was born in New Mexico but grew up in Maine and has had a sense of coming back home since returning to New Mexico. She is an artist, a writer, and dabbler in the performing arts. Anna loves exploring the desert landscape and reading books with her cat. She has found her passion through using the arts, as well as mindfulness and yoga, to connect with people and create change and growth.

B.A. Expressive Arts, Burlington College
M.A. Art Therapy/Counseling, Southwestern College

Make an appointment.

Kevin Mancini

8-9 Division
mancini@aa.edu | 398-3990

Born and raised west of Philadelphia, Kevin attended college in Williamsburg, Virginia. From there, he spent seven years in New York City doing real estate and owning/operating a cafe with friends. Kevin then studied transpersonal psychology in Palo Alto, CA before landing in Corrales. Prior to working at the Academy, Kevin spent eight years as a marriage and family therapist, helping guide both children and adults in living authentic, well lives. Kevin enjoys sports of all kinds, strategic thinking, philosophy, adventures, gardening/yard work, laughing as much as possible, and life on the beach. Kevin’s world always begins with his wife, Jaime, and his three daughters, Jianna, Sage, and Isla.

B.A. Psychology, College of William and Mary
M.A. Counseling Psychology, Sophia University

Make an appointment.

Rebecca Marianetti

10-12 Division
marianetti@aa.edu | 451-4035

Rebecca has worked extensively in the mental health field in Arizona and New Mexico and has trained with trauma experts from around the world. She has cultivated techniques in mindfulness based stress reduction, which includes an ongoing certification in DBT (Dialetical Behavior Therapy) and Polyvagal Theory informed therapy. Rebecca enjoys helping young people learn how to come into the present moment to create wellness for themselves. She has a regular yoga practice and enjoys anything outdoors, including hiking in the mountains and sailing with her husband and two daughters.

B.S. Psychology, Regis University
M.S.W. Arizona State University

Make an appointment.

Lorrie Swanson

6-7 Division
swanson@aa.edu | 828-3270

Lorrie is a native New Mexican having grown up in Los Alamos who has been involved in education her entire professional career. She worked in the Oakland Public Schools before earning her masters degree, and since moving back to New Mexico, has spent time working with the Albuquerque Public Schools and most recently the Rio Rancho Public Schools. Lorrie is a mother of two and enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with family. She is passionate about social justice, meditation, and doing her part to make the world a better place.

B.A. Sociology, Economics minor
M.S.W. Smith College for Social Work

Make an appointment. 

6400 Wyoming Blvd NE
ABQ, New Mexico 87109-3899

Phone:
505-828-3200

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Albuquerque Academy is an independent, college-preparatory day school for students in grades 6 through 12 and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, creed, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability in admissions, the administration of its educational policies, tuition assistance, athletics, and other school-administered programs.

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Albuquerque Academy is an independent, college-preparatory day school for students in grades 6 through 12 and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, creed, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability in admissions, the administration of its educational policies, tuition assistance, athletics, and other school-administered programs.

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