Court Junior High opened September 8, 1941 with some 347 students. It was considered state-of-the-art with 22 classrooms, a wood shop, music rooms, and an auditorium/gymnasium.
The school operated until 1984 when it became a teacher’s center and a school warehouse. In 1988, a group of community leaders, under the direction of former state representative and mayor Reuben Smith, felt the historic building could become a youth center for the arts.
It has taken more than a decade of planning, generating resources for capital, and rallying community support to create the current program and facility. Since 1995, under the artistic direction of Irene Oliver-Lewis, approximately $5,000,000 has been invested from federal, state and city partners to complete the 49,000 square foot facility now known as the Court Youth Center.
In the fall of 2004, the building also became the site of the city’s first charter high school, Alma d’arte. Currently 165 high school students attend the arts-based high school and more than 600 middle and high school students participate in the after-school programs. Additionally, some 20,000 community participants use the facility in a number of events from concerts to public meetings.
The program is a partnership between the Mesilla Valley Youth Foundation, Court Youth Center, City of Las Cruces, and Las Cruces Public Schools. Major funding is also contributed from the New Mexico Community Foundation, Paso del Norte Health Foundation, and Price’s Creameries.
