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The students will be cadets; their principal the commodore. And everyone will be in snappy uniforms.

Bataan Military Academy, the first military charter high school in New Mexico and the seventh in the nation, plans to open in Albuquerque in August.

The Albuquerque Board of Education unanimously approved the academy Wednesday, after making sure it would abide by district policy against discrimination.

All students, regardless of sex, sexual orientation and immigration status, will be welcome. No one will be required to join a branch of the armed services.

Board member Leonard DeLayo asked specifically about the academy's policy on gays. Board member Miguel Acosta asked about immigrants and non-citizens.

"This school is open to any student in this district. Our policy is to follow APS policy," said the academy's founder, Shelby Dawson Tallchief, a former Albuquerque Public Schools administrator and educator.

The Navy Junior ROTC and the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps programs will be incorporated into the curriculum, he said.

Physical training is required.

Tallchief has been working with a committee for 18 months to get the academy operational. It will be located in the Armed Forces Reserve Center at 400 Wyoming Blvd. N.E. The reserves are building a new center at another location and will vacate the Wyoming center, Tallchief said.

A freshman class of 125 cadets and a sophomore class of 100 will be selected by lottery, which is required of all New Mexico charter schools. The maximum enrollment is projected at 400 cadets.

"We want to be the shining star," Tallchief said to the board, "to bring recognition to the academy and to the district."

The academy is dedicated to the U.S. forces who surrendered to the Japanese in the Philippine Islands beginning in March of 1942. Many of the men were from the 200th Coast Artillery and were from New Mexico.

Tallchief said the academy will prepare students for the military academies and service in the Navy, Air Force, Marines or Army, although no one is required to enlist after graduation.

Graduates also will be prepared for college or to enter the work world, he said.

The academy's goal is to prepare leaders in all walks of life who practice respect, honor, courage, commitment, personal integrity and patriotism, he said.

APS administrators recommended approval, saying the academy would fill a unique niche.

"It will follow a military model proven successful throughout the country," said Teresa Brito-Asenap, who reviewed the academy's application for a charter.

Year-round opportunities include sailing, survival training, marksmanship, military police, honor guard, music, pilot's license, air ground crew, scuba certification, culinary arts, seamanship on board Navy, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine ships and exchange programs with cadets from England, Germany and Japan.

Board members expressed concerns about the financial impact on the district for the renovation of the reserve center, which must meet state standards for schools.

Board member Robert Lucero said he didn't want the academy to expect the district to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on its building like it did for Amy Biehl Charter High School in Downtown.

Board members agreed to decide soon how to deal with all the charter schools' capital needs, although the Legislature in January is supposed to take up the issue.

District administrators estimated that each charter school will cost the district $3 million to $8 million to construct or acquire its building, given an enrollment of 280 to 450 students.

Board President Paula Maes said the board shouldn't wait for the Legislature to tell it what to do.

"These parents (of charter school students) are paying taxes and none of their taxes are going to these (charter) schools," she said.

"We need to decide what capital (dollars) to give to charter schools."