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Cottonwood Valley Charter School Socorro, NM 575-838-2026 |
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About CVCS Calendars News/Newsletters Classes/Teachers For Parents Governing Council Administration Resources Disclaimer RELATED LINKS: Socorro Consolidated Schools NM Public Education Dept. Core Knowledge (Curriculum) About Socorro |
Classes and Teachers[Click here for information on open positions] Cottonwood Valley Charter School is a K-8 public school. In addition to the required math, science, language arts, and social studies courses, we also offer art, music, physical education, and Spanish. Below is some information about our classes and the faculty who teach them. Class supply lists are linked below where available. Most supply lists for the 2010-2011 school year will be available in time for the tax holiday in early August. For information on the tax holiday, please see this article on the New Mexico state taxation Web site. The following classes also have Web sites:
The information in this section of the Web site is reviewed by
K. Williams.
Teachers Administrator: Ms. Karin Williams Contact Before joining CVCS in 2007, Karin spent 28 years as an educator, including positions in Magdalena, Socorro, and Alamo. She has taught children of all ages, and has also served as a mentor and professional trainer of other teachers. Kindergarten: Mrs. Jill Abraham Contact Supply List Jill grew up in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. She originally moved to Albuquerque, NM in 1989. She met her husband, Wayne, and had a son, Jordan, while in Albuquerque. Later she moved, with her family, to Tucson, AZ for 3 1/2 years, then to Reno, NV for 5 years. In the fall of 2005, they moved to Belen, NM to be close to both sides of the family. In January, 2006, Jill went back to school for her Early Childhood degree. She graduated summa cum laude in 2009 from UNM Albuquerque. In the summer of 2009, she obtained her Early Childhood license with a TESOL endorsement. During the 2009-2010 school year she substituted in the Belen and Los Lunas school districts. For fun, Jill enjoys reading, crocheting, spending time with family and entertaining friends at her home. First Grade: Mrs. Kim Schaffer Contact Supply List Kim grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah where she fell in love with mountains and hiking. Kim graduated with an Elementary Education degree from the University of Utah and married her husband, Steve, in 1986. They have one grown daughter and one son who has graduated from CVCS. Kim has taught in Socorro county since 1992. She took a year-long sabbatical with her family in 1999 to Trondheim, Norway. Kim earned a Masters of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction the summer of 2008, as well as her Level III NM teaching license! She began teaching at CVCS in fall 2008. Second Grade: Ms. Miranda Gonzales Contact Supply List Miranda grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. As a sophomore in high school she moved to New Mexico and attended a Private School in Belen where she graduated Salutatorian. In 2003 she married her husband Joseph and soon after relocated to Socorro. Miranda spent the next few years raising and enjoying her two young daughters while attending the University of New Mexico. In 2009 Miranda graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education and is currently licensed K-8. Miranda enjoys reading, baking and gardening. Third Grade: Ms. Aurelia Kerkmans Contact Supply List Aurelia Kerkmans, of French, Spanish, and Dutch descent, comes from a large family of teachers in Socorro, New Mexico. As a teen and young adult she traveled with her family to France, Mexico, and Honduras. Before deciding on a degree in early childhood education, Aurelia worked a year at Disney World in Orlando, as a barista at Starbucks in Albuquerque, and at Socorro Springs Brewery. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2009, receiving the Outstanding Student Recognition Award in Elementary Education. She has taught third grade at CVCS since completing her student teaching here in the fall of 2009. Her son Eliseo will be entering kindergarten this year, and her little sisters, Maggie and Rose, will be attending 8th grade at CVCS this year. She enjoys cooking, traveling, movies, and spending time with her son and extended family. Fourth & Fifth Grades
Middle School
Special Education: Ms. Kim Berlat Contact Kim grew up in Tucson, Arizona and Fort Collins, Colorado. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Renewable Natural Resources and worked briefly for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. While working at Bosque del Apache NWR, she fell in love with the area and later decided to make Socorro her home. She began teaching 20 years ago in Magdalena. After 2 years in Magdalena, she was offered a position with the Socorro Consolidated School District. She has a degree in elementary education from The College of Santa Fe and has a Level II license. In July, 2008 she fulfilled the requirements for a pre-K–12 license in Language Arts, and in summer 2010 she completed her MST degree at New Mexico Tech. Kim has been teaching middle school (6th-8th grade) Language Arts for 17 years. She has also been a Gifted Education teacher/coordinator for 17 years and has worked with both elementary and middle school gifted students. Ms. Berlat works in our Gifted Program and will also teach in middle-school Language Arts. She joined CVCS in fall 2008. Special Education: Mr. Jack Hibbs Contact Jack has been active in athletics and fitness his whole life. He graduated from The College of New Jersey where he majored in Political Science and Elementary Ed. He divides his time between Socorro and the Manzano Mountains, where he lives. He came to CVCS in fall 2005 and, before becoming interested in Special Education, taught PE, middle-school history, and Elementary Reading. Reading Specialist: Ms. Karen Bailey-Bowman (Mrs. Bowman) Contact Karen was born at the U. S. Navy's operations base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and grew up in California, earning her B.A. in Humanities with a minor in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972. She completed her teacher training at CalState Hayward in 1973 and moved to New Mexico in 1976, where she received credentials in K-12 reading and 7-9 Language Arts, Science, and Art. Karen began teaching Language Arts in NM public schools in 1977, and received her M.A. in Education (Secondary Reading) from NMSU in 1980. After a stint in Arizona teaching at college and high school levels, she moved to Socorro in 1987 and earned her Elementary Education credential in 1988 from UNM while teaching at San Miguel School. Following several years teaching freshman English classes at NM Tech, reporting for The Mountain Mail, and three years as a Reading Recovery teacher in Albuquerque, she joined CVCS in fall 2004. In 2007 she earned her NM Level III licensure in the following areas: K-12 Reading and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages); grades 7-9 Science, Art, and Language Arts; and Elementary Education (K-8). Spanish: Ms. Sheri Armijo Contact All students will receive Spanish instruction 1-2 hours per week. Ms. Armijo began teaching at CVCS in fall 2008. She is originally from Las Cruces, NM and has lived in Phoenix and Chicago. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from UNM in 1992, began teaching in 1994, and currently holds a New Mexico Level II license with endorsements in ESL (English as a Second Language) and Bilingual education. After teaching K-5 Spanish at Albuquerque and Moriarty public schools for 10 years, she and her husband, Ricardo, moved to Socorro in 2004. They love walking everywhere they can in Socorro, and if you pass by the Plaza some evening, you might catch them dancing in the gazebo! Physical Education: Ms. Patti Chavez (K-3rd); Mr. Nick Smallridge (6th); Other grades: TBA Art: Ms. Iva O'Connor Contact Ms. O'Connor joined CVCS in the fall of 2009. In addition to teaching art to all grades, she also teaches 6th-grade history. Music: TBA Teacher Aides/Instructional Assistants: Ms. Eva Greenwood, Ms. Laurie Ware, and Ms. Patti Chavez
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