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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.

Schedules are available for middle school and elementary grades (non-homeroom subjects).

Ms. Berlat's middle-school writing classes have produced wonderful narratives describing things they love about Socorro and the surrounding area. You will enjoy reading their Socorro Reflections!

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. In 2010, Ms. Williams was named "Principal of the Year" by the New Mexico Coalition for Charter Schools.

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-Webb    Contact   Supply List

Aurelia Kerkmans-Webb, 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 little sisters, Maggie and Rose, graduated from CVCS in 2011. She enjoys cooking, traveling, movies, and spending time with her son and extended family.

Fourth & Fifth Grades   Supply List

• Math & Science (4th Grade Homeroom): Ms. Karen Gram    Contact

  Karen Gram grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico and graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1985. She attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where she graduated with a BA in Psychology and Sociology. Next she worked on her K-12 Counseling Certification in Alaska, where she worked as a school counselor in Mountain Village, a Yu'pik Eskimo village located on the Yukon River. After a couple of years in Alaska she returned to New Mexico and attended the University of New Mexico where she graduated from the School of Education and received a NM K-8 teaching certification. For the next nine years she taught first, third, and middle school math and science for the Jemez Valley School District. While working in the Jemez she completed a TESOL program from the University of Phoenix. Returning to school again, she has recently graduated from New Mexico Tech with a Masters in Science Teaching. In her spare time Karen enjoys bicycling, hiking, rock climbing, and camping. She started teaching at CVCS in fall 2007.

• Language Arts & Social Studies (5th Grade Homeroom): Mrs. Kate Burleigh 

Middle School 

• 6th Grade Math and Science (6th homeroom): Keith Burns   Contact   Supply List

  Keith grew up in Aurora, Colorado. He moved to Socorro in 2005 to attend New Mexico Tech. He graduated from Tech with a B.S. in 2009, was a student teacher at Cottonwood in spring 2010, and has been a teacher at Cottonwood since fall 2010. He has also worked as a summer camp counselor in Capitan, NM.

• 6th Grade History: Ms. Iva O'Connor (see below for biography)

• 6th Grade Reading, 6th/7th/8th Grade Writing (7th homeroom): Ms. Kim Berlat   Contact   Supply List

  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 in 1989, first in Magdalena, and then with the Socorro Consolidated School District. She has a degree in elementary education from The College of Santa Fe and a Level III 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 a middle school (6th-8th grade) Language Arts teacher since 1991 and was also a Gifted Education teacher/coordinator for many years. She joined CVCS in fall 2008.

• 7th & 8th Grade Math and Science: Mrs. Nancy Engler   Contact
    7th Grade Math & Science Supply List
    8th Grade Math & Science Supply List

  Nancy is a Belen, New Mexico native and earned her BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering at New Mexico Tech. Upon graduation she went to work in Oklahoma as an engineer for seven years before deciding to go back to school for her alternative certification. Nancy taught Algebra and Computer Science for three years in Oklahoma before returning to Socorro to continue teaching, joining CVCS in our first year. Her son Eric attends CVCS. In summer 2011, Nancy completed the requirements for her Special Education certification, and now also teaches in the Special Education/Gifted program at CVCS.

• Reading/Literature (7th; 8th homeroom), History (7th/8th): Mr. Nick Smallridge III   Contact   (No supplies needed at this time)

  Mr. Smallridge graduated from Socorro High School in 1998. He attended Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, earning a BA in English and Writing and an MA in Education. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2003-2005 where he was a TEFL teacher in Uzbekistan. He joined CVCS in fall 2006.

Special Education/Gifted: Mrs. Nancy Engler (see above for bio)

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). As of fall 2011, Karen is a part-time faculty member.

Spanish: Ms. Sheri Armijo   Contact

[Note: K-5 students receive Spanish every day for 30 minutes. 6th grade will receive 1 hour 3 times a week; the other 2 days will be 30 minutes (the remaining 30 minutes will be used for art/music and PE).]
Ms. Armijo began teaching at CVCS in fall 2008. She is originally from Las Cruces, NM and has lived in Phoenix, Chicago, and Albuquerque. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from UNM in 1992, began teaching after graduation, and currently holds a New Mexico Level II license with endorsements in ESL (English as a Second Language) and Bilingual Education. After teaching elementary education and Spanish in Moriarty and Albuquerque public schools for 12 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. Keith Burns (6th-8th)

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: Beth Crowder

Ms. Crowder joined CVCS in the fall of 2010.

Teacher Aides/Instructional Assistants: Ms. Eva Greenwood, Ms. Felycia Gutierrez, and Ms. Patti Chavez

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