The Cottonwood Valley Weekly newsletters are also available online.

June 2009

• June 1-11 and 15-25, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday: Fine Arts Day Camp held by CVCS teachers Mr. Nick Smallridge and Ms. Kim Berlat, for students entering grades 5-9. Cost for each session is $135. Please sign up by May 29. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Smallridge.

May 2009

• May 29: Last day of school! PLEASE NOTE: SCHOOL WILL BE DISMISSED AT 11:15 A.M. so there will be no hot lunch. The first day of school for CVCS next fall will be Tuesday, August 11, with a half-day orientation for students and their families. There will be no bus service available that day.
• May 15: Bike Safety Day! Ride your bike to school today! Riders will compete in the Slow Poke Race and practice defensive maneuvers. Everyone with a bike will receive a free patch kit (an essential commodity in Socorro!) and the opportunity to cycle down to the plaza after school to pick up a free T-shirt at Spoke N Word.
• May 14 (rescheduled from May 7): Core Knowledge Festival and Potluck! 5:00-7:00 p.m. Each grade will have activities and displays in their classroom. Next year's kindergartners are invited to visit the kindergarten classroom from 6-7 p.m. Be sure to mark your calendar for this fun and informative event!
• May 12 (rescheduled from May 5): CVCS Governing Council Elections. For more information, and candidates' campaign statements, please see the Elections page. All CVCS parents and Socorro County registered voters may vote. Please come to the school on May 12 between 7:45 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to cast your ballot. Thank you for your commitment to CVCS!
• May 8: Congratulations, kindergarten spellers! Six CVCS students competed in the district spelling bee. Ximena Mendez-Ortiz took first place and Javier Acosta won second! Daisy Partey, Skyler Bunning, Radeen Moradi, and Hannah Samuels also participated.

April 2009

• April 30: Usborne Book Fair continues, 8:00-11:00 a.m.
• April 29: The Usborne Book Fair will be held in conjunction with an ice-cream social from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at CVCS. The book fair will be open all day starting at 8:00 a.m. Also this evening we will have the Parent Association meeting at 7:00 p.m., featuring guest speaker Dr. Mark Samuels, CVCS parent and professor of psychology at NMT.
• April 24: The 2009-2010 enrollment lottery will be held in the CVCS office at 3:00 p.m. Siblings of current students who who would like to attend next year must be in this lottery.
• April 17: Congratulations to first-grader Rafe Ackley, who won second place at the district spelling bee for 1st-3rd grades. Way to go CVCS spellers!

March 2009

• March 16: Congratulations to Levi Elders, winner of the Rotary Club's Third Grade Green Living Visual Arts Contest!

February 2009

• February 21: Congratulations to the CVCS "Smarties" Science Olympiad team! The team scored in the top 10 in eleven out of 23 events, and took sixth place overall among New Mexico middle schools!
• February 17: CVCS has a new Gardening Committee! Committee members maintain the cold frames and do light landscaping around the school. If you're interested, please see the committee's Web page. Thank you to committee chairperson Debra Shepherd for organizing this!
• February 3: Socorro District School Board elections, and Bond Election. If this bond passes, CVCS will receive $500,000. Let your voice be heard - VOTE on Tuesday!

January 2009

• January 31: Science Olympiad regional competition in Silver City. Congratulations to the CVCS team, who easily took first place with 172 out of a possible 200 points and medaling in 17 out of 20 events! Eighteen of 20 team members earned at least one medal — outstanding job! Thanks to all the parents who helped out with the team. They could not have done it without you! The team is now preparing for the State Science Olympiad, to be held here in Socorro on February 21 at NM Tech. leave CVCS at noon on Friday, January 30.
• January 30: Socorro County spelling bee. Congratulations to 5th-grader Alice Zhang, who took first place! Alice will go on to the NM state Spelling Bee on March 14. Congratulations to all of the other classroom winners who competed: Casper Huang (4th grade), Maggie Kerkmans (6th), Sarah Frail (7th), and Kelly Wang (8th). Well done!
• January 29: Band concert at 7:00 p.m. Check in the office for location.
• Congratulations to Jenna Melanson, grade 5, for her winning cover design for the school fundraiser cookbook! Cookbooks will be available to buy for $10 in April. Thanks to everyone who contributed recipes!
• January 26: Middle school good-behavior reward ski trip! Bus leaves CVCS at 5:00 a.m.!! Students must have appropriate clothing and supplies for the trip, per the handout.

December 2008

• December 16: The annual CVCS Winter Performance will take place at 6:00 p.m. Come enjoy the songs and skits the students are working on! Instead of potluck desserts, this year we ask that you bring a non-perishable food donation for the Socorro Storehouse. Thank you!
• December 4: Congratulations to CVCS 1st grader Changrui Liu and 3rd grader Keya Luo, who each took second place in their divisions at the County Declamation!

November 2008

• November 19: Practice begins for the CVCS Golf Team. To sign up, be at the NMT Golf Club at 3:30 p.m. The team will practice Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:30-4:30 P.M. until the end of February. Thanks to parent coaches Dennis and Delilah Walsh!
• November 17: Congratulations to the CVCS declamation contest winners: Micki Wilkinson, Daisy Partey, Eric Engler, Keya Luo, and Cameron Waters (Humorous category); and Joey Barber, Javier Acosta, Rose Ward, and Changrui Liu (Serious category). These students will go on to the district declamation contests November 20-21.
• Sunday, November 16: Annual CVCS Fall Festival, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Everyone welcome! Games, entertainment, Ethnic Food Bar, Cake Walk, etc. This is always a fun event, but it takes help from the entire school community to produce a successful Fall Festival. Please contact the office to let them know if you can help with activities, setup, cleanup, etc. Thank you!
• November 3: Congratulations to the CVCS B.E.S.T. Robotics Team, who placed 5th in the robot competition in Las Cruces! A big thank you to coach Janet Coursey, and to the other parents and mentors who supported our team! For information on this project, please check out our team's Web site.

October 2008

• Thursday, October 9: Walk & Roll to School Day! All students who participate by walking or riding a bike, scooter, skateboard, etc. to school on Thursday morning will receive a sticker and a prize! Appropriate safety gear must be worn. For more details, please see this flyer. There will not be a bike rodeo after school this year, but we hope to hold one at the Fall Festival on November 15. If your child enjoyed last year's rodeo and would like to see it happen again, please contact Jill in the office to let her know if you can help organize it. Thank you!

September 2008

• September 23-26: Scholastic Book Fair. This year we will have the super-duper fair with lots more books. Stop by before or after your child's Personal Learning Plan meeting and you'll be sure to find something you'll enjoy! This is a fundraiser for the school; we receive a portion of total sales to put toward new books for our library.
• September 11: National Dance Institute performances! CVCS 4th & 5th graders, Celebration team members, and some teachers will participate in NDI this year. Please come see them at the public performance at NMT Macey Center, 7:00 p.m.
• September 4: Individual picture day. Photo package payment must be received by then in order for your child's photo to be taken.

August 2008

• August 19: Please join us for our annual Back-to-School potluck, starting at 6:00 p.m. This is always a fun event where families can get to know each other. This year we will also have brief informational presentations about the Governing Council, the school's Core Knowledge curriculum, etc. Please bring a dish to share, and plan to have a great time!
• August 12: School starts for CVCS. Welcome to 2008-2009! Please note that CVCS is starting a day earlier than the other district schools. Classes will run from 8:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., with no bus or hot-lunch services. There will be a special family orientation period for about half an hour in the morning. An alternative family orientation session will start at 6:00 p.m. that evening, for those who are unable to attend in the morning. All families should plan to come to one of the orientation times.
• The CVCS Dress Policy has not changed for this school year.
• August 1: The New Mexico Public Schools Capital Outlay Committee has awarded Cottonwood Valley Charter School $1 million to construct a new multi-purpose building. $770,000 will be received directly, plus a $92,000 award from the state Charter School Fund; the remainder of the costs will be provided by CVCS as matching funds. Many thanks to our Facilities Committee members for their continuing hard work!
• If you haven't signed up for Smith's Earn & Learn program, please do it soon! A percentage of your shopping spending is donated by Smith's, at no cost to you. Our school has received more than $15,000 in past years, which was spent on library books, field trips, etc. You can sign up at the store Thank you for shopping at Smith's!
• Please save all your Boxtops For Education, empty printer toner cartridges, and soup labels for our school. These turn into real money. You can send them with your child to the office. Thank you!

• News from 2007-2008
• News from 2006-2007
• News from 2005-2006
• News from 2004-2005
• News from 2003-2004
• News from 2002-2003
• News from 2001-2002

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