- Welcome and
Introductions
Nine parents plus Mary Nutt attended the meeting.
- Announcements/News
Facilities
update: The firm that was hired last fall to collect requirements for
permanent facilities and produce a site plan based on them gave CVCS
its final report in June. This is now available in the school office
and on the Web site (http://www.cottonwoodvalley.org). The Socorro
district's
five-year Master Plan is also available.
CVCS fourth
and fifth-graders will perform with the NM National Dance Institute on
Thursday at Macey Center.
- An
evening with the CVCS administrator: Updates and Q&A
Summary
- Art:
Jill is teaching middle school art classes; other grades will do it
with their classroom teachers, and integrate it with the Core Knowledge
subjects. The school has a Fine Arts grant, and plans to use it to
bring in local artists for short periods.
- We have a
new custodian, Mike "Mick" Chavez
- New teachers:
Mrs. Valerie Stuart (2nd), Ms. Daisha Warner (5th), and Mr. Nick
Smallridge (Middle School Language Arts); Music: Mr. Bobby Romero;
aides Ms. Laurie Ware and Ms. Mandy McCleary. Ms. McCleary is spending
much of her time assisting with math
- Facilities:
The old hospital is gone, and better parking facilities have been
created. There is a new bike path leading from the campus northwest
corner at Neel and Western to the bike racks which avoids the bus area
and parking lot; all riders are requested to use it for safety reasons.
The city has indicated an interest in revamping the arroyo area to the
east of the school, perhaps to place a culvert and then fill in the
area to create additional parking. It may also be possible to use the
open land between the school and the nearby park on West Place for
athletic grounds. There was a brief discussion about plans for
permanent facilities. Because our portables are in reasonable shape, we
are not high on state or district priority lists for capital outlay
funding. If we intend to do this over the next few years, some kind of
private fundraising will be required. We also need to do some immediate
improvements. Anyone interested in the school facilities is invited to
contact the chair of the Facilities Committee, Jim Shepherd (the
community member on the CVCS Governing Council).
- Curriculum:
Core Knowledge (CK) is still the basic curriculum for Social Studies,
Language Arts, Music/Art, and Science (where it is aligned with the NM
PED state science benchmarks, which are actually very good); in other
areas, and to supplement CK in this list, we are legally mandated to
teach to the state requirements. The full NM PED standards and
benchmarks can be found on the PED Web site, but Ms. Nutt has a sorted
and CK-aligned version in her office which is more useful for parents
to look at. As a supplement to CK Language Arts, teachers are using the
"4-Block Reading and Writing" program. This mixes both guided and
self-directed reading, and emphasizes writing and "working with words".
It accommodates the variety of achievement levels very well.
- Math:
Saxon is still the standard curriculum, with supplemental material
planned for students who are ready for more of a challenge. Ms. Nutt
commented that math is the trickiest subject for meeting the wide
variation in students' needs and abilities within the classroom. A few
parents noted that their children (mainly in lower grades) are
completely bored with Saxon, especially the built-in review period
which is still underway, and wondered what else can be done to keep
these students motivated and interested. There was some discussion
about the possibility of an after-school Math Club, which a parent will
look into starting up. 7th and 8th grades have been organized to group
all advanced-level students in a single math class taught by Mrs.
Nancy Engler, with Mr. Shawn Price teaching the other students in these
grades.
- Testing:
The 2006 NM Standards-Based Assessment (NMSBA) overall results are now
available, and Ms. Nutt handed out a brief summary showing local
schools. CVCS did extremely well. Individual students' NMSBA reports
are expected to arrive soon. This year we will be required to do
quarterly "formative assessments" to monitor progress more frequently.
Ms. Nutt also has testing booklets and extensive tabulated results from
the SAT-9 that was administered to all grades in May; parents are
welcome to look at them in her office.
- All grades
will do a Science Fair this year. Project and other resources are
available both in the library and also from the science teacher, Mr.
Price. The school's science room is now reasonably well equipped.
- Physical
Education: Mr. Jack Hibbs, who is a talented dancer, plans to
incorporate dance into the PE program. He has been taking advantage of
Finley Gym for some of the 7th and 8th grade activities. There are new
state "wellness" requirements this year, which must be in place by
January 30, 2007. This would make a good topic for a Parent Association
meeting in the next month or two, so that Mr. Hibbs can get parent
input. (Ruth will ask Mr. Hibbs about this.)
- Safety:
Mr. Price is the school's safety officer. He ensures that mandatory
drills are carried out and procedures are followed. An updated Safety
Plan is in the works.
- Gifted: Ms. Candy Lindquist
runs the CVCS Gifted Education program. This year there will be a
one-hour weekly pull-out for grades 6/7/8 and also for 4/5. A
specialist will be coming shortly to review what we have in place so
far and suggest additional strategies.
- Special
Education: NM PED has been monitoring our program for a couple of years
now. Initially they identified a number of problems in record-keeping
and services being provided to students with special needs. These have
mostly been addressed, and improvements are continuing. Starting either
later this year or next year, PED will also start monitoring our Gifted
program.
- School Supplies: One parent new to NM
commented that this seems like a "tax" on parents. It is not done this
way in many other states, and has only been done in New Mexico for
perhaps ten years. Is there a better way? For example, could the school
do a bulk purchase (which might reduce prices) and then have families
pay a fee? Could the school simply purchase what is needed,
particularly for consumables like tissues and soap? Another parent
noted that staff turnover causes complications since the supply lists
are typically from last year's teacher, and new teachers may have
different requirements which mean that some purchased items are not
needed after all. Ms. Nutt noted of these comments and will think about
this for next year.
- Open Forum
No additional topics were raised.
- Next Parent Association Meeting
Tuesday, October 3, 2006, at
6:30 p.m.