Sandia Vista Elementary
Principal Monthly Newsletter - December 2024
Note from Mr. DeSoto and Mrs. Northness
SVE Families,
We hope this newsletter finds you well. As we continue our journey together this school year, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt appreciation for your support and involvement in our school community.
Important Announcements
Parent Survey Appreciation: Thank you for taking the time to complete the parent survey. We are grateful for your written responses, as they allow us to specifically address your concerns and suggestions.
Community Events Planning: We are excited to share that we are currently in the planning phase for more community events here at school. If you have any ideas, please feel free to email Mr. DeSoto or Mrs. Northness. Your input is always welcome!
School Calendar: Please take a look at the school calendar for upcoming events. We have many exciting activities planned, and we hope to see you there!
Rio Rancho Stop It Solutions App: The Rio Rancho Stop It Solutions app is available to our community and students. This tool has been in place since last school year, allowing reports to be sent directly to administration and support staff for immediate action. Please know that all reports are taken seriously and investigated individually.
Celebrations from the Week
We are thrilled to announce that several of our teachers are attending workshops led by NM Arts, which include hands-on, immersive activities. Our dedicated educators are not only participating in these workshops but are also returning to campus inspired and eager to integrate these innovative activities into our current curriculum. This commitment to engaging our students is truly commendable!
Additional Information
- Traffic Update: We have received an update from the traffic engineer and Sgt. Hatch of the Rio Rancho Police Department. Due to the volume of pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area, the stop sign at Adams and Franklin will remain in place. We will continue to collaborate with RRPS Safety & Security and our partners in the police department to improve traffic patterns around our school.
We are grateful for your continued support and partnership in our school community. Thank you for being an essential part of our learning environment.
Warm regards,
SVE Administration
SVE Staff Celebrated 100% Training Compliance!
We filled a truck! Thank you for your donations!
Instruction - Ms. Gonzales
As our semester winds down, I’d like to take some time to recognize a few of the amazing things our teachers are doing:
After attending The Writing Revolution workshop, several teachers have implemented new strategies to support student writing in all content areas. I’ve seen sentence kernels turned into elaborate sentences, and planning sheets turned into published paragraphs.
Several teachers are attending workshops led by NM Arts that include hands-on, immersive activities. Our teachers not only attend the workshops, but have returned to campus with the inspiration and drive to try these activities out, in combination with our current curriculum, to engage students.
We’ve seen positive shifts in math instruction, thanks to the opportunities that teachers are taking to visit other school sites. They watch other teachers teach and learn new techniques to enhance their own math instruction.
Teachers are providing multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding, like acting out vocabulary, creating visual representations of stories, making models of body systems, representing language through string, playing games for reading foundational skills, and using hands-on tools to model addition and subtraction, among many, many more!
I look forward to seeing more positive outcomes as our year continues.
6th - Band Concert CHS
11th - Choir Concert SVE
13th - PJ Day / Movie Night SVE
16-20 Book Fair (Spirit Week)
18th STEAM / Literacy Night
20th - Last Day
January 7th Students Return
Community Partners
Staff Member of the Month:
Related Arts
Visual Arts
Thank you for supporting the art room with your orders from the Square 1 Art fundraiser. If you have ordered Square 1 Art items you should have received them. Please contact me if you have any issues with your orders. heather.armstrong@rrps.net
It is almost the end of 2024 and it is a busy time in the art room! Students have created several clay projects and they will be taking them home in the next couple of weeks. They are excited and very proud to show off their awesome artworks! Be looking forward to a special surprise from your students!
January brings a wonderful display at the Sandoval Regional Medical Center. Students will be notified if their art has been selected to be on display and there will be a special reception for students and families.
I want to wish you a joy filled holiday season and Happy New Year! Thank you for all you do to support the arts and Sandia Vista Elementary!
Music
Counseling
During the month of December we will be focusing on Empathy. One way to think about Empathy is “understanding and connecting with other people’s feelings.” Empathy is a practice that can help us grow strong relationships. Empathy is 1 of 3 traits we will focus on throughout the year that helps students Be Kind. Across grade levels, students will be developing and practicing skills:
Perspective-taking which refers to their ability to consider a situation from another person’s point of view
Conflict resolution which refers to identifying the problem
Big: Big problems require assistance from an adult, which usually means someone is being hurt physically or emotionally.
Small: can be solved on their own without adult assistance.
Naming emotions felt
Make a choice
Move it out (step away from the problem)
Talk it out (talk through the issue or connect with a friend/trusted adult)
Breathe it out (practice some strategies that help us calm our emotions before responding in the heat of the moment).
Defining Leadership and how Empathy plays a role.
STEAM
As we approach the end of the year, students in 4th and 5th are wrapping
up their exploration of states of matter. They are engaged in a hands-on
activity where they will create a substance known as Oobleck, a
non-Newtonian fluid. This simple recipe can easily be replicated at home.
The recipe can be found below.
Students in grades 2 and 3 have been utilizing Indi Spheros to learn about
color coding, which enhances their understanding of coding through
interactive play. Kinder and 1st have been working in stations disguising a
turkey, using kinetic sand, and building bridges and trains.
We would like to remind everyone to mark their calendars for the evening of
December 18th. We will be hosting Explora who will be putting on a
STEAM Activity Night, offering a wonderful opportunity for families to
participate in various STEAM activities together. This event will coincide
with an evening book fair in the library, making it a great occasion for both
learning and enjoyment. More details will follow, and we look forward to a
fun-filled family evening!
OOBLECK RECIPE:
1 1⁄2 Cups of Cornstarch
1 Cup of Water
Big Bowl
Spoon if desired, but hands work too!
A disposable tablecloth will be beneficial for clean-up.
The consistency should resemble that of honey. When pressure is
applied to the substance, it behaves like a solid; when there is no
pressure, it behaves like a liquid. Have fun!
Library / Media
Coach Chavez
We have a limited number of PE class till Winter Break. On your students' PE day have your student wear the proper shoes and clothing.
Dress Code
Students have PE once a week or other special occasion, where they will need to be prepared to participate. The following clothes are essential for the safety and performance of the student, thus effecting the quality of the PE program for all students.
Sneakers:
Shoes should not have an unnaturally high heel, and should completely enclose the student’s foot. They should secure tightly around the foot with laces or Velcro, giving support to both the foot and ankle.
Clothing:
pants/shorts and t-shirt are ideal. Dresses, skirts and the like could be both dangerous and potentially embarrassing in the PE environment.
Ed Tech
Article: Protecting Kids from Unhealthy AI Relationships
Technology Reminders:
Chromebooks do NOT go home with students at the elementary level (students begin taking these home when they go to 6th grade).
Students are able to access educational content used at school from home (using a household device) by going to Clever's login page and using their school credentials.
