Farmington Municipal Schools

April 17, 2023: What a great day for tennis! Here are some images from today’s District Dual between Farmington High School and Piedra Vista High School.

April 17, 2023: Congratulations to the PVC Pipettes on placing 2nd in the 5A Treble Choir Contest. Their music selections were “Tanzen und Springen,” “Weep, O Mine Eyes,” and “Witness.” Kudos to Music Director Mr. James Golden.

April 17, 2023: Congratulations to Piedra Vista Chamber Choir on placing 2nd in the Class 5A State Choir Contest. Their music selections were “Invictus,” “Sure On This Shining Night,” and “Rosas Pandan.” Kudos to Music Director Mr. James Golden.

April 17, 2023: Congratulations to the Heights Middle School Troubadours for winning the Middle School / Junior High State Choir Contest! This is the second year in a row that Heights has won the middle school competition. This year, their music selections were “O Magnum Mysterium,” “Bringers of Noise”, and “Ten Thousand Miles.” Kudos to Music Director Ms. Siromani Leath.

Twenty students from Mesa View, Heights, and Hermosa Middle School participated in the New Mexico National History Day competition on Saturday, April 15, in Albuquerque. Grace McWilliams and Genevieve Peterson of Heights Middle School took 2nd place in Junior Group Website, while Paige Kimball, Diya Linga, and Adalyn Haskill also from Heights Middle School received the Women's History Special Award. Great job, Knights! Hosted at the University of New Mexico, the theme for this year’s competition was “Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.” The purpose of the annual theme is for students to frame their research while allowing for a broad application to world, national, state, or local history and its relevance from ancient history to the more recent past.

FMS's Mental Health Coordinator, Hope Trujillo, along with the Aztec Municipal School District led a county wide PREPaRE training sponsored by Indian Health Services. Participants from FMS, Aztec, Bloomfield, CCSD, San Juan College, and Navajo Prep joined together earlier this week to improve and strengthen school safety, crisis management plans, and emergency response. . PREPaRE is a 2-day workshop that develops the knowledge and skills required to provide immediate mental health crisis interventions to the students, staff, and school community members who have been exposed to an acute traumatic stressor. . #WeAreFMS #PREPaRE #MentalHealthWorkshop

That's how the cookie crumbles! FMS Student Nutrition helped to sponsor a super fun cookie decorating activity for Ms. Zastrow’s Hotel Restaurant Tourism Management class at Farmington High School. Students learned all the decorating basics from Lexy Grinnan and Thalia Harrington of Main Street Sweets. Students also received a special lesson on entrepreneurship from business owners. What a sweet treat! . #LearningAtFMS #CookieDecorating #Bakery #MainStreetSweets

FMS Student Nutrition works closely with K-12 by Elior in providing our students with the absolute best in nourishment and wellness. In last week's newsletter provided by Elior, one of our amazing team members was highlighted for volunteering at Farmington High School for their production of "The Wizard of Oz". . "We want to thank Ty Johnson for his amazing work in donating his time and talents to the Farmington High School Drama department to paint such a beautiful set for them. Thank you for caring about our schools and our community! We are so proud to have you as a part of our team!" -Kelli Stradling . #RisingToExcellenceInEveryPursuit #K12ByElior #Volunteering #Community . Photo Credit: Elior North America

FMS families, just a quick reminder that each of our middle schools will be hosting a Parent Night for Incoming 6th Graders on Tuesday, April 11, from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Get a feel for the new building. Meet next year’s new teachers and staff. See you there! For more information, you can contact our middle schools: https://www.farmingtonschools.us/page/schools.

We had the pleasure of chatting with the tech-savvy quartet behind Farmington High School's “Server Central,” a student-produced podcast on all things tech. Austin Bechdol, Ronald Boushee, Dakota Thompson, and North Sloat shared their experiences creating the show, admitting that their first episode was a bit of a challenge. But you wouldn't know it from their fifth episode, where they worked seamlessly together, researching topics before diving into discussions. They even brought in a special guest, FHS Assistant Principal Mr. Christopher Argotsinger, to weigh in on the topic of Analog versus Digital. This 30-minute student-produced podcast started as an idea at the start of the school year. The students pitched it to their Teacher and Athletic & Activities Coordinator, Johnny Curry, and the brainstorming began. The result is a thought-provoking and entertaining show. And the best part? It will continue even after the seniors graduate next month, ensuring that “Server Central” remains a staple of FHS Live. Ready to tune in? Head over to https://www.fhslive.com to check out “Server Central” for yourself!

During our last Equity Council Meeting, the team tackled the important initiative of boosting attendance rates and showing students the immense value of regular school attendance. They came up with some great ideas, like providing transportation and assisting with clothing and hygiene needs that may be keeping kids away from class. Currently, around 800 students miss school every day, bringing the attendance rate down to 91 percent. But the team is determined to raise that number to at least 94 percent by the end of the school year. During the second part of the meeting, special guests Genevieve Hiltebrand and Michele Yazzie spoke to the team about Navajo Math Circles and how incorporating cultural strategies can help Native American students make meaningful connections to math. In the photo, you can see Ms. Hiltebrand (left) and Ms. Yazzie brainstorming with the group about ways to engage students with exciting events and activities. If you're curious about Navajo Math Circles, you won't want to miss this fantastic video: https://vimeo.com/207857116. To learn more about the Equity Council, which includes students, parents, community members, and district leaders working together to support underserved student groups, check out our website: https://www.farmingtonschools.us/page/fms-equity-council.

April 10, 2023: Earlier this month, Mario Acosta conducted training with our principals and assistant principals on high-functioning collaborative teams. The training lasted two days and included thoughtful discussions on the changes students experience going from middle to high school, how to help students underperforming, concentrate on the mastery of content, create a plan for recovery, inform parents on how to monitor their student’s progress, and making sure teachers receive the help they need to support students struggling in their classrooms. We are always working to make sure our students get the best education possible, and we have professionals like Dr. Acosta to help us with this important work. Dr. Acosta is an expert in making sure schools have an effective culture, aiding teachers improve their skills, and making sure all students have the support they need to succeed. More to come.

April 06, 2023: School administrators will take an internal survey to decide on an updated 2023-2024 Academic Calendar. As you may know, the passage of HB 130 – K-12 Plus Program increased the minimum number of instructional hours from 990 for elementary school and 1,080 for middle and high school to 1,140 for all students, which means Farmington Municipal Schools needs to update the calendar approved in January. An updated calendar should be available by April 17. More to come.

FMS In The News: Law enforcement weighs in on social media influence and school threats. By Scarlett Lisjak, KOB. There are more and more of these cases turning up on law enforcement desks but for a reason you might not expect. “We are investigating more of them, but I don’t know if there is more threats there is just a higher volume and a different method of reporting them than there have been in the past,” Dowdy said. Read more: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/law-enforcement-weighs-in-on-social-media-influence-and-school-threats/

Mark your calendars, FMS. The first 40 students will receive a book!

Here's a sneak peek for a little video project that we are working on with FMS Student Nutrition! Its always a pleasure to visit Ms. Hawkins' class at Esperanza. The students are always able to grab a healthy snack fresh off the vine. Stay tuned for a special video coming very soon! . #RisingToExcellenceInEveryPursuit #IndoorGarden #FreshVeggies

FMS In The News: Farmington HS robotics club helps students get interested in math and science. By Scarlett Lisjak, KOB. You may remember building birdhouses in high school, well now students are learning how to build robots and fly drones. Welcome to the Farmington High School’s Robotics Club. Read more: https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/farmington-hs-robotics-club-helps-students-get-interested-in-math-and-science/

April 4, 2023: This afternoon, the Board of Education approved Resolution 2023-R13 which selects a general contractor for re-roofing projects at Mesa View Middle School and Esperanza Elementary School. The general contractor selected for these projects is Jaynes Corporation. The projects have a budget of 500 thousand dollars and one million 800 thousand dollars, respectively, and are funded by American Recovery Plan assets. More to come.

Here’s what we have coming up for breakfast and lunch in April, FMS. Today we celebrate National Chocolate Mousse Day! Students that have lunch with us will receive a delicious chocolate mousse treat, except for our preschools that are not in sessions on Mondays. Don't worry if your student's school is not offering a hot breakfast item, they are still getting a delicious and nutritious grab-and-go breakfast to enjoy in their classroom! Looking for our menus? Find them at https://www.farmingtonschools.us.

We're not pranking you! Race 2 Educate tickets are on sale. If you've been thinking about joining us for the marathon coming up on June 2nd and 3rd now is the time to register. We have reduced prices for a limited time but act quick, this offer won't last! We also have some swag bags still available to the first 100 registrants! . This 24 hour endurance challenge is hosted by the Foundation for Educational Excellence and this is one of their ways to raise money to help support our teachers with special projects and scholarships! What an awesome way to support them in supporting educators! There will be music, food, and tons of fun. We hope to see you there! . Please register at https://farmingtonschools.info/RaceToEducate2023 #Race2Educate #24HourEnduranceChallenge #Running #MountainBiking #Pickleball . Special thanks to PESCO, Four Corners Community Bank, Pinon Family Practice, Sandstone Cycles, NutriMeals, 505 Cycles, Barefoot Bikes, and Brown's Shoe Fit Co for their donations and sponsorship for this event!