Located at the end of Avenida Coatimundi and nestled away into the Patagonia Mountains, the Spanish Colonial style architecture of Coatimundi Middle School creates a welcoming impression of culture and community. Our school is located in the town of Rio Rico, Arizona, approximately 15 miles north of the Mexican border town of Nogales and is part of the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District. Our school population is primarily of Hispanic heritage with a cultural capital centered on family and community.

The adage “it takes a village to raise a child” in the context of education can be translated to, “It takes a professional learning community to effectively educate our students.” Here at Coatimundi Middle School we are always striving to be an effective professional learning community. We were rewarded for our efforts by the Arizona Educational Foundation with an A+ Status in 2011. The Arizona Educational Foundation created the A+ Schools of Excellence Program as a comprehensive school assessment tool to identify, celebrate, and recognize overall educational excellence in schools throughout Arizona.

Our mission and vision statements are our school’s guiding forces. You might notice that present in both the mission and vision statement is the word “everyone.” All stakeholders must be involved in the learning process in order to be successful; we must act in rhythm to achieve a true professional learning community.

Dear Parents/Guardians of Coatimundi Middle School Students:

The 2016-2017 school year is off to a great start! Our teachers are delivering high quality instruction, and our students are coming to school each day eager and ready to learn.

Thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend our open house and Title I meeting. Parents had a chance to meet our new staff, be reintroduced to returning staff members, say hello to their child’s teachers, and visit the classrooms. We love parents to visit our school, and it was a wonderful evening.

We hope that you will continue to encourage your child to get involved with a club, band, or an athletic team. We know that the more a student is involved, the more connected they feel to their school. Students who feel connected to their school perform better academically, so please encourage your child’s involvement. We also hope that you will get involved by joining the STMS school site council or the booster club. Please contact our wonderful parent liaison, Maria Chacon, to get more information about joining.

Our 21^st century program is a tremendous resource for our students. Any student can be a part of this afterschool program. Students receive additional academic support and engage in fun enrichment activities. We will provide an afterschool snack and transportation for any student who signs up, so please encourage your child’s participation.

Thank you for a great start of the school year. We always appreciate your support.

Sincerely,

Lerona Dickson

Lerona Dickson, Principal