Sunset View Elementary

[violent cello]

Originally Posted by Poncho_NM

I have to bite my tongue and not comment when it comes to the education system. I have had a lot of friends who were/are teachers. I was a military instructor. There is a lot that I just do not understand....


Rich

I feel you. I was a COLLEGE instructor for a number of years and was really surprised at just how much, ahem, administrative BS crept in there. I'd hoped that college was the last place you could just teach without interference, but no. That's all gone.

[lobo]

Originally Posted by rochal

Lobo: Wow! How long has it taken for Sunset View and Tierra Antigua to be built? I guess we're coming at the right time. We just put in a rental application yesterday where our daughter would attend Sunset View. We're very excited! I looked on their website and I didn't see a calendar for next year. Do you know where I can find a school calendar for next year for Sunset View? We're moving there in July but we wanted to do some sight seeing before school starts so I'd like to plan that out. Thanks!

The schools both broke ground last year in the late spring (maybe in May?). The area just boomed with new houses and families moving in.

Here's a calendar for the district for '09-'10. There will be a couple of inservice days (usually around October and April) that aren't on the calendar yet. Other than that, this should give you the info you need for planning dates. The schools do have pre-registration where you do have to show up before the actual start dates. Since the first day is on Aug. 17th, "Meet the Teacher Day" will probably be the Wed, Thurs. or Fri. before that.

http://www.boardbook.org/apps/bbv2/temp/D34F0CEB-B8E0-898F-04A258E6CCF91A53.pdf (broken link)

[lobo]

For anyone interested, here's a news clip from both Sunset View and Tierra Antigua's ribbon cutting/opening day events. Both schools opened their new campuses yesterday.

Opening of Tierra Antigua Elementary

[hml13]

Hi there! is anyone looking for before and after school care for Tierra Antigua Elementary? I have three spots to fill and offer a hot breakfast, snacks and help with homework.

[JasmineX]

Originally Posted by rochal

I believe this school is around Sunset View....does anyone know anything about it? Thanks.

I think if you go to aps.edu, you can find the aps site. Tierra Antigua is one of three elementary schools in the Ventana Ranch area. The other two are Sunset View Elementary and Ventana Ranch Elementary. The west side has had a tremendous amount of growth in the area; so overcrowding was an issue. I'm not sure it still is. My children attend Sunset View Elementary. The school is beautiful and huge. The teachers my kids have were very knowledgeable, and I had no issues this past school year with them. The class sizes were reasonable with another teacher hired when it was needed. I though my son would go to James Monroe Middle School which is located in front of the elementary school, but APS says our middle school should be Tony Hillerman Middle School, and I am desperate to find something else for my son. They are rated F on the state scale, and the news stories which made the evening news were all about bullying on campus with some phone video showing fights. That's what's scary to me. I've been researching charters, and the one I'm looking at is Cottonwood Classical. It's upper school (9-12) is the top school in New Mexico, and the middle school is rated in the top ten. The lottery has already passed, so I called. The waiting list for the school is 500+. If that many people want their kids to go there; there must be something there. It does require a lot of community service hours the family donates in service to the school. The kids have to do community service, but they have that program really set up, so it's something they do with their peers. They have 2 week breaks scheduled in the fall, winter and spring breaks which might be a problem, but it also sounds like an actual break. They sound like academics are the most important thing, not the clothes the kids wear, and not the extracurricular activities. If we don't get in this year, then I'm absolutely going to likely pursue this for my son in 7th grade.