Dear Cienega Parents and Community,

February is a highly active month as we have settled into the second semester of the school year and are a few weeks away from Spring break. As I walk the campus, students are actively engaged in learning and preparing for the upcoming high stakes state testing. They are in the "healthy learning struggle mode". Teachers are giving that push as they prepare students to finish strong for this school year.

February also brought to the community Vail Pride Day. Under the planning of the Vail Pride Day Committee, the beautiful day was filled with activities, performances, and awards. At my 15th and final Vail Pride Day as principal, I had the honor of recognizing many Cienega students for academic achievements. I value the comment made by John Anderson, a Cienega parent / Site Council member, and engineer by trade:

Today was a special day for me, seeing my son Garrett recognized for his National Merit Scholarship, and sharing the moment with such amazing people.  I can't begin to express my immense satisfaction with the Vail School District in educating our youth.  Given the budget realities of Arizona with respect to public education, what you continue to achieve is nothing sort of amazing.  So allow me to express my heartfelt thanks for all you do.  It makes a difference.

The day brought a successful Silent Auction a capstone to a major fund-raising effort as parents and students came together to make the large purchase of the Copper Thunder Marching Band uniforms for our growing marching band. It is awesome to know that we have marching band members from our sister high schools. The band is projected to be 150 students strong who will be outfitted in stunning (much needed) newly designed and fabricated uniforms. The budget realities were overcome for this purchase because of the dedication of the band parents and students and the support of our community. A great display of Vail Pride and a sincere thank you.

In addition to the academic honors of our students, our fine arts students and Color Guard have achieved high marks again this semester, our winter-season athletes are setting records and continuing in state championship competitions and our student activities and clubs are committing to hundreds of community service hours. Our community embraces our teenagers - again a great display of Vail Pride.

As we continue to work with your children, we want to commit that we will do the best we can in our partnership with you. Imagine a triangle. Students are at the top of the triangle with the school and the parents at each corner as the base to support the student. We will offer intercession courses and the SEP Final workshop during the March break. Your support to enroll your student in these intervention courses contributes to the commitment for them to finish strong for this school year. Please contact us or look at our website and Facebook postings for registration information.

I can't thank you enough for your continued support and your Vail Pride.

Respectfully,

Dr. Tricia Pe�a

Principal

A lifelong Cienega Bobcat

HEY BOBCAT!!! You a wild thing? Wanna ride zip lines 60 feet up, go whitewater rafting and kayaking, visit hot springs and ride horses? HEY!!! Have you always wanted to see the REAL rainforest? Do you love animals and plants? Want to see tree frogs and monkeys and crazy plants and flowers you never dreamed exist? Wanna go to waterfalls and a place called "cloud forest"?

HEY!! Love Spanish? Wanna speak it in real life? Wanna eat fresh mangoes, watch folklorico dancers? COME TO COSTA RICA with Mrs. Conrad and Dr. Rathman next Spring. Insanely cheap & your money goes far. Use Vail Vouchers toward the trip. Only $95.00 to sign up and secure your spot on this amazing tour. 

Let's GO!!!!  $100 off if you sign up before the end of February. Stop in and talk to Mrs. Conrad in room 524 or Dr. Rathman in room 512 for more information, or email at:  conradk@vail.k12.az.us  or   rathmanr@vail.k12.az.us 

Bobcat parents: Just a reminder about our Absence policy - 7 is 7 - A student may only accumulate 6 absences in any one class to receive credit for that class. Please check your student's attendance on PowerSchool to keep up on their absences.

Please support the Esmond Station 5k on March 8th. This event benefits the Vail Preservation Society and the Cienega Construction Technology Preservation Project... Vendor Fair and more....

CLICK HERE FOR FLIER 

Yes, it's finally ready!  The students are very excited about the completing the restoration of their '68 VW Karmann Ghia Coupe. The six year top to bottom refurbishing of the Ghia by students now enters the "show-off" stage, as the car will be put on display at a few local cars shows.  The first unveiling was at Chirco Performance and Restoration, the main corporate sponsor for the car, and then it was shown at Vail Pride Day. 

If you would like to see the car at a local show, the Cienega Facebook page will have the show dates posted, or you can contact AC3 Club Advisor Michael Keck at keckm@vail.k12.az.us for information. Nice Job Students!

We have several fundraisers planned over the next couple of months to help raise some much needed money for the new band uniforms.  

One of our fundraisers is a 5k on May 17th. We are calling it the Band Aid 5k.  Save the date!  Click here for more info.  

 Freedom With Responsibility

It's not always easy turning an obstacle into an asset but that is exactly what happened when Cienega launched its Freedom With Responsibility program. Often times Juniors and Seniors prefer to take only five classes. This creates some scheduling conflicts amongst 11^th and 12^th grade core courses. As a result we have begun offering students a freedom with responsibility or FWR period. When students receive FWR, they sign a contract that states they will stay in certain areas and follow school expectations. Nearly every period a guest can walk through our lovely campus and see students reading books sitting under trees, or working on group assignments around a table. Sometime they may be doing a college search in our Career Center or just relaxing in the Bobcat Caf�. Students are able to maintain this privilege as long as they are respectful and follow expectations. So far, FWR has been a great success!

Congratulations to the following students: 

Behavioral & Social Science:

1^st Alexandria Peck

2^nd Elizabeth Carter & Harry Fuertes

3^rd Morgan Bauer

Microbiology

1^st Emilio Pizarro

2^nd Megan Joyner

3^rd Emily Clark

Computer Science

1^st Briana Ibarra & Alonso Huizar

2^nd Da'Qavious Brown & Angel Baez

3^rd Alexis Balderrama

Botany

1^st Serena Martinez

2^nd Kacey Davenport

3^rd Ciara Walden

Physics

1^st Keven-Madarien Biggs & Shane Burton

2^nd Quinn Pond

3^rd Morgan Hoose & Robert Ramirez

Zoology

1^st Destiny Richardson

2^nd Bryana Boswell & Cienna Coon

3^rd Angela DiOrio

Environmental Science

1^st Caitlin Tomczyk

2^nd Justice Rosaschi

Earth & Space Science

3^rd Jacob Bowles

Medicine & Health

1^st Claudia Ortega

2^nd Wyatt Dansby

3^rd Kelaiah Dillard & Thairah Owens-Arnold

Biology

1^st Catherine Chiara

2^nd Corwyn Krassy

3^rd Wiley Holladay

Chemistry

1^st Seneca Fonseca

2^nd Kayli Riesgo

3^rd Briana Fjugstad

Engineering

1^st Aron Carey

2^nd Sergio Pizarro

3^rd Tyler Maxwell

Cienega Seniors are definitely C2G College!  Over 150 college acceptance letters have been sent to the students in the Class of 2014.  Each time a senior brings in an acceptance letter, they will be entered into a drawing to in an iPad to be given away at Honors Night on Wednesday, May 14th.

 

General Senior Reminders:

• If your student is taking any courses through correspondence or Dual Enrollment through Pima, it is their responsibility to bring the transcript from that school to the registrar in order to get credit for the class and to be able to participate in graduation ceremonies. This deadline is MAY 1^st unless taking a Pima class. That deadline will be two days after the class has been completed.
• If 7 absences are accumulated in any class regardless of the reason, unless it is a school related activity, THE STUDENT WILL NOT PASS THE CLASS AND WILL NOT GRADUATE IF THE CLASS IS A REQUIREMENT FOR GRADUATION! An appeal may be scheduled after May 1^st for illness or extenuating circumstances.
• Seniors planning on attending a four year college should have applied to their schools by now.  You may lose valuable scholarship opportunities by procrastinating any longer.
• Be sure to check the CHS Website for updated scholarship opportunities. The link can be found by entering the website at http://chs.vail.k12.az.us click on "Counselor" link, from there click on "Scholarships". This page is updated regularly, so check back often.
• Senioritis can sometimes creep up on students.  Please be aware of this and monitor your students attendance and grades carefully so that there will be no unhappy surprises in May when it is time to celebrate the graduation of your son or daughter from Cienega.
• Please utilize PowerSchool on a regular basis and stay informed of the progress your son or daughter is making in his or her classes https://ps.vail.k12.az.us/public/home.html
• Too many seniors have still not passed their Senior Project Paper or Portfolio. If your senior has a class called SEP Ineligible on their schedule, be aware they must have a passing grade by spring break or they will be required to attend intercession to complete this portion of the SEP. Student who do not have a passing paper and portfolio when the 4^th quarter starts will not be allowed to participate in the graduation ceremony in May.

Get your spirit wear at the bookstore! 

The 6th Annual African American Youth Heritage Day was historically educational and a fun event. We learned about the culture, arts and the struggle that people of color fought to make sure we had equal opportunities. We learn the importance of education and the different types of black colleges that were put in place for African Americans to express their culture without having racial tension. This was an amazing opportunity. I would encourage every student to attend the next African American Youth Heritage event.   

Christa Talbot 

The following students attended the event: Taylor Bacon, Destinee Blanchard, Veron Chapple, Alexandria Clark,  

January has come and gone and February is flying by!

Our College and Career Fair was a huge success! We had 45 presenters from all over the state. It was our largest fair to date. Thank you to all of our fabulous volunteers for helping us out.

Our Science Fair judging was equally successful. We had a great turnout and our volunteers really came through for us again.

Volunteers seen on campus: Larry Baldasare, Richard Lopez, Ken Sutton, Nancy Pearlman, Laurie Acker, Alan Hutton, Claudine Williams, Tanja Kaletsch, Matt Hoose, Chach Jackson, Vicki Gricius, KiKi Ngo, Christina Huynh, Quang Huynh, Vithal Patel, John Anderson, Kim Solomon, Marissa Long, Logene Bach, Charles Bach, Raymond Hyte, Juana Hernandez, Ronda Dillon, Wendy Clark and Paula Boswell.

Happy Rodeo!

Patty McKnight

Sincerely,

Patty McKnight 

Volunteer Coordinator

Cienega High School

mcknightp@vail.k12.az.us 

879-2811

Connections
High Standards
Success

Cienega High School

Vision Statement

Cienega High School creates an educational environment utilizing partnerships among community, parents, and staff to assist students in maximizing their academic potential and promoting life-long learning.

Special Education Secretary Kim Lomax 879-1804

Communications Coordinator

Elizabeth Taggart - 879-2878 taggarte@vail.k12.az.us 

Follow Us on FACEBOOK 

Follow CHS on Twitter 

Would you like an extra 4 pages in your yearbook that you design?  This year, you can buy an extra 4 pages to be put in only your yearbook.  Go to yearbookyourself.com  

for more information.