Bullying can be a serious concern, but not all student behavior that is mean or unkind is considered bullying.  According to Stopbullying.gov, "Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time."

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

• An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
• Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.  
(source www.stopbullying.gov) 

According to our board policy, “Bullying is the use of coercion or intimidation to obtain control over another person or to cause physical, mental or emotional harm to another person. Bullying can occur through written, verbal or electronically transmitted expression or by means of a physical act or gesture.”  [ See the District policies here > ]

 
If you believe your child is being bullied, please contact your child’s teacher or principal to share your concerns and allow them to look into what may be happening at school and what can be done to address it. 

What is the district’s discipline policy?

The district and each of our schools share a goal of creating a safe and orderly learning environment where all students can learn and achieve to the best of their potential.  To support this, each school has developed a student handbook with a clear set of student behavior expectations and likely consequences if a student misbehaves.   Most discipline is handled at the school level in response to student behavior that violates the school’s rules and expectations outlined in the handbook.  Typical school discipline consists of a teacher speaking to a student in the classroom to address misbehavior, teachers calling parents to let them know about concerns with student behavior, and teachers referring a student to the Assistant Principal or Principal to address concerns with behavior.

In the instances where a student’s behavior is dangerous or disruptive a student may be suspended.  In rare instances where a student’s behavior is very dangerous or significantly disruptive a student may be referred for an expulsion.  All students are provided with due process and a hearing at the district if they are being recommended for expulsion.  

The district has adopted a discipline policy that provides more information on our discipline as well as student and parent rights in the process. See the District Policies page here >>

The district is proud to offer a variety of sports and extra-curricular activities for boys and girls at the Cortez Middle School and Montezuma Cortez High School.   We know that for many students, playing sports or participating in an extra-curricular activity is a great opportunity to learn valuable leadership, perseverance, and team building skills.  

To be eligible to participate in sports, students need to complete a physical, agree to the athlete’s code of conduct, provide proof of insurance (if applicable), and pay a small equipment fee (if applicable).  To learn more about the available sports and how to sign up please contact your school.

To learn more about other extra-curricular activities such as band, choir, FFA, FCCLA, theatre and more. To learn about these activities please contact your school.

Our elementary schools also offer running clubs, school-to-farm, and other enrichment activities.  To learn more please contact your school.

It is important that your child's teachers and school leaders have an opportunity to hear your concerns and help come to a resolution, so your first step to is set up a meeting with the teacher or principal. Remember that there are two sides to every story so try to assume best intentions in your discussion of the concerns. If - after speaking to the teacher and principal - you feel that the concern is not resolved, contact the Superintendent's office at (970) 565-7522

Parent/teacher conferences are held twice a year at each school site. These conferences provide one-on-one time between parents and teachers to discuss their child's academic, behavioral, and social progress in school. Conferences are a time to share and celebrate a child's strengths, identify any areas of concern, and to identify ways to help your child succeed in school.

The primary mission of the Cortez School District Department of Special Education is to provide appropriate special education programming and services for all students with educational disabilities and to promote programming that will accomplish the successful transition of students with disabilities from school to post-school activities, including post-secondary education, independent living, and community participation.  If you believe your child has special needs or a learning disability please contact your school’s special education teacher or school psychologist, or Special Education Director Adria Bogle at 970-247-3261, for further information on special education referrals and the evaluation process in the Montezuma-Cortez School District.

What is an IEP?
An IEP (Individualized Education Plan) is a written summary that defines activities and goals to meet the student’s educational needs. It is a collaborative effort to create the best instructional program for the student who has an identified disability. It identifies the educational supports that a student needs to ensure his or her educational success. IEPs are reviewed and updated annually.

What to Expect at the IEP Meeting
When the evaluation is completed, the special education team will meet with you and your student to share the evaluation results and any other pertinent information. The team includes the parent/guardian; the regular classroom teacher; special education teacher; school psychologist; and possibly the district nurse. The team also may include additional specialists as appropriate. This team will review and discuss the child’s present level of academic achievement and functional performance, including educational strengths and needs. The group will identify specifically designed instruction and accommodations, if necessary, for your student to participate in the general curriculum and/or appropriate activities. The team also identify accommodations, if needed, for district assessments and state test administration. 

The IEP team will make a determination of disability. If the team determines that the child has a disability, it will develop measurable annual goals and a plan to enable the child to successfully meet those goals. If the team determines that the student does not have a disability, it will identify regular education programming to ensure the student’s educational success.

In either case, parents will receive a final copy of the child’s IEP, and the IEP team will provide key school personnel with individually tailored recommendations to serve the student.

The District works with all teachers to make their lessons challenging to students of all abilities including gifted and talented students.  This may look like more challenging assignments or special projects.  This District also offers knowledge bowl, spelling bee, and other enrichment activities in elementary.  In middle and high school students can enroll in advanced classes, concurrent enrollment, career and technical classes and take advantage of various student leadership opportunities. 

The district is proud to partner with many community partners and resources to support parents including:

• Pinion Project
• Montelores Early Childhood Council
• Montezuma School to Farm
• Southwest Youth Corp
• Food Bank
• Four Corners Child Advocacy Center
• Montezuma County Smile Makers

We love having parent and community volunteers in our schools and our students love it even more!  You can make a difference in the lives of our students and there are so many ways to get involved.   

We need your input and ideas to make our schools even better!  Each school has a parent/community team that helps improve the school and support key activities.  These groups are called school improvement committees or parent teacher organizations.  Please consider joining these teams and/or attending the meetings. 

There are also many other volunteer opportunities including reading wtih students, chaperoning activities, mentoring students, getting involved in Watch Dog Dads, assisting with coaching sports, sponsoring clubs, assisting with academic competitions like Knowledge Bowl or Destination Imagination, and donating snacks or food for our backpack programs.  Contact your school to learn more about how you can get involved!

Individuals volunteering in the RE-1 School District must complete a volunteer application with Human Resources before starting volunteer work in the schools.

The district has developed policies for snow days and closures. You will be notified via our Non-Emergency communication protocal as soon possible once a decision is made.