A Message from the High School Principal

Greetings from the Santa Fe Indian School High School Academic Program! I hope you are all

well and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

We have had an exciting first quarter of our academic year with our 438 high school students and

59 staff members, 43 of whom are teachers. All high school core subject teachers meet the highly

-qualified teacher requirement of the State of New Mexico.

With the help from the high school faculty and staff members, it is my intent to continue to pro-

mote a positive learning environment for our students and to encourage communication between

the high school program and our communities, while promoting a meaningful and challenging

curriculum.

The content of this first newsletter focuses on the major events that have transpired during the

first quarter. In the next newsletter, I will share first quarter data related to our academic pro-

gram goals outlined on page 9 in this newsletter.

The time we have remaining in our first semester is quite brief because of All Souls and Thanks-

giving breaks leading quickly to semester’s end before Christmas. When students return from

All Souls break, they will have four and half weeks of instructional time before they begin their

first semester exams. Because instructional days are so few, I ask that parents emphasize to their

children the importance of concentrating on their academic goals and attendance.

I am very proud to share that the high school attendance rate for this first quarter is 95.83%.

Congratulations to our students and their parents for this excellent rating. Let’s continue to

maintain this high rate of attendance by keeping our children in school as much as possible.

Thank you for your help in this endeavor and for your overall support of the program.

Sincerely,

Felisa Gulibert

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Volume 3

Issue 1

Aug-Oct

2013-14

Academic News

The 2013-2014 school year has

gotten off to a busy start for the

class of 2015. In the first quarter,

students had a class orientation

day, started a new curriculum for

the College and Career Readiness

(CCR) class, went on a field trip,

elected class officers, and set class

goals. The class is organizing a va-

riety of activities and events to

continue the convocation topics

related to the Native core values

and to raise funds for the prom.

Orientation Day

The eleventh grade team held ori-

entation day on campus. In the

morning, students rotated to vari-

ous stations focused on strategies

for academic success, including

discussion of the SFIS core values.

In the afternoon, students partici-

pated in an assortment of team-

building activities. These activities

created class camaraderie and built

positive peer relationships. Overall,

students had fun throughout the

day focusing on academic success

within a supportive community.

CCR Modules

In response to student feedback

about last year’s CCR, the eleventh

grade team developed a new curric-

ulum this year. The curriculum

now consists of two to three week

modules scheduled throughout the

year. At the CCR curriculum sign-

up fair, each student enrolled for

five modules of his or her choice

for the fall semester. The eleventh

grade team offered fourteen mod-

ules this fall that address a variety

of career and college readiness top-

ics, including interview etiquette,

budgeting, and leadership.

Students are responding positively

to this curriculum. They like the

range of options that align to their

career and college interests and

needs.

Class Field Trip

On September 24, 2013, the elev-

enth grade team went on a class

field trip to the Santa Fe National

Forest. This is the first of three

planned field trips focused on the

theme “Continuing the Convoca-

tion.” Each field trip will focus on

a few of the ten elements. This first

trip concentrated on two of the ten

elements: environment and health.

Students participated in hands-on

activities that made connections

between their course content and

environment and health.

Class Officers Lead Activities

The 2015 class officers and the stu-

dent in the leadership module are

busy planning and implementing

multiple activities for the year.

They worked hard with the home-

coming class competitions, are

planning for the big winter ball

fundraiser in January, and are

looking at sites for the 2014 prom.

Students will be working with par-

ents to support their fundraising

efforts.

The Class of 2014 hit the ground

running this school year. They

arrived on August 19th ready to

build and beautify the SFIS out-

door classroom space for academic

activities. Working on the outdoor

classroom will be an ongoing pro-

ject for the senior class, as they

hope to leave this outdoor space as

a gift to the SFIS students for fu-

ture generations to utilize.

The senior team has adopted a new

CCR schedule this year focused on

weekly seminars that are relevant

to senior transition into college

and careers, and training for every-

day life skills. Time is also sched-

uled for sustained silent reading

and class meetings. On Thursdays

seniors can get academic help

from their teachers .

On October 16th , half of the sen-

iors traveled to UNM to conduct

SHP research related to their pro-

jects, while the other seniors trav-

eled to SFCC, where they partici-

pated in the ropes challenge course

and toured the campus. Second

semester the seniors will alternate

these activities.

Information About the Class of 2014

Information About the Class of 2015

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The class of 2017 began the

school year with a brief orienta-

tion on Monday, August 19. The

students received their class

schedules and separated into their

College and Career Readiness

(CCR) class groups. In these

groups, they completed team

building activities and a campus

tour. The students then worked

individually on reflective ques-

tions about themselves before

breaking into small groups to use

iPads to create iMovies about

themselves and their goals for the

future. They later shared these

movies in their CCR class.

In late September, the freshman

class participated in a commit-

ment ceremony at the Pueblo Pa-

vilion Wellness Center. Parents,

families, teachers, and staff sup-

ported the students as they com-

mitted to graduate with the class

in 2017. The senior class escorted

the freshmen to the ceremony,

and Superintendent Herrera and

High School Principal Ms. Gu-

libert welcomed the students and

parents. Each student received a

school lanyard and a small diplo-

ma card to remind them of their

commitment to graduate. They

also signed a class banner which

is displayed in the MST lobby.

During homecoming week, the

freshman students created a bulle-

tin board and parade float around

the theme of bullying and hazing

prevention. They also fully sup-

ported the efforts of the Lady

Braves soccer team by attending

the games and making banners.

The class was able to build posi-

tive relationships with each other

by planning and working together

on these activities.

The ninth grade team is working

on implementing an interdiscipli-

nary unit for the freshman stu-

dents on the theme of water. The

students will learn about water

conservation, water rights, and a

variety of other issues connected

to the theme. The unit will contin-

ue throughout the semester and

will culminate with a common

portfolio synthesis presentation in

December.

This is the second year the ninth

grade teachers are implementing

the Career Choices curriculum

from Academic Innovations in

freshman CCR classes. Career

Choices focuses on three central

questions:

Who am I?

What do I want?

How do I get it?

This curriculum helps freshmen

transition into high school and

allows them to reflect on their

own personal strengths and visu-

alize how to accomplish their

goals for the future. By the end

of the school year, each student

will have constructed an online

portfolio, which includes a ten-

year plan to help guide their

choices throughout high school

for academic success.

The class of 2016 is off to a good

start. The students have elected

their class officers: Michael Ban-

croft, president; Emanuel Vigil,

vice-president; Hanna-Marie

Lucero, treasurer; Raelene

Woody, secretary; and Craig Pa-

jarito, historian. Three class goals

have also been established. These

goals are:

The class of 2016 will have a

class grade point average

(GPA) of 2.5 or higher.

The class of 2016 will reduce

behavioral referrals by 15% as

compared to 2012-2013 data.

The class of 2016 will have an

average attendance rate of

90% or higher.

For the first class fundraiser, the

students sold breakfast burritos on

Po’Pay Day. A class goal is to

enter their junior year with a sub-

stantial amount of money to de-

fray the costs of the junior/senior

prom in 2015.

The class of 2016 has designed

the CCR curriculum around four

modules. The first module was

derived from the Freshman Ca-

reer Choices and centers on the

continuation of the program

called Get Focused/Stay Fo-

cused. It assists students in the

continuation of their 10 year plan.

The second module called Life-

style Mathematics is centered on

every day mathematics with real-

world situations. Career Choices

is used in conjunction with this

module. The third module is de-

signed to assist students with the

interdisciplinary portfolio by

teaching specific research skills.

The fourth module provides aca-

demic assistance for students to

get tutoring from their teachers.

Information About the Class of 2016

Information About the Class of 2017

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PO’PAY FEAST

On October 14, the

Santa Fe Indian

School community

celebrated Po’Pay

Feast with special

activities through-

out the day. The

atmosphere sur-

rounding the event was filled with sounds of drum-

ming, dance, and song as students, staff and their

families joined in the celebration wearing traditional

clothing and eating traditional food. Students and

staff participated in an early morning prayer and a

run before classes began. The cafeteria staff pre-

pared a Native Pueblo feast enjoyed by everyone.

The feast day culminated with traditional dances at

the end of the day.

The celebration supports students to better under-

stand the history of the Pueblo Revolt and Po’Pay’s

role as a Native American hero. The social studies

department organized the successful event with

Pueblo community members and SFIS students and

staff.

SCHOOL SPIRIT ALIVE AT SFIS

SFIS students showed their competitive school spirit during Homecom-

ing spirit week, held October 7-12. The grade level classes wore their

colors and dressed to the theme identified for each day. The highlights

for the week included the homecoming pep rally, homecoming dance,

talent show, homecoming parade, money war jars, bulletin board com-

petition, and sports activities that included soccer and volleyball games.

The events culminated with the homecoming football game and corona-

tion of the royal court. Our football team won the game against

Mescalero. The athletes played a very impressive game. Below is the

2013 homecoming royal court:

Queen Maggie Whaler Santo Domingo, Jemez, Cherokee

King Evren Martinez Santa Clara, San Ildefonso

Junior Princess Courtenae Magdalena Jemez, Navajo

Jr. Prince Nicholas Pino Acoma

Sophomore Princess Alliyah Coriz Santo Domingo

Sophomore Prince Eddie Humetewa San Felipe, Santo Domingo

Freshman Princess Cierra Bailon Santo Domingo

Freshman Prince Brandon Coriz Santo Domingo

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SFIS STUDENTS EARN COLLEGE

CREDITS

The high school academic program continues to offer

advanced placement (AP) courses in world history,

English III language/composition, U.S. government

and politics, and English IV literature/composition.

Students can earn college credit if they pass the AP

exam in May 2014.

In addition, SFIS students in grades 10-12 may enroll

in dual credit courses for college credit. The dual

credit courses include: Cochiti Keres I & II, Navajo I

& II, senior honors project, 2D fundamentals-color

theory, Engineering I/Drafting I, and digital video

editing/production.

New dual credit courses added this year are: Santo

Domingo Keres and Ohkay Owingeh Tewa.

PARENTS LEARN ABOUT SPECIAL

EDUCATION

The SFIS Special Education Department sponsored

the annual fall special education parents’ night on Oc-

tober 25. Superintendent Herrera, high school princi-

pal Felisa Gulibert, and mid school principal Larkin

Vigil welcomed the parents. The special education

teachers and staff facilitated the activities. The parent

workshop agenda included BIE Parent Survey, self-

advocacy, the 2013 NMSBA results, MAP testing,

and accommodations.

Parents played bingo in relation to the special educa-

tion acronyms, assessment, and advocacy terms.

SFIS administrators, special education teachers, par-

ents, and students also enjoyed a light meal.

The training engaged school staff, parents, and stu-

dents to better understand the support special educa-

tion provides in relation to education at SFIS.

On Friday October 25, the Santa

Fe Indian School Agriscience class

had the opportunity to present

their work at the 8th Annual Tradi-

tional Farming and Sustainability

Conference sponsored by Tesuque

Pueblo and Four Bridges Perma-

culture Institute. Students present-

ed ideas about sustainability, green

energy, seed saving, and cover

cropping to an audience of over

three hundred. World famous ag-

ricultural activist Vandana Shiva

was in attendance and shared ide-

as from India about sustainable

agriculture. She was very im-

pressed with the presentation our

students made.

These experiences support our cur-

riculum in the Community-Based

Education Program and helps to

prepare our students for the real

life situations they will encounter

in the future as Pueblo Indian

farmers. Great job students.

AG STUDENTS IMPRESS

VANDANA SHIVA

The tenth grade biology students braved misty and rainy conditions to hike

the Chamisa Trail on September 11 and 12. The students identified differ-

ent types of wildflowers, including some invasive species. Due to all the

moisture, they were able to hike through lush and truly colorful vegetation.

The students found blue and green lichen, purple fungus, and a riot of yel-

low and purple wildflowers. Everyone got to observe the distinct differ-

ences between the southern and northern slopes. Deciduous trees and ever-

green trees were identified, and their leaves were sketched or the needles

were measured and counted for identification. All the students used a dichotomous key for woodland and

mixed conifer identification just like real botanists! The group also hiked six miles and climbed from 7,000 to

8200 feet. Everyone enjoyed lunch at the top of colorful Steller’s Jay and then hiked down the northern slope

to see all the hanging moss and lichen on the colder side of the mountain. Students learned new things about

the fabulous Santa Fe mountain ecosystem.

Biology Students Take Learning to Chamisa Trail

-5-

The SFIS Chess Club consists of a high school chess team and mid-

school chess team. Participants

from both teams participated in a

United States Chess Federation

Tournament in Taos on Sunday,

September 22. There were over

100 chess players at the tourna-

ment. Cameron Gabaldon took

second place in the tournament in

the Mars bracket. Other partici-

pants were Jared Garcia and Mi-

chael Cammarata.

This year, the Northern Schools

Chess League will have three regu-

lar tournaments. The first tourna-

ment was on October 14 at Es-

panola. The other two will be at

West Las Vegas and Santa Fe.

There will also be a regional tour-

nament at SFIS in March. Previ-

ously, the team had enough stu-

dents to field

two high school teams and one mid

school team. However, student in-

terest has increased, and SFIS will

be fielding four high school teams

and one mid school team. The var-

sity team consists of Jared Garcia,

Cameron Gabaldon, Loma Honie,

Nick Pino, Steven Arviso, and

William Calabaza. Each varsity

chess player will be matched

against the opposing school’s num-

ber one through number six play-

ers. The team that has the most in-

dividual wins will be declared the

winner. The maximum points pos-

sible will be determined by how

many rounds each team member

plays.

FASHION CLUB

The student-led Fashion Club,

which is under the guidance of Ms.

Tina Harte, has been meeting twice

monthly. The purpose of the club

is for students to learn about ca-

reers in the fashion industry as

they plan projects related to fash-

ion design.

Fashion Club members set a goal

to have a spring 2014 fashion

show. In order to accomplish this,

they need to raise money for their

individual projects. They are a

very creative group of students and

have planned some exciting fund-

raisers for the fall semester. First,

they held a Halloween Fashion

Show on Tuesday, October 22 at

the high school dorm rotunda.

Twelve club members coordinated

the decorations, music, conces-

sions, and set-up of the runway,

Students wore the Halloween cos-

tumes and others were dressed cre-

atively by their friends to walk the

runway. Some of the costumes

were evil prom queen, zombie, an-

gel, waitress, Flo the insurance

agent, and a Star Wars Jedi. Stu-

dents cheered on the models as

they walked the runway proudly

displaying their costume creations.

They plan to sell infinity scarves at

the PAC Bazaar on Saturday, No-

vember 16, and to hold a clothing

swap in December.

The students also raised $90 to

purchase fabric to make infinity

scarves and work on Christmas

projects.

Fashion show students were very

excited by the response of the stu-

dents, and they want to plan a trib-

al fashion show for their spring

event.

The Ink It Club is carrying on from

last year. Jaylene Baca, a junior,

and Ashley Atencio, a senior, are

both invaluable returning members

who, together with senior Peshawn

Bread, have assumed leadership

roles for the club this year. Ink It is

a group of creative students who

work together to publish a maga-

zine of SFIS student writing and

art. They will be publishing a new

edition of the magazine, and they

are collecting new submissions for

a second magazine to be published

later this year.

(continued on next page)

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

At high school academics there are twenty clubs to consider for a variety extra-curricular activities. The clubs

are described in the SFIS Parent/Student Handbook. For each quarterly newsletter, highlights of different clubs

will be featured.

Chess Club

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NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

The SFIS National Honor Society

(NHS) officers inducted eight new

members at the fall induction on

Friday, September 27. Honored

with elected membership are senior

Tamarah Padilla Martinez of Santa

Clara Pueblo and outstanding jun-

iors Iris Arquero of Cochiti Pueblo;

Jaylene Baca of Santa Clara Pueb-

lo; Charelle Brown of Santo Do-

mingo Pueblo; Jared Garcia of San-

to Domingo Pueblo; Xavier Lovato

of Cochiti and Santo Domingo

Pueblos; Alicea Olascoaga of Tlin-

git, Haida, and Mescalero Apache

Nations; and Shanya Whitehorse of

the Navajo Nation. Both Superin-

tendent Herrera and high school

principal Felisa Gulibert offered

congratulations to the inductees at

the ceremony with Ms. Gulibert

challenging the current NHS offic-

ers to mentor the new members to

leadership in our school.

Next month, five members, led by

Chapter President Patricia Ban-

croft, will attend a National Honor

Society Leadership Conference in

Denver. NHS will host a Hallow-

een celebration for the campus at

the end of October, and plans are

underway for the fourth annual

Holiday Bonfire right before the

holiday vacation in December.

AISES The American Indian Science and

Engineering Society (AISES) Club

will be attending the national con-

ference in Denver, Colorado, from

Wednesday, October 30 to Sunday,

November 3. They will be taking

six students to benefit from the

training at the conference. They are

in the process of fundraising and

looking for parental support to raise

the money. For more information,

contact the club sponsor, Ms. Cindy

Salvatierra.

POETRY CLUB This September, three small groups

of juniors and seniors visited the

Santa Fe Botanical Garden (SFBG)

on Museum Hill for an art and writ-

ing workshop aptly named “Poetry

and Art in the Park.” Ms. Alicia

Fritz, an SFIS eleventh grade Eng-

lish teacher, Ms. Melissa Merritt,

an artist and art teacher from the

Rio Grande School, and Ms. Mollie

Parsons, SFBG education director,

worked together with the SFIS stu-

dents to facilitate a two hour activi-

ty that included a walking tour of

the garden, a poetry discussion, a

writing prompt, and a drawing ses-

sion inspired by the variety of

plants and sense of place at the gar-

dens. Students had the opportunity

to sketch flowers, hummingbirds,

pinon trees, and the stone that per-

vades the landscape. Each group

shared their drawings and poems.

Additional workshops with students

to the botanical gardens are planned

for later this fall and in the spring.

ROBOTICS CLUB

The Robotics Club has begun the

school year with many new mem-

bers. The former members want to

work hard to improve last year’s

showing at the RoboRAVE in Al-

buquerque. The club is currently

having meetings to plan activities

for the rest of the year. There are

several events scheduled ranging

from regional training to weekend

workshops where they “work” with

robotics the entire day.

The Robotics Club was established

over fourteen years ago by Mr.

Smokey Trujillo and the students

have participated in every Ro-

boRAVE since then. They have had

a fun and exciting history and look

forward to a bright and wonderful

future learning about the many fac-

ets of robotics.

PARENTS MEET WITH TEACHERS TO PROMOTE STUDENT SUCCESS

Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences were held on September 27 and October 4th from 1:00 –5:00 pm. Some

parents arrived early to take advantage of the NASIS Portal training and to eat lunch with their students. Parents

signed in and picked up student schedules from the grade level counselors and visited teachers to discuss aca-

demic progress and behavior.

For both days of conferences, a total number of 160 sets of parents met with teachers. For the February 2014

parent student/teacher conferences, we are looking forward to seeing a larger number of parents on campus.

-7-

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 2013

Honors Assembly-October 29

AISES National Conference-October 30-Nov.1

November 2013

NHS Leadership Conference-November 7-10

Progress Reports-November 25

Senior Parent Meeting-November 27

December 2013

Senior Honors Project– December 3

Parent FAFSA Workshop-December 13

ACT Test-December 14

If you have a NASIS (Native American Student In-

formation System) Portal account, you will be able to

check your child’s assignments, grades, and attend-

ance on a daily basis. You can also communicate

with his/her teachers using email and update contact

information for your child. NASIS Portal trainings

are given on student/parent/teacher conference days,

or you can contact Jennifer Williams, the NASIS sys-

tem administrator. She can be contacted at 505-989-

6308 or jwilliams@sfis.k12.nm.us.

Do You Know How Your Child is Doing in School?

COLLEGE and CAREER

DAY

On the afternoon of October 23,

the high school counselors and

residential program sponsored a

career fair for the students in

grades 9-12. Grade level teams

escorted students by CCR classes

to four different locations to speak

with representatives from universi-

ties, colleges, vocational schools,

scholarship programs, the mili-

tary, and summer programs. Top-

ics for career and college readiness

included financial aid, college

prep, admissions, leadership pro-

grams, career trends, health and

wellness careers, internships, col-

lege dorm life, college athletics,

college fly-in visits, and massage

therapy.

Students expressed an interest in

summer programs, college

academic/athletic preparation, and

scholarship opportunities. Aca-

demic counselors will focus on

further addressing these areas of

student interest as part of the CCR

classes and on a one to one basis.

The residential program sponsored

the health fair segment of career

day to support the wellness com-

ponent of the evening program.

-8-

mailto:jwilliams@sfis.k12.nm.us

2013-2014 High School Class Officers

Class officers were elected by the students in their class at the beginning of the year. The role of the class offic-

ers is to meet with their respective grade level team to plan activities and fundraisers, and to encourage students

to meet the class goals. They are also required to lead the class meetings and model appropriate behaviors. As

representatives of their class, they make decisions with the grade level team on the students’ behalf.

10th Grade-Class of 2016

President: Michael Bancroft

Vice-President: Emanuel Vigil

Treasurer: Hanna Lucero

Secretary: Raelene Woody

Historian: Craig Pajarito

9th Grade-Class of 2017

President: Shante Toledo

Vice-President: Deatra Sinyela

Secretary: Mikayla Jackson

Treasurer: Kallen Blacksmith

Historian: Taylor Moya

11th Grade-Class of 2015

President: Alicea Olascoaga

Vice Presidents: Jared Garcia

Kaitlin Sandoval

Secretary: Jasmine Cata

Treasurer: Nicholas Pino

Historian/Photographer: Melissa Serafin

Class Artist: Jaylene Baca

12th Grade-Class of 2014

President: Kein Ami

Co- President: Aliyah Chavez

Vice President: Brandon Chavarria

Co- Vice President: Johnny Sanchez

Secretary: Crucita oriz

Co- Secretary: Reyes Crespin

Treasurer: Ashley Salter

Co-Treasurer: Anthony Humetewa

Historian: Tamara Padilla

Co- Historian: Ashley Atencio

2013-14 High School Academic Goals

Below are the high school academic goals for this school year. It is our intent to accomplish these goals to im-

prove instruction for our students:

Overall Goal (SMART Goal): By spr ing 2015, 65% of SFIS High School student will be proficient prob-

lem solvers in their grade level or above.

Goal I: By Apr il of 2014, each high school grade level team will have designed and implemented a com-

mon portfolio assessment to gage student’s progress toward Ideal Graduate Rubric (IGR) skills and academic

progress.

Goal II: By the end of 2013-14 SY, the student satisfaction rate in the high school academic program will be

at a minimum of 75% as determined by students’ survey results.

Goal III: Continue to enhance communication between the academic program through quar ter ly news-

letters, personal letters, post cards, and participation in community visits.

-9-