The Amargosa Weekly Scoop

Happy weekend, Sandblaster Families-

Thank you to all of the parents and family members who joined us at Trunk-or-Treat to make the day special and memorable for the students!

This week, the students in Ms. Murphy's class danced to Thriller with Mr. Soboleski, Ms. Kreb's class made Halloween and fall themed necklaces and started an observational experiment of watching a jack-o-lantern decay in a jar, and Ms. Tate's class had their trick-or-treat parade around campus.

Friendly reminder that we have a Family Engagement event this coming Thursday, from 5-7PM, at the school. Flyers went out and we hope to see you there!

Please remember to mark your calendars: November 11th is Veterans' Day and there is no school. And, Thursday, November 19th is International Day as well as early release for the Thanksgiving Break, with all students released at 11:50AM, including PreK, so they may participate in our International Day meal!

The Community Christmas dinner and show will not be happening at the Community Center this December. In the near future I will have an update as to what event we will be doing for Christmas, so stay tuned for more information!

Have a beautiful and safe weekend,

Principal Arceo

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Other important information:

• Please use this Parent Concern Form if you'd like to book time to meet or want a dedicated time to call me and talk about a concern that you have. It allows me to document the date and time you placed the concern and ensure that I'm getting back to you in a timely manner. As stated before, please allow me one school day to respond.

• Again, I ask that you please ensure that IC has your preferred contact information, including your address. We have to keep records up to date for emergency purposes.

• Reminder: Students should be coming home with their Family Connection raffle tickets to share with you over the weekend. The goal of this initiative is to get you, as parents, engaging with your students more regarding what is happening at school and how your student feels about it. Every week there will be a prompt or question. Please follow the directions on the ticket in order to be entered into the raffle. The secret word, to validate the raffle tickets, will be found in the newsletter each week. Entries will not be counted if they do not contain the secret word. Entries that are not completed according to instructions will not be entered into the raffle.

• I want to take a moment to share a reminder about our school and district discipline policies. The district has a discipline matrix has been updated for this school year and can be found below, as a PDF. This matrix is designed with state law in mind and with the goal of keeping our schools safe for all students and staff. Please know that if a student is physically aggressive toward another student or a staff member, they will not be allowed to remain at school that day.

• Every Thursday, except our early release days, our PreK friends are to be released early-so please plan to pick them up from the bus or be here by 10:25AM to pick them up. On our early release days, all students in K-8, excluding PreK students will be released at 11:50AM. Our PreK students will still release at 10:30AM. Related, bus 1 will be dropping our K-8 students off about 5-10 minutes earlier than scheduled time on Thursdays due to the fact that we won't have any PreK students on board in the afternoon. Please adjust your schedules accordingly.

• We believe that education is a partnership between the school and families, and your involvement is crucial to your child's success. Regular attendance is vital. Missing just two days a month can add up to 20 days a year, which translates into at least 30 hours of math instruction, 60 hours of reading and writing instruction, and by graduation, it's like missing an entire year of school. To give your child the best chance at success, please ensure they attend school whenever they are well enough to do so.

• Parents and guardians-if a student is absent three times without any notification from a parent or accompany doctor's note, we will be sending out truancy notices. Attendance is a matter we take very seriously as lost time at school means lost learning time. If your child is absent, you must call the office to report the absence. We have created an email for you to send doctors' notes or information about the absences: avsabsences@nyeschools.org.

• Please note that when we call to inform you, as parents, of what is going on at school with your student, our intent is to share information about what was found during an investigation or what was admitted to by your student. It is important to understand that we have a multitude of students to consider when it comes to safety and wellness, and each child is important to us. As such, while we hold our staff and students to the values of respect, responsibility, and safety, it is important that families exercise these as well when it comes to interaction with our staff. Our students are watching our behavior and modeling these values will help us to reinforce them here at school. If you have sincere concerns regarding a staff member disrespecting your student, being irresponsible, or not prioritizing your student's safety, please speak to me right away. You have multiple ways to contact me at any time.

• If students are in violation of our dress code (see below), they will be given appropriate clothing to wear, if we have it. If we do not, we will call home and ask you to bring it so that they may return to class. In order to minimize the disruption in their learning time, I ask that you please ensure your students are dressed according to our dress code prior to leaving for school.

• While we work to instill school expectations into your students, we ask for your partnership in ensuring that students know how appropriate behaviors on field trips, library trips, athletic events, and other school related activities.

Friendly reminder that we ask for a 5 minute window around your child's bus stop time. Patience is not only a virtue, it's necessary as with a school of our size, even one student being absent can alter the bus schedule.

Many of our students are involved in athletics. We are working hard to bring many sports back to Amargosa and build a reputation that our student athletes can be proud of. I ask that parents please remember that the chain of command for all issues related to athletics is first the coach, then the Athletic Director (Leo Farias) and then the Principal. Remembering the chain of command keeps communication streamlined and saves time as we will be following that when addressing parent or community concerns. Thank you!

Go Sandblasters!

We will be starting our eligibility checks this coming week. Any students earning a F in any subject area will be disqualified from participation until the next check that shows all passing grades. All checks happen on Mondays, so if disqualified from eligibility, it will last at least one week. Disqualification includes participating in practice and in any games until the next passing eligibility.

This week, I will be updating our Go Go 'Gosa Grow board with October's statistics! The students with perfect attendance, meaning they missed no more than 1 hour of school in October, will be announced and they'll receive a treat. Week 13's secret raffle word of the week is "progress".

And, our October Family Connection Raffle winners will be selected and announced on Monday. Winning families will be notified that day!

K-8 students: Use three vocabulary words from this school year to describe something in your house.

PreK students: Find three things in your house that match a shape, color, or letter you learned this school year.

• If your child is out for a medical reason, we need a note from the family upon that child's return AND you must call out the morning of the first absence to alert the office of the absence.

• We will not be following up asking for letters, per state code, so please make a reminder for yourself that whenever an absence occurs, you must contact us.

• If your child misses 10 or more days of school, they risk being automatically disenrolled. Please do not allow your child to get to this level of absences.

• When in doubt, communication with the office is a good idea. Call us and let us know what is going on if your child is unable to make it to school.

• Tops: Students may wear collared shirts, polo shirts, button-down shirts, or blouses. T-shirts with appropriate designs or school logos are allowed. Tank tops, low cut blouses/shirts, spaghetti straps, and bare midriffs are not permitted.

• Bottoms: Students may wear dress pants, khakis, jeans, skirts, or knee-length shorts. Shorts and skirts should be of an appropriate length, not shorter than fingertip length when arms are extended down the sides. Leggings and yoga pants are allowed if worn with appropriate tops that reach mid-thigh.

• Footwear: Closed-toe shoes with appropriate soles are required for safety reasons in the science lab. Sneakers, loafers, and flats are acceptable. Flip-flops and high heels are not allowed.

• Outerwear: Students may wear sweaters, cardigans, jackets, or hoodies. Outerwear with offensive or inappropriate designs or messages is not permitted on the school campus.

• Accessories: Hats, caps, and other head coverings are not allowed inside the school building, except for religious or medical purposes. Large and distracting jewelry is discouraged.

• Clothing with Inappropriate Messages: Clothing with offensive, violent, or disrespectful language or images is strictly prohibited. No drugs or alcohol images or messages.

The following donors have contributed to Amargosa Valley so far in the 2026-2027 school year. A special thanks to:

• Pahrump Springs Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

• The town of Amargosa

• Mr. Dave Harris

• Bill & Sandra Ellis Charitable Foundation

• Sobek-Zhang Foundation

(*Subject to change)

July

31: Open House (9AM-11AM & 12PM-3PM) ✅

31: Hope Christian Medical Van for vaccines & sports physicals (9AM-3PM) ✅

August

3: First Day of school for Kinder-8th ✅

10: AVS PASS (3PM) ✅

11: AVS PASS (8AM) ✅

17: First Day of school for PreK ✅

20: No School (In-Service) ✅

September

7: No School (Labor Day) ✅

14: AVS PASS (8AM) ✅

17: Family Engagement Event & Taco Dinner Fundraiser (5:30-7PM) ✅

21: AVS PASS (3PM) ✅

24: No School (In-Service) ✅

October

1: School Photos (individuals) ✅

19: AVS Pass (8AM & 3PM) ✅

21: Awards Ceremony (2:45PM) ✅

22: Minimum Day (students released 11:50) ✅

22: Parent Teacher Conferences ✅

26: No School (In-Service) ✅

27: Spirit Week begins (daily dress theme) ✅

29: Spirit Week ends ✅

29: Trunk or Treat (begins at 2PM; set up starts at 12PM) ✅

November

5: Family Engagement (5-7PM)

9: AVS PASS (3PM)

10: AVS PASS (8AM)

11: No School (Veterans' Day)

19: Minimum Day (students released 11:50)

19: International Day (time: TBD)

23: Thanksgiving Break begins

30: Return to school from Thanksgiving Break

December

1: The Eleven Days of Christmas begins (dress themes daily)

7: AVS PASS (3PM)

8: AVS PASS (8AM)

17: Minimum Day (students released 11:50)

21: Winter Break begins

January

4: Return to school from Winter Break

13: AVS PASS (3PM)

14: AVS PASS (4PM)

14: Awards Ceremony (2:45PM)

18: No School (MLK, Jr. Day)

February

1: Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences (No School grades K-5)

*PreK & Grades 6-8 have a regular school day

4: Family Engagement & Dinner Fundraiser (5-7PM)

10: AVS PASS (3PM)

11: AVS PASS (8AM)

18: Science Showcase (2:30PM)
25: No School (In-Service)

March

1: Nevada Reading Week begins (daily dress themes)

8: AVS PASS (3PM)

9: AVS PASS (8AM)

18: Valentine's Glow Dance-students only (5-8PM)* (moved from Feb.)

22: Spirit Week begins (daily dress theme)

25: Minimum Day (students released 11:50)

25: Art sideWalk Day (time TBD)

25: Spirit Week ends

29: Spring Break begins

April

5: Return to school from Spring Break

12: AVS PASS (3PM)

13: AVS PASS (8AM)

22: Family Engagement & Dinner Fundraiser (5-7PM)

May

10: AVS PASS (3PM)

11: AVS PASS (8AM)

13: Field Day

17: End of Year Party Day

17: Pajama Day

18: Kinder & PreK Awards & Graduation (2PM)

18: Awards Ceremony for 1st-7th Grade (1:15PM)

18: 5th Grade Moving Up Ceremony (11:00AM)

19: Minimum Day (students released 11:50)

19: 8th Grade Graduation (10AM)

19: Last Day of school

*Indicates a new date/time from original publishing

Email: aarceo@nyeschools.org
Website: https://amargosa.nye.k12.nv.us/
Location: 1560 East Amargosa Farm Road, Amargosa Valley, NV, USA
Phone: 775-372-5324