Santa Cruz Valley Unified SchoolDistrict No. 35

Are you interested in becoming a teacher?! Santa Cruz Valley USD#35 and The Univerity of Arizona Teaching Pathways will be hosting an informational session on Wednesday, November 29 at 5:30 pm.

This institute seeks to scale personalized, competency-based learning (PCBL) across Arizona and the United States.Learn about innovative, high quality teaching, learning, and assessing by exploring the 5 Ws of personalized learning.

SCV35 rolls out the SCV Portrait of a Graduate attributes. In 2021, SCV35 began forming a committee of parents, students, staff and community members to produce the Portrait of a Graduate attributes. To learn more, visit the Portrait of a Graduate website.

I hope families are enjoying the last days of summer vacation. My summer has been a time to reflect on the many successes from the past school year and to begin planning for the 2023-2024 school year.

The 2023 SCV35 Summer Meal Delivery Program will begin June 19th and continue through July 21st.

All children and teens 18 years of age and younger can participate.All meals served are FREE to any participant.

Rio Rico High School seniors were recognized for their achievements and awarded scholarships on Wednesday, May 3rd at the Golden Hawks Awards ceremony. They received $109,450 in local scholarships and over $4.2 million in scholarships from colleges and universities.

SCV35 Honors Three Outstanding Football Team Members

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District students are wheeling their way to good health thanks to Allkidsbike.org.

At the Regular Governing Board meeting on March 28, 2023, the board voted to award the pool construction contract to MDG located in Sonoita, Arizona. The projected completion will be in April of 2024.

Join us for the first ever alumni tournament for hte Rio Rico Girls Soccer Program.

On February 16th, Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 (SCV35) welcomed more than 60 educators to the SCV35 Inquiry Lab where they showcased various ways in which they have begun shifting towards a Personalized, Competency-based Learning model of instruction.

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 is proud to announce the 2023 District Spelling Bee Champion, Coatimundi Middle School 8th grader, Vika Hetherington.

Rio Rico High School Agriscience teacher Richard McPherson has been invited to present at several national iCEV Career and Technical Education (CTE) conventions for education and industry leaders about drone education. iCEV is an online resource for CTE educators to help prepare students of all ages for industry certifications in several CTE programs.

The new SCV35 food truck will be used to enhance the experience of our food program for students and provide more opportunities for fundraising.

SCV35 has invested bond dollars for security enhancements across the district. Radios and cameras are currently being installed at all sites and on school buses. Other separately funded measures include card readers for digitally secure access to key locations across the district.

Senator Rosanna Gabaldón recently visited Rio Rico High School as part of the Arizona Educational Foundation's, Take Your Legislator to School (TYLTS).

As districts across the state work to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and ensure students have the resources and opportunities they need to thrive, the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 is realizing many positive trends in the letter grades released today. For the first time since letter grades became a legal reporting system, the state of Arizona has rated all SCV35 schools as either an A or a B.

The HawX Dance team will perform before tipoff at the March 16th game where the Phoenix Suns play Orlando Magic.

Calabasas School in the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 is among the 406 schools nationwide to be named as America’s Healthiest Schools for the 2021-2022 school year. The recognition, awarded by Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a leading children’s health organization, celebrates schools’ dedication to supporting the health and well-being of students, staff, and families.

Daniel was very active in athletics during his school career. He played baseball, wrestled, and was a cross-country runner. In 2019, he began losing his eyesight.

IT Director Steve Saint-Coeur (pictured above) recently received a grant for $21,000 for the purchase of a virtual reality lab for Rio Rico High School.

September 22, 2022 is Legendary Teacher Day in recognition of the significant impact teachers have on students' lives.

Students and families, please visit our district Standards-Based Learning & Reporting website to learn about the updates we are making this year regarding how we are involving students in their learning and how we report their learning. Our website has several resources, including information about progress reports and report card changes.

Are you dedicated and looking to work in an exceptional work environment focusing on our youth and making a difference in the lives of children?

Congratulations to Class of 2022 The Class of 2022 will be inducted into the SCV35 Hall of the Fame in September.

We are looking forward to welcoming our students and families back to our campuses for another innovative and inspiring school year. Through our collective partnership we will ensure our students shine and reach the many Portrait of a Graduate attributes we all expect.

Join us July 23 for the annual SCV35 Back-to-School Blitz

Robbie Moen joins SCV35 as Middle School Athletic Director, Laughland named RRHS baseball coach

RRHS seniors were recognized for their achievements and awarded scholarships on Wednesday, May 4th. Students received an impressive $58,500 in local scholarships and close to $2.8 million in scholarships from colleges and universities.

On April 12, 2022, the SCV35 Governing Board voted unanimously to approve the most significant wage increase to classified staff in District history. The sum total of this investment in staff is $565,811 for the 2023 fiscal year.

The Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) is pleased to award Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No.35 the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting (COE)

On April 27, 2022, Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 will host a Southern Arizona student athlete workshop, “Navigating the College Recruiting Process for Athletes.”

Three students from Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 have received prestigious awards from Cambridge Assessment International Education, part of the University of Cambridge, to acknowledge their outstanding performance on Cambridge coursework and examinations.

Open enrollment and kindergarten registration is now open for the 2022-2023 school year.

Bella Cabrera has been part of the Young Artist Ballet Company (YACB) in Green Valley since she was 8 and was accepted into Ballet Continental at the age of 11. This year, Bella auditioned for and was awarded the part of Clara in “The Nutcracker.”

Assistant Superintendent Schadler addresses staff

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 is proud to announce the addition of Jeff Scurran at Rio Rico High School as the new college and career readiness coach and head coach for the Hawk football program.

The Rio Rico Performing Arts (P.A.C.) grand opening was celebrated this week with a small, in person ribbon cutting ceremony that included Fine Arts students and their families. Culinary, Hawk Theatre, HAWX, Interact, Art students lent their talent to the evening.

Dr. Williams and Dr. Pereira from Mariposa Community Health Center answer parent questions regarding vaccination of students, ages 5-11.

Rio Rico Medical and Fire District (RRMFD), Santa Cruz County Office of Emergency Management (SCCOEM) in conjunction with Integrated Community Solutions to Active Violence Events (ICSAVE.org) conducted Public Safety Integration training with the help of Rio Rico High School students .

ADM, project managers of the $22.5 million dollar bond gave an update to the Governing Board Tuesday evening regarding the progress of bond projects across the District.

Dr. Williams, Dr. Pereira, Mariposa Community Health and SCV35's Dr. Lunderville were recognized during the Governing Board Meeting on Tuesday evening for their dedication to our district and community during the pandemic.

SCV35 schools will be on Fall Break October 4-8, 2021. Food services not be available during the break.

SCV35 intends to submit an application to the Arizona Department of Education that will allow us to take advantage of new state legislation allowing schools to build class structures and class time around individual students...not just one 50 minute class periods for everyone.

Catch up on the latest news with the SCV35 Weekly Update with Superintendent Dave Verdugo. Updated every Friday

SCV35 adds an early release to family conferences.

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No.35 has launched a new mobile app featuring news, calendar of events, staff/school directories, and more.

SCV35 is proud to announce the Santa Cruz County Teacher of the year, Mr. Mark Dittmar. Mr. Dittmar, an art teacher for Mountain View Elementary was chosen as this year's teacher of the year from among 20 nominees from schools across the county.

SCV35 recently announced that face coverings were no longer required for staff or students on school premises based on recent legislation.

Superintendent Verdugo will review the learning model options and discuss the protocols for the 2021-2022 school year. Families may submit questions and comments to [email protected].

The Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 (SCV35) is pleased to announce Mr. John Fanning has been selected as the new District Community Outreach/Co-Curricular Coordinator. The position was created to serve as a community liaison for the district and support community use of new facilities being constructed as part of the $22.5 million bond program approved in 2019. “This position will allow us to expand and strengthen our relationships with the SCV35 community. It is our goal to make SCV35 the center of our community by providing a first class education, but also providing amenities that build our community,” explained Superintendent David Verdugo.

Effective June 11, 2021, mask protocols were updated.

Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No.35 proudly announces Rio Rico High School and Calabasas School as winners of the Bronze Apple of Distinction Award by The Core Purpose Education Consulting Group (CPC)

Mr. McPherson (far left) with Rio Rico FFA members after the Fresh Produce Distribution of 40,000 pounds of fresh produce at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds.

The top 5% of the Rio Rico High School 2021 graduating seniors and their invited special educators were honored at the 10th Annual Excellence in Education Banquet sponsored by the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 Education Foundation. The event was held at the Tubac Golf Resort.

On April 19th, Governor Ducey issued an Executive Order which rescinded the requirement that face coverings be worn in schools. The Executive Order also states that school districts maintain the right to continue their adopted mitigation strategies, including the use of face coverings

Students who would like to attend must be enrolled.

After consideration of current COVID-19 benchmarks, the availability of the vaccine and consultation with the Pima County Community Health Department, students, families and staff, SCVUSD No. 35 administration approved a senior parade and an in-person prom and graduation ceremonies.

SCV35 is proud to announce that Hector Estrada, the second year principal at Rio Rico High School earned two student driven honors in the first month of 2021.