Cottonwood High School Mission Statement

All students have the right to a quality education. Our work is to cultivate a safe, positive and accessible learning environment in which each student can develop the essential skills they need to become successful, ethical and productive members of the global community.

Cottonwood High School Vision Statement

Quality Education
Teachers receive training and support throughout teaching tenure – despite expertise or subject area
High standards/High expectations
Instruction reflects best practice
Stimulates student engagement
Teacher patience

Safety
Well maintained physical facilities
Continuous effort to eliminate harassment, drugs, alcohol, and violence from school environment
No Bullying
No discrimination
Emotional and Physical
Develop tolerance and acceptance of others
Participate without fear of criticism.
All ideas are considered
Comfortable coming to school and performing in front of an audience/learning community where collaboration flourishes
Known and enforced consequences for infractions

Positive
Open communication (administrators, teachers, students, parents, staff)
Mutual Respect in the classroom with teachers and students
Supportive relationships – team effort – everyone working together to accomplish goals
Develop tolerance and acceptance of others
Environment of mutual trust
Promote Unity
Pride in self and community
Learning is exciting
Recognize achievement, success
Emphasize good things
Involve the community
Individual achievement is promoted, recognized, and celebrated

Accessible
Time for remediation/intervention as well as enrichment activities
Accommodations for non-English Speakers
Variety of teaching methods used that will facilitate learning for different learning styles
No structural barriers because of gender, minority-status, socio-economic status, or exceptionality
Meet educational needs of each student
Access to counselors – personal education plan
Variety of courses
Technology to help ELL kids
Students able to join advanced classes
Students feel connected to school community
Assistance with goal setting – developing appropriate educational and career goals for transitioning to and through high school
Account for students with disabilities
Attention paid to whole student
Encouraged to explore and take advantage of variety of opportunities for participation in curricular and co-curricular programs
Multi-lingual announcement
ESL classes to address language barriers
Special ed access to mainstream classes
Access with modifications – adapt to different abled students
Teachers address individual learning styles
Students know and understand expectations

Essential Skills
School-wide essential skills – literacy, math, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc.
Subject-specific essential skills determined by teachers/departments
Problem solving, internal motivation, mastery
Students develop basic knowledge, apply this knowledge, and synthesize it with other subjects and life experience.
Develop excellence
Work with others
Organizational skills
Discussion
Age appropriate social skills
Attendance and punctuality
Community access skills

Global Community
Adaptable to changing situations
Respect the rights of others within a diverse community
Work effectively with people who may be different
Acknowledge differences – culturally, economically, intellectually
Adaptability
Technologically savvy
Tolerant/Accepting

Ethics
Compassionate response to a multicultural world through an internal moral compass
Foster ethical and character values
Abide by laws of land and know how to voice disagreements appropriately
Honesty
Not cheating
Integrity to work to create high quality
Quality instruction
Adults and students will not denigrate others
Unselfish
Follow-through
Productive
Self-reliant
Independent
Effective communication skills
Collaboration
Expectation of learning as measured through work products