Cottonwood-Oak Creek Schools

📚✨ Celebrate Readers in Sedona! ✨📚

Join us for the Celebrate Readers! event on Saturday, October 4th at the Community Library Sedona.

This special day is brought to you by Imagination Library and Unisource—two organizations dedicated to sparking the joy of reading and supporting lifelong learning. 📖💡

Bring your friends, family, and little book lovers for a day filled with stories, fun, and community spirit. Let’s come together to honor the power of books and the magic of imagination!

📅 When: Saturday, October 4th
📍 Where: Community Library Sedona

Let’s make this a chapter to remember! ❤️📚

#CelebrateReaders #SedonaLibrary #ImaginationLibrary #Unisource #LoveToRead #CommunityEvent

Good afternoon OCS families... due to shortage of drivers we will not be able to run the Big Horn Sheep AM route tomorrow, Fri 8/15/25. If your student rides Big Horn in the morning, please find an alternate way to get to school that day. We WILL be able to run the PM route and your kids will get home on Fri. We do apologize for this major inconvenience. - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director

🌟 Supporting Student Mental Health & Wellbeing 🌟

At COCSD, we believe in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our students so they can reach their full potential—both in school and in life. 💙

That’s why we’re excited to share that we’ve partnered with Cartwheel, a trusted mental health provider for K-12 schools, to bring additional support to our students and families.

Through Cartwheel, our students and families have rapid access to telehealth services, including:
✅ 1:1 therapy
✅ Medication evaluation & management
✅ Parent guidance
✅ Family therapy

If you think your child could benefit from these services, please reach out to a member of our school counseling team.

Together, we can help our students thrive—academically, emotionally, and socially. 💬✨

#COCSD #StudentWellbeing #MentalHealthMatters #CartwheelCare #StrongerTogether

🚨 Powerful Message. Real Impact. 🚨

COCSD was proud to partner with MATFORCE to bring Michael DeLeon — the #1 booked school presenter in the nation — to our schools! 🎤✨

Michael, founder of Steered Straight, Inc. and creator of Beyond Scared Straight, shared his powerful story and inspired our students to:
💡 Find their purpose
💬 Talk with family & trusted adults
🚫 Avoid alcohol, nicotine & drugs

From a troubled past to a mission of hope, Michael’s message is clear: Your choices shape your future.

Thank you MATFORCE & Michael DeLeon for making a difference! 💙
#COCSD #MATFORCE #SteeredStraight #MichaelDeLeon #PositiveChoices

Good morning MVP families... a little good news. The numbers are not as high for the AM run of Wild Burro, so we will continue to pick up along the Fir St. stops, MORNING ONLY. This includes the following....

Fir St & 12th
Fir St & 6th
Fir St & Monte Tesoro

I am sorry for the confusion, but hope this helps out some in getting your students to school. The stop times will remain as they previously were. We are still not dropping students off at those locations in the PM. Please send anyone looking to drive our school buses our way so we can re-establish those stops in the routes. Thank you - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director.

Shout out to the Cottonwood Home Depot team and the Milwaukee Tool representative for their stellar customer service! Thank you for going above and beyond to help Verde Tech High School purchase items for our Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs—we appreciate your support for our students’ hands-on learning!

🎉 Congratulations, Teddy Armstrong! 🎉

We’re thrilled to announce that Teddy Armstrong, our incredible 21st Century Coordinator, has been selected as a recipient of a $500 Classroom Grant by Findlay Subaru in Prescott! 🚗🍎

Teddy was featured in the Yavapai County Education Foundation’s Tribute to Educators Magazine last spring, and this well-deserved recognition speaks volumes about the professionalism, passion and dedication Teddy brings to our district every day.

Teddy will be honored at a special celebration hosted by Findlay Subaru on August 27th at 5:00 PM in Prescott. 📅🎊

👏 Let’s all take a moment to say — Congratulations, Teddy! Your hard work and unwavering commitment to our students and programs make a real difference. We are so proud of you!

#COCSDPride #ThankYouTeddy #21stCenturyLeader #EducationMatters #FindlaySubaru #YCEF #ClassroomGrant

🚍✨ Big News from COCSD Student Support Services! ✨🚍

We’re thrilled to share that a few weeks ago, our Student Support Services team welcomed a brand-new multi-handicapped bus into the fleet! 🛠️💙

Today, our incredible Transportation Department and Niles Radio was hard at work getting it fully equipped with radios and GPS—just one more important step to ensure our students’ safety on the road. 📡🛰️

We can’t wait to get this beautiful bus rolling and serving our students soon. Stay tuned for its official debut! 👀👏

#COCSD #StudentSupportServices #TransportationTeam #SafetyFirst #NewBusDay

Good afternoon, MVP families... it is with regret that due to a high student count on the Wild Burro bus, we will need to remove stops from the route. This will mean the students at those stops will need to find alternate means of transportation to get to and from school. We ask that they not try to get on the bus at a different stop, as this will defeat the purpose of what we are trying to do. We are currently overloaded with students who are trying to take the bus and need to reduce those numbers for their safety. The stops to be removed are the following:

E Fir & 12th St/Verde Dr
E Fir & 6th St/Paradise Rd
E Fir & Monte Tesoro Rd
E Pima & Tavern Grill

This will go into effect starting Monday, 8/11/2025. Of course, with the hiring of more drivers, this will alleviate the situation and allow us to transport to these areas again. If you or anyone are interested in becoming a school bus driver, please reach out to the Transportation Department for more information. We do apologize for the major inconvenience this will cause a lot of families. - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director

📣 COCSD Governing Board Meeting Highlights

Last night, the COCSD Governing Board held its regular meeting—and we were honored to have special guests in attendance! 🙌

A heartfelt thank you to the Cottonwood Fire Department for joining us and leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance 🇺🇸. The Board also took a moment to recognize and celebrate the department’s outstanding support of our schools through their Back-to-School Supply Drive. Their generous donations played a big role in making our Welcome Back Celebration such a success! 🎉

As many know, due to ongoing state budget constraints, our teachers often pay out of pocket to provide classroom supplies. This donation was a much-needed boost and deeply appreciated by our staff and students alike 💙✏️📚.

The Board also acknowledged Ms. Barbara Amato for her exceptional work in successfully transitioning our district's health insurance provider from Kairos to Motiv Health. This was a massive project—completed in a short timeframe just prior to the start of the new year—and Barbara tackled it with patience, grace, professionalism and dedication. Thank you, Barbara! 👏

#COCSD #CommunitySupport #BackToSchool #ThankYouCFD #Teamwork #EducationMatters #COCSDPride

First Full Week at Verde Tech High School!

It’s been a busy and exciting start to the year! One of our students took a moment to hang out with a furry friend — a small reminder to slow down and enjoy the little things. We’re looking forward to another fantastic year!

Hello CCS families... if your child rides the Red Fox route on Wed, please double check the stop times for Early Release Wed. It seems some older sheets got out to parents and we want to make sure everyone is on the same page with the correct times. We appreciate your understanding and hopefully this won't cause too much inconvenience. Have a great day! - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director.

📢 Friendly Reminder for All COCSD Families! 🏫✏️

As we kick off a brand-new school year, it's important that we have accurate emergency contact information for every student in the event of an emergency. ⛑️📞

Please take a moment to check and update your child's emergency contacts, phone numbers, and authorized pick-up list through your school's front office or parent portal.

Having up-to-date information helps us keep your child safe and ensures we can reach you quickly if needed. Thank you for helping us start the year off right! 💙📚

#COCSD #BackToSchool #StudentSafety #StayConnected

Good evening MVP families... if your child rides the Honey Bee route home on Weds, please check the route sheet available online at https://www.cocsd.us/o/cced/page/transportation
to see the correct stop times per the new release for MVP on Weds. Thank you - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director

🌟 Teamwork makes the dream work! 🌟

This weekend, a dedicated crew came together at Cottonwood Community School to transform our STAR classroom—a specialized space designed to support students with disabilities. Under the guidance of Dr. Alley from Student Support Services, the team worked tirelessly to create a safe, welcoming, and functional environment for our students to thrive.

We are incredibly thankful to everyone who rolled up their sleeves and got to work, including Dr. Flores, Mrs. Jamie Woodward, Mrs. King, Mrs. Amato , Principal Wacker, Yavapai County Superintendent Steve King, and several generous community members.

This is what happens when passionate people unite for a common purpose—our students. 💙💪
#COCSD #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork #CCS Pride

We’re proud to celebrate the incredible students and staff at Verde Tech High School for outperforming the state average on the AzSCI test — for the second year in a row!

This achievement is a reflection of hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence in science.

Congratulations, VTHS!

Good morning COCSD families... The Transportation Dept is asking for parents to check over the routes their children use to get to and from school. A good portion of these routes are different from last year, including one route being canceled completely. PLEASE make sure you are checking over your route and the stop your student is using. We may be tweaking some of the routes and times over the next couple of weeks, but we will put out notifications when we do. If you have any questions, you can contact the Transportation Dept, 928-634-9679. We appreciate your help keeping things smooth for your child's daily ride. - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director

Good morning COCSD families... if your child rides any of these bus routes, please revisit them on our district website or visit the link below to review and check for changes that will affect your student's ride times.
CCS - Bobcat
DDB - Roadrunner and Mtn. Lion
MVP - Wild Burro

https://www.cocsd.us/o/cced/page/transportation

These changes are in effect immediately to make for a more smooth time schedule. We appreciate your understanding as we fine tune our bus routes. Thank you - Daniel Maldonado, Transportation Director