Rango the Pancake

By Mrs. Sonderer’s Fourth Grade Class

Do you want to know about a very special bearded dragon lizard who happens to be our class pet? Let us introduce you to Rango the Pancake. We call Rango a pancake because he likes to flatten himself into a circular shape on his warming rock while sunning himself under his heat lamp and UV light. 

In August, our class was doing a quick write called Can’t Stop Writing, and on that day, which was National Lizard Day, we all told Mrs. Sonderer that we wanted a bearded dragon as a class pet. Mrs. Sonderer’s husband ran out and bought us a lizard and a habitat terrarium. He also bought a terrarium to stay at Mrs. Sonderer’s home, so Rango goes back and forth to school and home in a soft pet carrier wrapped in a Snoopy blanket like a burrito. Our students have created quite a space for Rango by sewing him a bed, pillow, and blanket. He also has a hat, scarf, and a stuffed lamby. His gotcha day was September 5, 2024. 

Did you know that bearded dragons have a special diet that includes mealworms, crickets, vegetables, and fruit?  They can also eat cockroaches, but we have never ever fed Rango cockroaches. He is an omnivore since he loves plants and insects!

Rango lives in a terrarium that has a rock, hammock (for sunning himself), paper towels for his floor, and a food and water bowl. He also has a 100-watt heat lamp, but he also has a UV lamp. The UV lamp gives Rango more vitamin D and strengthens his bones. If he gets too hot he opens his mouth to cool down. 

Rango and other bearded dragons have a third eye to help them sense light and darkness and it’s covered by skin. Bearded dragons also have an organ on the roof of their mouth to help them taste the air. Babies like to taste test their environment so paper towels are the best substrate when they’re young. The coolest fact is that they are from Australia, Mate!

We hope that you have learned a lot about bearded dragons and Rango the Pancake. You are welcome to come and see him in Room 107 in the second-story building. Maybe Mrs. Gallegos can join us and hold him for you! 🦎

January 2025

1st - 6th: No School, Winter Break

7th: School begins Spring semester

10th: Popcorn Pickle Day & SPIRIT Day: Crazy Socks

14th: PTA Meeting 4PM

15th: Sandia Labs Math Night 6-7PM

20th: No School, Inauguration Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day

IMPORTANT - Testing Dates

NM-ASR (5th grade) April 1st and 2nd, 2025

NM-MSSA (3rd-5th grade) April 8th and 10th, 2025

EOY istation/iReady (k-5) May 1st- May 16th, 2025

ACCESS for ELLs(EL students) TBA

SASM Clubs
Mondays & Wednesdays- 3:30-5:30 East Mountain Junior Jazzers (4th & 5th Graders), Cafeteria 
1st & 3rd Thursday of the Month -3:30-5:15  5th Grade Coyote Club, Library
Thursdays - 7:35AM-8:35AM, Chess Club, Cafeteria
Thursdays - 3:30PM-4:30PM, Bible Club, Cafeteria
Fridays - 3:30-5:30  Girl Scouts-troupe 1029, Cafeteria

When there is no school for students, there are no clubs. This includes inclement weather delays/cancelations, parent/teacher conferences, and Holidays. 

Are you considering volunteering at SASM or within APS? 
While encouraging family and community participation, we must consider the safety of every child in the district. State law requires a background check from volunteers before participating in any volunteer activity at any APS school.
There are two categories of volunteers who receive differing levels of background check clearances and badging:

1. Unsupervised School Volunteers: preferred by SASM as you can be “alone” around campus and with students on field trips, etc. This background is a full FBI Fingerprint clearance initiated only by Mrs. Gallegos. The cost is $56 and  the clearance is good for two years.  

Cleared individuals receive a Unsupervised volunteer badge from APS Police. 
If your interested in obtaining this badge, please email gallegos_pat@aps.edu  the following information: 

• Full Name of Volunteer
• DOB
• Last 4 SS Number
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email address

OR

1. Become a Supervised Volunteers. The cost is $12 for two years.  These volunteers must always be in line of sight supervision by an APS staff member. 

Begin the Supervised Volunteer Clearance Request (you will be a new user)

Are you interested in volunteering but the cost or the steps of obtaining volunteering clearance is preventing you? Complete this form, and we will do our best to provide assistance. 

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Come Work With Us!

We have three job vacancies at our school. If you or anyone you know is interested in working with our staff and students, please apply to aps.edu. Thank you!

1.0 cross cat teacher 
0.5 counselor 
 

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Happy New Year San Antonito families! 

Cold weather along with the return to school after our much-needed break can bring sniffles, coughs and upset stomachs too. I am often asked about a variety of communicable illness and when to keep your student(s) home from school related to illness. Below is a summary of the APS sick day guidelines. 

• Fever: A temperature above 100.4°F (38°C) is a fever.

Your child may return to school if they have had no fever for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication (acetaminophen, Tylenol®, ibuprofen, etc.) and if they feel well/are improving.

• Vomiting and/or diarrhea with or without a fever; three or more times in six hours.

Your child may return to school if 24 or more hours have passed from the last episode of vomiting/diarrhea, and/or at least 24 hours fever free as above, and symptoms are improving.

• Respiratory Tract Illnesses: cough/runny nose/other severe cold symptoms.

• Your child has symptoms that keep them from participating in school, such as: fatigue, extreme tiredness, persistent cough, sneezing, headache, body aches, earache and/or chills (especially if accompanied by fever), severe sore throat, especially if accompanied by headache/upset stomach.

• Unknown/undiagnosed rash or other untreated skin conditions
• Eye irritation: Eye drainage, crusting, pain, and/or redness may be a sign of infection and may need to be checked by a provider. Your child may be at school as long as there are no other symptoms that prevent them from participating (fever, pain, etc).

If antibiotic treatment is needed, your child should remain home for the first full 24 hours of medication (e.g., if your child has three doses per day ordered, then three doses must be given before the child returns to school) 

If your student needs to have medication, including cough drops, while they are at school, please contact me so the necessary form and procedure can be followed.

If your student has come home in loaner clothing from the health office, and you have not returned it yet, please wash and return it as soon as possible – our limited supplies are running out and we want to make sure we have clothing available when students are in need. 

As always, please contact me with any health-related questions, concerns or changes to your student’s health needs while at school.

Wishing all a healthy New Year!

Nurse Robyn Blomberg, RN, BSN
SASM School Nurse
Email 
robyn.blomberg@aps.edu
Health Office Webpage
Phone: 505-281-3931, ext. 25604

Hello SASM Families,

Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope everyone had a wonderful break shared with family and friends.  At the end of December, we donated all of the jackets, sweaters and pull-overs that were not claimed.  With cold weather still upon us, please make sure to write your child’s name in their clothing items.  We only had a handful of items that were labeled and these were returned to students.  Lastly please make sure to walk your kiddos in if they arrive AFTER the tardy bell rings.  Do not let them walk in by themselves.  If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank you and GOOO Roadrunners!
Mr. Adam
Front Office Clerk
Email
Adam.Sandoval@aps.edu
505-281-3931, ext. 25600

SASM PTA 2024 SCHOOL YEAR IN REVIEW 

• Funded food for Open House, ABQ Aloft, & Explora Night

• Hosted a fun Jog-a-thon fundraiser and raised $30,000 for the year’s PTA budget 

• Distributed almost $4,000 in classroom allotments for teachers & students

• Funded $1,000 worth of 3D printing and coding supplies for the DigiLab

• Provided $1,000 for new books and supplies for the library

• Bought $400 worth of new playground balls and toys.

• Put on a free Fall Bash for the SASM community

• Organized the STEM fair for 40 SASM student scientists

AND COMING IN 2025….

• Scholastic Book Fair
• Funding for Field Trips & Guest Speakers
• $5,000 more in teacher allotments
• Teacher Appreciation Week
• Funding for End of Year Celebrations

And much more!
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Thank you!
Veronica Ligon
PTA President
Email
sanantonitopta@gmail.com
PTA Google Site
Membership Hub

Dear Parents and Students,

Happy New Year! We’re excited to kick off 2025 with a month full of exploration, learning, and creativity in the DigiLab. Here’s what your students will be focusing on this month:

Exploring with Robots
January brings hands-on robotics to the DigiLab! Students will explore how robots work, from their mechanical components to the logic behind their programming. These activities will help foster critical thinking and teamwork while making learning fun and engaging.

Math Fluency Focus
For the rest of the school year, we are dedicating part of each DigiLab session to improving math fluency. Whether it’s practicing basic facts or solving more complex problems, students will strengthen their mathematical foundations to support learning in all subjects.

Programming with Robotify
All grades will continue honing their programming skills with Robotify. Students will take on new challenges and projects, learning to think like computer scientists while earning tickets for our Robotify Raffle Drawing.

Thank you for your continued support as we help students build essential skills for the future. Here’s to a fantastic start to 2025!

Help Support the DigiLab - Donors Choose Project

Warm regards,
Mrs. Apodaca
SASM DigiLab Teacher
Email
valerie.apodaca2@aps.edu.
505-281-3931

Hello STEM Families, 

Students have been working through various new stations in the Lab. K-2 stations include creating a model of the moon phases that, if completed correctly, demonstrates how the moon revolves around the Earth while the Earth revolves around the sun. This learning continues with the creation of two flipbooks, with one flipbook being a blank template to provide an opportunity for a month of moon cycle observations in the evening at home. Another station has the students learning about geometric shapes while practicing visual-spatial skills through the use of tangrams, all being grounded in the children's book “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. The remaining station has an emphasis on mathematics and involves students practicing math fact fluency by going about making ten and twenty in a game format using dominos. 

The 3rd-5th grade students are learning about pueblo architecture, both modern and historic, and making small scale models of a pueblo style building. They are also learning about forms of animal locomotion and making flipbooks of a greater length depicting how a variety of mammals (bat, kangaroo, dolphin, gazelle, bear) move about their environment. Another station has the students practicing fraction concepts in a game format with three different modes of participation (ordering fractions from least to greatest visually, attempting to make sums of one whole, and determining the greatest fraction when presented with unlike denominators).  This is differentiated across grade levels to allow for age appropriate student engagement by visual identification or by cross-multiplication through the “butterfly” method. 

 There is a technology focused station which has students reviewing materials from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that educates them on how to construct strong passwords, the function of two-factor authentication, and communication etiquette for proper digital citizenship. Life sciences are being taught by having students complete a modified punnett square exercise to model the population of a “sponge” family with different inherited traits, and through the creation of paper models of either plant or animal cells with labeled organelles. 

In the coming months as we transition out of the winter time we will begin preparations for the next garden.

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Thank you,
Mr. Buchanan
STEM Coach
Email
matthew.buchanan@aps.edu 

Happy 2025! I hope you all had a joyful and restful winter break. As we kick off the new year, I’m excited to share some of my favorite resources for children's and youth books. Below, you’ll find a selection to help you and your child discover new reads to enjoy during the coming year. Happy reading!

Land of Enchantment Book Award (LOE Book Award)

This award was created to encourage children of New Mexico to read books of high quality literature.  The books are broken into four age appropriate categories. If a child reads at least three books from one of the lists, then that child can vote online for his/her favorite book.  The winners of each category are announced later in the year.

The two most well known book awards are The John Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal.  The John Newbery Medal is given for the most distinguished American children’s book published in the previous year.  The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the artist for the most distinguished American picture book for children. The 2024 winners are: The Eyes and the Impossible, written by Dave Eggers, (Newbery) and Big, by Vashti Harrison (Caldecott). Here are links to the complete listings of the Newbery and Caldecott winners. 

The John Newbery Medal: Newbery Medal List

Caldecott Medal: Caldecott Medal Winners List

Other awards include the Pura Belpré Award which is awarded to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator, the (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award which awards authors and illustrators of the most distinguished books for beginning readers and the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal which is given to the most distinguished informational book published in the United States. Please see the links below to access the winners of these awards.

Pura Belpré Award: Pura Belpre Award List

Geisel Award: Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

Some of these award winning books are available from our school library San Antonito STEM Magnet Library in book (physical)  and ebook formats.  The books may also be available from the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Public Libraries.  I hope these lists will help you and your child discover some new favorite genres/books.

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Happy reading,
Mrs. Gaddis, Librarian
Email
carol.gaddis@aps.edu
Library Webpage
Phone: 505-281-3931

Hello Families,

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a nice, restful break.  It’s hard to believe we are in the year 2025.  May this new year be filled with good health, good fortune, and good times for everyone.  😀

Update: We finished up our basketball unit, and the last thing I did with our 2nd-5th graders before break was our annual hula-hoop/jump rope  competition.  The younger students learned some cooperative games and reviewed their locomotive skills.  

Upcoming:  Our first unit will be hockey.  The students will learn basic vocabulary and skills specific to hockey.  After hockey, our next unit will be healthy habits.  We will spend a week discussing healthy eating and learning about the food groups.  After that, we will discuss dental hygiene.  The last week of the unit will be defining what circuit training is and practicing some examples.  

Announcement: TBD–ultimate hula hooper and jump rope results to come.

Thanks for the continued support I consistently get from our families and community.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.  I’m always looking for parent volunteers for my Kinder - 2nd grade classes. 

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Thank You,
Coach Harrison 
Email
monica.harrison@aps.edu
505-281-3931

Hello SASM Families,

Welcome to a new semester! In January we will delve into some exciting art mediums such as printmaking and metal repousse. Through these mediums we will explore the concepts of real vs. implied texture in art, symmetrical vs asymmetrical balance and continuing to reinforce the concepts of geometric shapes and forms vs. organic shapes and forms. Looking forward to next month, we will begin working on representing ourselves through portraits and making art about our lives and communities. As always, if you would like to volunteer in the art room or have a specific art skill you would like to share, I would love to hear from you.

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Sincerely,
Carrie Sanchez
SASM Art Teacher
505-281-3931
Email
carrie.sanchez@aps.edu
SASM Art Google Site

Hello Families,
I hope everyone is doing well. I would like to introduce myself, my name is Shannon Winters, and I am the new Redirector for San Antonito STEM Elementary this year. I am here for anything students may need. I am here for emotion please feel free to reach out for support.

I look forward to a great year and helping every student thrive.

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Best Wishes,

Shannon Winters
SASM Redirector 
Email:
shannon.winters@aps.edu
Phone: 
 505-281-3931 ext. 25635 

Welcome Families, 
I have amazing news this school year! Students are able to receive 1 breakfast and 1 lunch at no charge. This year we will also be classed as a CEP (Community Eligibility Provision) school, meaning we will not need to fill out any eligibility lunch forms this school year. That being said they may still pay for any second meals (main $2, sides, milk $0.40)

I will still need any student with food allergies to have a current dietary needs form filled out as soon as possible. This ensures that I can provide a safe option for those in need. www.aps.edu/food-and-nutrition-services/dietary-needs-forms 

Please call or email me if you have any questions. 

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Jasmine Padilla
SASM Site Supervisor
Email

jasmine.padilla@aps.edu

505-281-3931
505-253-9345

Free meals

All APS students will receive free meals this year, regardless of their family’s income. State lawmakers and the governor signed off on Senate Bill 4 earlier this year, which requires public schools to provide healthy breakfasts and lunches to students at no charge.
And while all New Mexico students will get free meals, the state Public Education Department is nevertheless urging families throughout the state to fill out the free and reduced lunch application. PED says filling out the form ensures children will receive maximum funding for benefits like Summer EBT. An accurate count of qualifying students is also used to determine funding for such things as after-school programs, technology, and quality internet.

Apply online by filling out the

• Free and Reduced Price School Meals Application
• External link
• Note: Please spell out Albuquerque or use 505 and our district will appear in the drop down list.              

LINQ Connect Menu System

• APS School Menus are now at your fingertips on the LINQ Menu
• External link
• Discover more information regarding APS school menus, nutrition, and allergens.
• LINQ Connect is also available on Apple and Android devices.
• The LINQ Connect Menus app is an easy way to keep track of your weekly/monthly menus!

TRANSPORTATION BEHAVIOR EXPECTATIONS

Riding the bus is a privilege. 

Appropriate behavior is expected whenever a student is on the bus. Suspension from riding the bus does not mean suspension from school. Instead, the parent/guardian will be responsible for transporting the student to and from school. The bus driver or bus assistant shall submit a referral to the school administrator to manage the consequence. Bus disruption occurs anytime a student deliberately or inadvertently interferes with the safe operation of a school bus, which is stopped or moving; behaves in a manner adversely affecting an individual or property on or near the bus itself, at bus stops, or at pick-up areas. 

Please, speak with your children about bus safety. 

• Listen to the bus driver
• Students need to remain seated and facing forward
• Students may not move around on the bus
• Be kind to one another
• Using foul or vulgar gestures is inappropriate
• Nothing goes out the window

Consequences/Disposition
1st Violation - Written Warning 
2nd Violation - Up to 5 days Suspension from the bus 
3rd Violation - Up to 10 days Suspension from the bus 
4th Violation - Suspension from the bus Up to the End of the Semester 
5th Violation - Suspension from the bus Up to the Remainder of the Year

Severe Disruption 
• Physical harm to other students or staff 
• Physical damage to the bus (restitution may be required) 
1st Violation - Up to 10 days Suspension from the bus 
2nd Violation - Suspension from the bus Up to End of the Semester 
3rd Violation - Suspension from the bus Up to the Remainder of the Year

Visit my bus stop to locate your child’s bus stop. The bus company has informed me that they will not honor "temporary" bus/bus stop changes this school year. Your child must ride their assigned bus and get on/off at their assigned stop.

Remember, there are no bus options for transfer students.
The bus company can be reached at 505-253-0287 with any transportation questions.