Principal / Athletic Director – Mark Barrett

Hello everyone,

We are officially one month into school and everything has been better than the year before.  There has been very little discipline issues and we even have more kids than last year.

The 8th grade class is off and running with fundraisers trying to reach their 1,000 dollar goal (per student) so they can go to HAWAII…  So far, half of the class is almost to their goal and the other half is beginning to get to work.  We had 60 people sign up to say they were going to Hawaii with the class, and although that number will change some in the next few months, it still looks like lots of people are going on the trip.

Softball season just come to an end with a 2 win and 2 loss state tournament at McAlester.  Our girls played well, except in the game against Moffitt, but I am still real proud of them.  They put a lot of work into getting better this season. (Last year we lost all 3 state tournament games).

WOW !  If your child missed out on this trip, make it a point to come along next year if we are so lucky to do the same thing. 

We traveled to Midwest City and ate lunch: Pizza Buffet at Pizza Inn : there wasn’t an empty seat in the house or an empty plate,  we filled up the eating joint and was commented on, on how well behaved our kids are.  In today’s society, that’s a big compliment.

Next we went ice skating for two hours at the outdoor skating park across from the Ford Center in Bricktown.  It was a great place with smooth ice, although it didn’t feel very smooth when you would fall.

Following ice skating, we got to snow tube down from the upper deck at the Bricktown Ballpark onto the field.  That’s Right.  We were on the field at the Brick !  So much fun. 

Finally, we ended our trip with a short ride on the boats at the river walk.  A great Day to be a Cottonwood student ……

As October ends and basketball season has begun, our teams have started well.  The 3rd and 4th grade boys and girls both have played in the Wapanucka festival, where they played 4 games, and the Haywood Tournament, where they played in 2 games each.

The 5th and 6th grade boys 2 of their first 4 games, but lost in the first round of the Stringtown Tournament and the first round of the Haywood Tournament.

The 5th and 6th girls have jumped out to a 7 -1 record with there only loss coming in the finals of the Stringtown tournament.  With several girls missing games because of the flu, the girls are still in the the second round of the Haywood Tournament.

The 7th and 8th grade teams are up and going as well.  Both teams easily defeated Farris at Home on the 20th of October, but both teams lost in the opening rounds of the Stringtown Tournament.  As of Nov. 1, both teams have a record of 1-1.

The first 9 weeks has come to an end without any major problems.  The teachers do a great job of taking care of the first two steps of the discipline process, which means I havn’t seen very many kids in my office.

If you didn’t know, our discipline is a three step process.  First, the teacher gives the student a “thinking area” card where the student will go and write down what he/she did wrong and what they should have done.  This step usually stops any small behavior problems and the class is not disrupted.

The second step is “Time Out”.  If the student chooses to continue the poor behavior or throws a fit during the first step, the are given a “Time Out” card where they will go and sit.  This is the cooling off place.  If the student can cool off in the short two or three minutes in time out, they will return to the “thinking area” to fill out the paper.

The third step is “The Principal”.  The child is given two opportunities to avoid this step.

Basketball season has started!   If you havn’t noticed, we ordered new suits for everyone.  Even better news was we didn’t order enough.  That’s right; that is good news when we ordered 80 suits and needed more. 

Our third & fourth graders have about 20 basketball games scheduled;  Our fifth and sixth graders have 30 games scheduled; and our seventh and eighth graders have the 14 games and two tournaments plus a trip to the ORES playoffs.