Saddle Mountain Unified School District #90

The RoboColts are in Mesa today for their last tournament of the regular season. You can watch it live at this link. RoboColts are team number 4461A and 4461B. https://www.youtube.com/live/d0MM1Gtgxfg?si=zg5GREsBEXxucM-X

Reconfiguration Updates for the 2026-2027 school year.

The SMUSD VEX IQ teams traveled to Mesa on Saturday for their last tournament of the regular season. All three teams had a great day with WWES moving into the 5th place spot in the AZ robot skills ranking, DSES moved into 11th place, and TES ended up winning 2nd place in the tournament. All three teams have received an invite to the AZ State Finals for the first time in SMUSD Robotics history. Congrats to all three teams and their coaches.

Join us in person or online at https://www.youtube.com/@smusd90/streams Additional information can be found here: https://go.boarddocs.com/az/smusd90/Board.nsf/Public

The RoboColts win again! This past Saturday, the RFMS RoboColts traveled to Bogle Junior High in Chandler for a tournament. Both teams did well, but Team A walked away with the Amaze Award for the first time in SMUSD robotics history! That marks the sixth award in four tournaments so far this season, tying a district record set 4 years ago. One more award this season will make it our winningest season ever!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Special Olympics event such a memorable day for our students! 🏅

We are incredibly proud of our athletes for their teamwork, effort, and positive spirit. A big thank you to our teachers and staff for their support, our JAG student organizers for their outstanding leadership, and all of the volunteers who gave their time and energy to make the day run smoothly.

Special thanks to Tonopah Valley High School for hosting and serving such delicious food. Your hospitality made the experience even more special for our students and families.

We appreciate everyone who helped create a day full of inclusion, fun, and celebration!

Ready to get certified and earn your degree tuition free with NAU West Valley Pathways to Teaching? Check out our next session today Thursday, January 29th, 2026, from 4:00 - 5:00 pm via zoom. Use the link or QR code to register! Interested folks are always welcome to email Cassandra Lockard directly at: Cassandra.Lockard@nau.edu or call 623 478 5681 for interest in a 1:1 informational meeting.
https://nau.zoom.us/meeting/register/uIUhUAdeQ1eyhOe5QzCVWw#/registration

Huge news out of Prescott today. The two RFMS VEX Robotics teams traveled to Prescott today and were the only 2 middle school teams in the tournament. Both teams met up in the finals to face each other for the tournament championship. Team A came out with our first tournament championship in four years! They were teamed up with former RoboColts, Charlie, Isaac, and Brayden. Team B did great making it to the finals. Both teams brought home trophies, bringing our count for this season to 5 trophies in our first three events. Next week we travel to Chandler for a middle school only tournament, and hopefully some more awards!

January is School Board Appreciation month. Thank you to our dedicated school Board Members for their support on our campuses and in our community. We appreciate your time and service to our students and staff.

Please see the attached message from Superintendent Dr. Winters about possible configuration changes coming to our district for the 2026-2027 school year. https://aptg.co/HmH06t

Even our school administrators are lifelong learners who lead by example. This is Dr. Scales facilitating a Kagan cooperative learning strategy in a classroom last week at Tartesso Elementary!

Today, the WWES, DSES, and TES robotics teams traveled to Mesa for their second tournament of the season. All the teams did really well. TES finished in 14th, DSES finished 9th, and WWES finished in 2nd place! Great job to all the students and coaches!

On Saturday, both RMFS VEX Robotics teams traveled to Madison Highland Prep for their second tournament of the season. Both teams played exceptionally well, finishing in 7th and 10th places among a field of mostly high school competitors. Team B walked away with their second consecutive Judge's Award! The teams travel to Prescott next weekend for their next tournament.

Next Friday, January 23rd , the SMUSD 3rd through 8th grade competitive robotics teams will be hosting a fundraising night at Panda Express on Watson Rd. from 8:30 AM until midnight. 20% of all sales will go directly back to the elementary and middle school competitive robotics teams to help pay for materials and competition fees. Thank you for your support!

Please take a look at our fourth installment of our "Day in the Life" video series. This one features Caitey Dunbar, the health aide at Desert Sunset Elementary.

https://youtu.be/gP4oXDZ7M3g

Stop by TVHS for the Tonopah Twinkles event Dec 19th from 6-9pm.

This past Saturday, the three elementary VEX IQ competitive robotics teams from Winters' Well, Desert Sunset, and Tartesso attended their first competition of the season in Ahwatukee. It was the first-ever tournament for about half of our students in the program. The teams did great! Team 35220A from Winters' Well even qualified for the playoffs and finished the tournament in 5th place overall. Great job teams!