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Sierra Middle School staff look forward to a block party on Saturday for students and families — as well as residents living in the neighborhood who don’t have children attending the school.

The party will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the football field behind the school located at 615 S. Sycamore Ave., Roswell.

“I want families to come have fun, enjoy themselves and learn about the campus,” said Kristen Salyards, the Community School coordinator at Sierra. “It’ll be a blast.”

Sierra was designated as a community school in 2019. It’s was the first campus in the Roswell Independent School District to provide such services. More than 600 students in grades 6 through 8 attend the school.

This event will allow those who attend opportunities for some fun and information about what's available at the campus.

Families can play basketball, corn hole and try to work jointly — and perhaps, effectively — in three-legged races. There will be food trucks serving coffee, lunch and desserts.

The school-based health center will provide tours of the location where it will soon begin operating two days a week. The center will provide the neighborhood with such health services as vaccinations, care for minor problems and wellness checks. Staff will refer patients to specialists when a problem appears to be serious. Those in the neighborhood without health insurance can receive care there for free.

Staff will offer basic health screenings on Saturday during the block party. Among these will be checks of blood pressure, body mass index and vision.

LaCasa Family Health Center will set up its mobile dental operation, which contains multiple dental chairs inside a 45-foot vehicle.

And, of course, Salyards explained, “there will be information on our amazing services.”

Students can sign up for clubs and other activities. The school offers 29 tutoring sessions and after-school clubs each week, Salyards pointed out.

Adults can learn about offerings for them that include GED, parenting, financial literacy and English as a second-language.

Parents of students at Sierra can learn about such tools as PowerSchool, which tracks students' attendance and class performance.

Among Sierra’s community partners are Roswell Public Library and CASA. Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell is one of the student outreach providers with Gear Up and Trio programs.

There are 33 Community Schools in the state. According to the New Mexico Department of Education, the idea of this concept is to foster partnership between families, communities and students to ensure these students “achieve their very best.”

Sierra was eligible because it serves many economically disadvantaged students and had demonstrated the need to improve how well students were doing academically.

The Learning Policy Institute wrote in 2021 that Community Schools in New Mexico are now addressing “many of the long-standing adequacy and equity challenges that have characterized the education of its children.”

The term “neighborhood” in this instance refers to the school’s attendance area. Students’ families and others living in that area have access to heath-based services and adult classes offered through Community Schools.

Two other RISD campuses are being funded this year to operate as community schools: University High School was provided $150,000 for first-year implementation of a community school program and Mesa Middle School received a $50,000 for planning this type of program.

Terri Harber can be reached at 575-622-7710, ext. 308, or at reporter03@rdrnews.com.

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