Cottonwood's Polar Express Saturday School was filled with fun. The students wrote letters to Santa, made wreaths, played Bingo, did tear art, decorated cookies, made hot chocolate and completed a directed drawing, among other things. Every time they completed an activity their Polar Express Train tickets were punched. What a wonderful way to spend a morning with friends and earn back a day of attendance credit. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Over 300 Students Participate in 4th Annual District Choir Festival

On October 21, 2025, West Valley High School hosted the fourth annual District Choir Festival, welcoming more than 300 participants from nine secondary schools. Choir students and directors presented performances across ten ensembles representing a full range of ages and experiences. The festival featured two distinguished university clinicians, Dr. Nicholle Andrews (University of Redlands) and Dr. Ariel Quintana (La Sierra University), who provided written evaluations and on-stage workshops with each ensemble.

Cottonwood K-8 participated in the Festival for the first time and director Sally McCampbell brought a combined choir of elementary and middle school students who performed with confidence, enthusiasm, and poise throughout the day. The following example captures Dr. Andrews working collaboratively with both the teacher and students during their post-performance clinic.

Ms. McCampbell reflected, “It was eye-opening for me to connect movements to phrases and hear the difference it made to the students’ voices. I am excited to work more movement into our warm-ups and performances. I found the clinicians to be really supportive and constructive with their criticisms and advice and I picked up some really useful skills to implement.”

Meaningful feedback is essential for both teachers and students. Hattie (2009) emphasizes that timely, specific feedback has a significant impact on student learning, with an effect size of 0.73. Clinicians play a vital role by providing interactive, immediate assessments of performances, along with actionable strategies to improve outcomes. This process benefits both students and teachers and often occurs in tandem, similar to an ensemble, which is a group that learns and performs together.

Live performances offer particularly valuable opportunities for feedback. Performing in front of an audience allows students to receive immediate responses, which can be instrumental in their development. This real-time feedback enables students to evaluate their performance, make adjustments, and deepen their understanding of musical expression.

Click the link to see the video performances from that night.
https://bit.ly/3L4v6XI

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Mrs. McCampbell conducted the Middle School Choir and the Combined Elementary and Middle School Choirs who performed beautiful holiday carols. Shoutout to Ryker for his amazing solo. This was the perfect way to end the evening! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

At the Winter Concert, our elementary band students did a terrifc job sharing holiday carols. Wonderful job musicians! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Cottonwood's Winter Concert was a special treat and festive way to kick off the holiday season. Here are a few shots from our 5th Grade Performers. Special thanks to Mrs. McCampbell for preparing our students and coordinating the concert. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Cottonwood's Winter Concert was a special treat and festive way to kick off the holiday season. Here are a few shots from our 4th Grade Performers sing the 12 Days of Christmas. Shoutout to Eliora who represented 2 of the days of Christmas which kept her running across the stage. Special thanks to Mrs. McCampbell for preparing our students and coordinating the concert. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Cottonwood's Winter Concert was a special treat and festive way to kick off the holiday season. Here are a few shots from our TK-3rd Grade Performers. Special thanks to Mrs. McCampbell for preparing our students and coordinating the concert. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Miss Heather's ELOP group worked in groups to examine clues and solve problems so that they could open their team's Break-Out Box. Great job working together. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

On Thursday, December 18th, there will be an ELAC Meeting in the Library from 5:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. The ELAC is a committee specifically designed to advise school officials on English Learner Program Services. Dinner and Daycare will be provided. Hope to see you there. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Attention Cougar Sports Fans! We have been informed that DP Christian is unable to come to Cottonwood today for the scheduled basketball games. We are hoping to reschedule the game after the holiday break. Students will instead have practice today from 3:15-4:30 to prepare for Wednesdays's game at the Soboba Sports Complex. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Miss Heather's ELOP Group used Thumbtacks to create beautiful holiday pictures that glow when placed against the light. Nice work Cougars! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Miss Heather's ELOP Group made some lovely Snow Creatures! Their creativity is amazing! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Friday was Holiday Sweater/Shirt Day and our Cougars brought the spirit! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

Special thanks to some angels from Jojoba Hills who delivered enough handmade beanies to keep the heads of all of our Cougars toasty in the cold. A few students make their selections and modeled their choices. Thank you so much for your generosity and thoughtfulness. #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

In order to be ready for Cottonwood's Holiday Sweater/Shirt Day, our PLUS Leadership students took some old shirts and craft supplies and got busy! Their creativity was amazing! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

To reinforce the Character Trait of Gratitude our 2nd Graders identified six things that they were grateful for and made Gratitude Gift Boxes, putting one thing on each side of their boxes that showed some of the things that they are grateful for. Great job! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

To reinforce the Character Trait of Gratitude our Transitional Kindergarteners identified six things that they were grateful for and made Gratitude Gift Boxes, putting one thing on each side of their boxes that showed some of the things that they are grateful for. Great job! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

To reinforce the Character Trait of Gratitude our 5th Graders identified six things that they were grateful for and made Gratitude Gift Boxes, putting one thing on each side of their boxes that showed some of the things that they are grateful for. Great job! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars

To reinforce the Character Trait of Gratitude our 4th Graders identified six things that they were grateful for and made Gratitude Gift Boxes, putting one thing on each side of their boxes that showed some of the things that they are grateful for. Great job! #TheHUSDWay #CottonwoodCougars