Patricia Miller

(Site Administrator)

Superintendent

Fort Sumner Municipal Schools

Ph: 505.355.9611

Office Hours:

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Biography

I was born in Amarillo, Texas. We lived on a ranch east of Nara Visa, NM and the hospital in Amarillo was the nearest "big" hospital to the family ranch. When my parents divorced, my brother and I went to live with our mother and stepfather in Alaska, and then New Jersey, but we spent each summer on the ranch with our father and paternal grandparents. When our mom died, we returned to the ranch and lived there through high school graduation.

There was no school in Nara Visa, so we traveled to Logan, NM for junior high and high school. While in high school I participated in all extra and co-curricular activities. I lettered in all girl sports, some boy sports (team manager) and was a cheerleader in my junior year. After graduating high school as the class valedictorian, I went to NMSU on a scholarship. While attending school there I met Les Miller, a young man who graduated from Carrizozo, NM. We married in 1979 (30 years ago) and lived in Las Cruces until we moved to Fort Sumner in July of 2005.

Les and I have two children, Stephen and Mary. Stephen (26) graduated from NM Tech in May of 2005 and is working as an electrical engineer. Mary is twenty-four years old and is in graduate school at Florida State University majoring in Speech and Language Pathology. Mary recently married David Spence. Dave is a welcome addition to our family and is working on a masters in screen writing.. Both of my parents are deceased and we are very close to Les' folks, Bill and Nancy Miller of Bayard, NM.

I am a certified special education and drama teacher, as well as school administrator. I am also a Nationally Board Certified Teacher (NBCT) as a middle childhood generalist. I know I am the only superintendent in NM who is nationally board certified, and I may be the only one in the nation. I began teaching in the Las Cruces Public Schools in 1988 and became an administrator for that district in 1996. I was a special education coordinator and the director of technology for that district, and have now moved on to the superintendency in Fort Sumner. My bachelor's and masters' degrees are from New Mexico State. I have been an adjunct professor for both New Mexico State University and Clovis Community College, teaching graduate courses in education, technology and grant writing

Growing up and graduating from a rural school in New Mexico was a great experience for me, and I seek to make it the same for students in the Fort Sumner Municipal Schools.

Personal Message

Joining the Fort Sumner community has proven to be an outstanding blessing to Les (my husband) and me. This community is warm, gracious and receptive to newcomers. The school strives to be a vital part of this community and we work to help new students adjust quickly to the learning environment. Fort Sumner students do very well in all district, regional, state and national competitions. This includes academic as well as co-curricular areas. Please encourage your children to join in one or more clubs or activities. Research indicates that students who participate in school clubs and organizations are over 90% more likely to graduate from high school. Achievement scores are also higher for students who participate in even one school club, organization or team. Some options to consider:

Athletic opportunities are available during the school year.
- Girls- volleyball, basketball and track
  - 05-06 Volleyball-
    - District Champions
    - Regional Champions
- Boys- football, basketball and track
  - Football-
    - District Champions
Future Farmers of America (FFA)- Steve Dimitroff
- Teams train and compete in a variety of areas, including public speaking
- Many students participate in 4-H during elementary school and then expand into FFA while maintaining their participation in 4-H. This is a great way to gain experience in project management and competition, both necessary skills for the majority of jobs available today.
- One of the district�s FFA teams recently took second place in the National FFA competition.
- Multiple FFA and 4-H students were recognized with awards at the New Mexico State Fair
Business Professionals of America (BPA)- Sherrie West
- Every year BPA students sweep the district, regional and state competitions.
- In the 04-05 SY ten BPA students went to the national competition in California.
- This year thirty students joined BPA with an eye toward competing in nationals in Florida.
Science Club- Pam Nuttall
- Students in middle and high school are invited to join the science club.
- There is room to support those students interested in careers in science, technology or engineering.
- In the 2006-2007 school year, students will be participating in the New Mexico AiS Challenge.
National Honor Society- Mary Ann Cortese
- There are over 20 students in NHS at Fort Sumner.
- Students must have a 3.2 (or better) GPA and demonstrate a number of service minded behaviors, as well as completing an application.
- Students must be sophomores, juniors or seniors in order to be considered for NHS.
Student Council-
- Elected representatives from each grade are included in the Student Council.
- Student governance is a great way to meet new people and to try out a �career� in public service.

If you don�t see what you would like to participate in on this list, just let me know:

Send me an email (this is the best way to make sure we connect), pmiller@ftsumnerk12.com
Feel free to come by and visit in the superintendent�s office. You are always welcome and if someone else beats you into the office, know that I would love to make an appointment or that you are free to wait.
Give me a call and we can chat:
- Office- 505.355.9611
- Cell- 505.799.7752
- Home- 505.355.5000

From the Superintendent

Campus Construction Update

Phase I: The Fort

We have moved into the new building.

Phase II: High School Renovation

We have moved into the High School building although the Multi-Purpose Room and Music Room are not quite complete.

The lockers of the Main Gym building are currently be renovated. There will be new plumbing, heating and cooling for the entire building, and ultimately new lighting in the whole area. The installation of the new ground source heat pump is being partially paid for using ARRA stimulus funds. Our district was fortunate to receive $500,000 in construction funds to help defray the costs associated with this new heating and cooling system. The locker rooms will be completed about the first of February. The work in the gymnasium area will begin about March 15, 2010 and the renovation of the cafeteria dining area and the foyer will start about June 1, 2010.

Phase III: Middle School and Elementary School

In June we provided an update to the Public School Capital Outlay Council (PSCOC) about our use of Phase I and Phase II funds and requested the additional funding for Phase III. The final construction phase will be to address the needs of the middle school building, elementary building, parking lot and bus drop off areas, and the demolition of the Old Gym. Ideally, we will complete all of this phase of work by December 2010.

The PSCOC met on July 30, 2009 and announced they would provide 5.6 million in construction funds, and an advance of $800,000 that the district will need to repay. It is likely that the district will need to take a bond request to the voters this spring in order to repay this advance. The Board of Education voted to accept the award at the August meeting of the Board and they will vote on whether to proceed with a Bond Election at the October meeting.

Fort Sumner remains the only school district in New Mexico to ever be awarded a waiver for the necessary match for school construction. Our need was great and our resources were limited to the amount of bond funds provided in the Bond Election of 2007. The Council recognized the community commitment to provide all resources possible, and then granted us a waiver in 2007 and now in 2009.

Mrs. Miller

10/11/2009

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