Home Care In Mesquite, NM

During her seven years as principal, Angela Silvaggio has played a vital role in transforming Mesquite Elementary School into a high-performing school that is closing the achievement gap. Mesquite Elementary School was a low-performing Title I school in a rural New Mexico community where the median income is less than $21,000. One hundred percent of Mesquite’s students are eligible for free and reduced meals and 98% are Hispanic. The dominant language in the community is Spanish, and 66% of Mesquite’s students are identified as English Language Learners.

The process of transforming Mesquite began with Principal Silvaggio recruiting her key administrative team, which included a new assistant principal, an instructional coach, a counselor, and a special education department chair. She then realized she needed to motivate students and teachers to want to come to Mesquite and to help them feel appreciated and supported. Principal Silvaggio believes a leader must play a central and critical role in initiating, developing, and maintaining a collaborative school environment. To create unity within the school, she demonstrated the value of collaboration by making it meaningful, communicating often, and providing ample opportunities for teachers to engage in collaborative activities.

Principal Silvaggio also knew that family involvement is an important component in nurturing a school environment of acceptance and support. She maintains an open-door policy and open, frequent, and diverse lines of communication. She meets monthly with families through the “Coffee with the Principal” initiative. She encourages parents to visit with her with any questions or concerns that they might have. Since Mesquite’s families represent different backgrounds and family configurations, she encourages staff to be open-minded and think creatively about ways to foster positive relationships with families.

Principal Silvaggio stresses the importance of articulating a vision for both the school and the community. She models that vision each day—during each classroom visit, each conversation with a staff member, and each discussion with a parent. She believes the vision has to be more than empty words plastered on a marquee sign; it must have a rich, relevant meaning. She tells students every day, with hard work, a positive attitude, respect, and dignity, and smiles on their faces, anything can be accomplished. She encourages students to develop a vision for themselves and take ownership of that vision.

Principal Silvaggio is a data-driven leader. Knowing that students were struggling in reading and mathematics when she first came to Mesquite, she realized that the only way the school would flourish was by studying the data. She created a data committee that is coordinated by the instructional coach and intervention specialist. The data committee reviews the data of the entire school and finds ways to help teachers use this data to drive their instruction.

One of the biggest ways Principal Silvaggio has impacted the school is with her innovative idea of implementing weekly intensive tutoring block days within the classrooms. The school developed an action plan that included using data to group students according to their needs. This gives teachers opportunities to target students, whether they are struggling learners or high achievers.

Principal Silvaggio views being an educator not just as a career choice but a calling. During her forty years in education, she has served in a variety of roles at all school levels, from Head Start teacher, to a high school counselor and At-Risk Coordinator, to serving as a middle school assistant principal and principal. These experiences have taught her how important it is for a school environment to address the needs of the whole child in order to foster children’s learning and development. She takes every step necessary to see that students and staff alike are safe both physically and psychologically. By addressing student and staff needs, morale is high at Mesquite. There are lower absences, better academic performance, staff who enjoy the workplace atmosphere, and parents who can see and feel the benefits as they walk through the school’s door.

Angela Silvaggio considers working with the Mesquite team, staff, and students her greatest honor. Under her leadership, Mesquite’s students, regardless of their cultural background, social-economic status, or language proficiency, have excelled and achieved outstanding academic success.

MESQUITE, N.M. – When Angela Silvaggio became principal at Mesquite Elementary School eight years ago, she said morale was low across the board and students didn't believe in themselves.

"The first step was to build a positive culture," she said.

Among the changes: Teachers began calling parents, sharing positive stories. That positivity transformed into trust and that trust led to better results.

Mesquite, which serves students living in southern Don?a Ana County between Las Cruces and Vado, is now a perennial "A" school in the state's rankings.

On Sept. 21, Mesquite was designated as a National Blue Ribbon School — one of three schools in New Mexico to earn the designation this year along with Mesa Verde Elementary School in Farmington and Coronado Elementary School in Hobbs.

The National Blue Ribbon School recognition is based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps through school resources. This year, 325 schools nationwide were recognized.

"Being acknowledged as a Blue-Ribbon school is the highest honor recognized by the US Department of Education," stated GISD Superintendent Travis Dempsey in a message to the district. "This validates years of hard work and dedication this staff has committed to the communities they serve."

Silvaggio said she did not make this happen on her own and commends the hard work of the entire community in its efforts to make Mesquite a better place.

"For some of our students, we are everything. We are a parent, sister, counselor, brother, friend," Silvaggio said. "Receiving that honor will really validate their hard work. It will make them want to want to strive for more."

Building a positive culture

Teachers are asked to make two positive calls to parents a week. Silvaggio says this is to help build a stronger connection with families to show them that the school cares and that not every interaction with school has to be negative.

"It's not just to the best kids," Silvaggio said. "It could be to a kid who failed a math test last week, but he got a D this week. It's the small victories that are celebrated."

The goal is to take the fear out of reaching out to the school and make it a welcoming place for families.

Students are also heavily involved with their own grades to help boost accountability. Silvaggio said Mesquite focuses on intensive tutoring and regularly checks in with students to make sure they are on track.

She said the biggest key to success for educators and students has been making them feel valued.

"We're about hard work in the classroom, respect and dignity everywhere we go with everyone," Silvaggio said. "You have to build relationships before anything else can happen .… It's not my school. It's their school. It's the community's school."

Silvaggio said the students may not yet understand what the Blue Ribbon designation means, but she's sure it will boost their confidence even further, which is the school's biggest strategy.

"It's just a wonderful thing to have at this school because I don't think anyone ever thought that it would happen," Silvaggio said. "I think New Mexico gets a bad rap .… It's a good thing for the district, for the state, for the community, to realize that we are as good as anywhere else in the country. I'm hoping it will inspire our students to continue (believing in themselves)."

Mesquite will be celebrating the designation on Oct. 8, bringing students, staff and families together with a blue-themed festival with food trucks and music.

An official award ceremony will take place at an in-person event on Nov. 4 and 5 at the Gaylord National Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Miranda Cyr, a Report for America corps member, can be reached at [email protected] or @mirandabcyr on Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program at https://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.

MESQUITE, N.M. (CBS4) — An animal feed and supply store has caught fire once again, nearly a year after an electrical fire caused over $1 million worth of damage.

Nearly a thousand bales of hay continued to burn after catching fire at Landmark Mercantile Supply Store in Mesquite, New Mexico.

This comes almost a year after an electrical fire nearly destroyed the business.

Firefighters in New Mexico are letting a hay fire burn out in Mesquite, New Mexico.

It happened at Landmark Mercantile off of Interstate 10 West Tuesday around 7 a.m.

People who live in the area said they experienced a little deja vu as they saw smoke fill the sky.

“It was really early in the morning last year. This year there were sirens a little later in the morning but the same thing popped up in my head, ‘Oh, my gosh, it might be the store,’ so it was really ironic,” said one resident who didn’t wish to appear on camera.

Multiple fire crews were on the scene within a matter of minutes to contain the fire.

Owner Jason McClure said it was hay that caught fire but is skeptical as to how.

“Those typically smolder inside out. This one looked like it was outside in. We moisture test all the hay that’s out here. Internalcombustion is really tough to happen, especially the way we stack it. Very rarely do those happen,” McClure said.

McClure said with more than 65 animals and millions of dollars worth of equipment, he’s thankful nothing else was damaged.

“It shouldn’t affect anything other than the hay sales. I don’t know how much they sell to other ranchers around here but it shouldn't affect their main business inside the store,” Mesquite resident Jimmy Waller said.

McClure said nothing else was damaged, and people can still pick up their animal feed and supplies as usual.

“From last year, what a devastation it was and what an inconvenience it was to have our local store go down. I’m glad they’re still up and running and I can still go in today,” said a Mesquite resident.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but McClure said they’re letting it burn out now that it’s been contained.

Las Cruces Sun-News

LAS CRUCES - Landmark Mercantile caught fire Tuesday morning causing serious damage to the building, owner Jason McClure said.

About 3 a.m., the Don?a Ana County Fire and Emergency Services responded to a call at the agricultural supply store at 12000 Stern Drive in Mesquite, McClure said.

The fire was under control by 5:24 a.m., said Kelly Jameson, Don?a Ana County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

Authorities said the fire started in the office and quickly engulfed the building, which housed paperwork and hundreds of pounds of animal feed, Jameson said.

The cost of inventory lost is estimated to be $1.4 million, Don?a Ana County Fire and Emergency Services said in a Facebook post. The amount does not include damage to the property, Jameson said.

No humans were injured in the fire, but McClure said a couple of cats and birds inside the building perished.

The business has operated out of a metal building off Interstate 10 near the Mesquite exit for 12 years, officials said.

McClure, who said he had not seen the inside of the structure as late Tuesday morning, said he is comforted by the "amazing response from the community.

"I am surprised at the number of people who have contacted me and offered their support," McClure said.

Landmark Mercantile rose to local fame as the location of a dromedary camels wedding in 2012. On Valentine's Day, McClure wed his two camels — Sarah and Clyde — in front of fellow livestock and community members.

The livestock that lived outside on the property — which included two camels, some cattle and emus — were all reported to be unharmed, official said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Ali Linan can be reached at 575-541-5476, [email protected] or @Ail_Linan on Twitter.

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