Roswell Schools

09/09/2026

The new Nancy Lopez Elementary School was officially opened with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, September 4. LPGA Hall-of-Fame golfer and Roswell native Nancy Lopez returned to her hometown to cut the ribbon and officially dedicate the school .
RISD Superintendent Brian Luck introduced Nancy. “It’s very much my great honor to introduce someone who truly needs very little introduction. She’s a Roswell native, a New Mexico legend, a hall of famer, a champion, and one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game.”
He went on to list her accomplishments before saying, “Her greatest legacy may be the people that she’s inspired to help change the game of golf and to open doors for women and girls in sports. She has shown generations of young people what can happen when you combine talent, determination, hard work and a willingness to dream big.”
Nancy began the dedication by expressing her thanks. “I want to say thank you to all the wonderful leaders that are here. You can’t have a great community or a great school without people that really care about the children because that’s what it’s all about.” Nancy added that when she went to Flora Vista Elementary, the name of the school before it became Nancy Lopez Elementary, she still remembers the teachers she had there. Nancy also told the 4th and 5th graders that were in attendance to be the best you can be. “My dad always told me to do the best you can in life. You have to walk away saying, ‘Did I give 100 percent?’ And if you can say yes, then you did what you were supposed to do.”
She talked about her father, Domingo, who was a great influence in her life.” He always told me to keep my word and to be good to people. In the world today, people just aren’t good to each other the way they should be. It’s easy to just smile and say hi and thank you and appreciate people.” Nancy said it was an honor for her when they changed the name of her old school, Flora Vista Elementary, to Nancy Lopez Elementary, back in 1991. “My dad was still alive back then, and I know he was so proud when they put my name on that great school that I had gone to.”
She went on to say how much of an honor it was for her to be part of the new school’s dedication and grand opening. Afterwards, she lined up with RISD dignitaries and cut the ribbon to officially open the new school. Then she mingled with the students, handed out bracelets and interacted with members of the audience. “Today has just been wonderful,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful homecoming for me.”

Nancy Lopez Accomplishments
-World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee (1987)
-PGA of America Hall of Fame Inductee (Class of 2025).
- 48 Career LPGA Tour Victories, including 3 Major Championships. Shattered media records during a historic 1978 rookie season by winning 9 tournaments, including an unmatched streak of 5 consecutive tournament wins.
- Player of the Year, awarded to the top overall player on the tour, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1988
- Vare Trophy, earned for the lowest season scoring average on tour, 1978, 1979, 1985
- Golfer of the Decade, named by GOLF Magazine, 1978–1987
- AP Female Athlete of the Year, 1978, 1985

09/01/2026

LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Nancy Lopez, along with two other Roswell natives who played on the LPGA Tour, will be on hand during the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Nancy Lopez Elementary School, located at 301 S. Hinkle, directly north of Mesa Middle School.
The ceremonies will take place on Friday. September 4 at 8:30 a.m. Nancy, a graduate of Goddard High School in 1975, joined the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events over her career, including three major championships. She was a three-time LPGA Player of the Year.
JoJo Robertson, also a graduate of Goddard High School, is currently the women's golf coach at Texas Tech. She was a four-time New Mexico state champion while at GHS, was an All-American at Oklahoma State University, and a two-time U.S. national champion.
Gerina Piller won the New Mexico Class AAAA state championship while playing for Goddard High School and was also an all-state volleyball player who led GHS to back-to-back state championships. She played at UTEP for four years and represented the U.S. as a member of the 2016 Olympic team. She had six top-10 finishes in LPGA events over her career.

08/28/2026

A new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Mathematics) Lab at Valley View Elementary School is taking a hands-on approach to learning for all students at the school, kindergarten through 5th grade.
The lab, funded partially by the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation STEM Program, and expanded with funds from the school’s budget, is providing an intrinsic way to motivate the kids to love to learn, said Valley View principal Tavis Ackerman. “All the items in this lab are directly tied to units that they are studying in their English lessons. For example, in second grade they are learning about body systems, so let’s show them some human cells under the microscope. For earth science, let’s build a volcano. Every single object in our STEAM lab has a purpose and is tied to the English curriculum and it enhances it. They learn about it in their general ed classroom, and then they’re getting some hands-on experience about what they’re learning.”
Ackerman said they took what was provided by the Cal Ripkin grant and added to it. “We wanted to transform that from a computer lab to something much more interactive and keep it tied in to what the kids are learning in the classroom.” Ms. Natasha Harvey runs the STEAM lab at Valley View. “Today, we have second graders looking through the microscope. They’re looking at honeybee antenna, butterfly wings, and pollen, to name a few.” Ms. Harvey went on to say that that the students are fascinated by what they see through the microscope. “We also have a lot of equipment and do activities that involve creativity. “Every child is unique, and it’s interesting to see how they approach these creative activities differently.
The STEAM lab has activities for every grade level in the school. Volcano simulation, rocketry, the Space Weather Station and many other specialties provide a wide range of hands-on curriculum.

08/25/2026

Coming into Friday night’s game against the Hobbs Eagles, the Coyotes knew they were facing a tough challenge. The 6A Hobbs team was the third-ranked team in the state, while the RHS squad came in at number 10 in the overall state rankings. But once the game got underway, it didn’t take long to see that the Roswell team is among the elite teams in the state.
In Class 5A, the Coyotes 64-60 win gave them the top spot after Artesia’s loss to Carlsbad.
The RHS-Hobbs game was an offensive shootout. Hobbs led 27-20 at the half, and then both teams combined to score 76 total points in the final two quarters.
The Coytoes put 28 points up on the board in the fourth quarter and drove the field in the final two mintues to seal the come-from-behind victory.
The Goddard Rockets open their home season next Friday in the Wool Bowl. The Rockets were defeated by Lovington 20-14 on the road. RHS travels to Canyon, Texas next week to take on Randall.

08/06/2026

Excitement was the Word-of-the-Day as the Roswell School District’s youngest learners began their first day of school on Wednesday, August 5. The excitement could be seen on the faces of many parents as they escorted their children into the school. It could be seen on the faces of the Parkview teachers and staff as they greeted the families. And most of all, it could be seen on the faces of some of the three- and four-year old PreK students as they began their educational journey.

Parkview principal Danielle Ortega said the anticipation and excitement associated with the first day of school didn’t just happen at random. “PreK Teachers have been spending the last couple of days in Family Visits meeting students and their Families to build strong relationships in order to support students and families throughout the year,” said Ms. Ortega. “We appreciate that parents chose to bring their child to our program. We couldn’t be prouder of our students and their parents as we recognize this is a big step for them.”

While school began for the remainder of the district two days earlier on Monday, August 3, The PreK students 2026-27 year began on Wednesday.

08/04/2026

Two coaches and two administrators from the Roswell Independent School District were honored recently at the New Mexico Athletic Association’s annual banquet in Albuquerque. Coaches Gilbert Alvarado of Goddard High School and Aaron Payne of Roswell High each received Coach of the Year Awards, while Britt Cooper and Micah Trujillo were recognized for exemplary administrative work in the district’s athletic offices.

Alvarado, head Baseball coach at GHS, was named the 4A Baseball Coach of the Year after his team claimed the 2026 4A state baseball championship. Alvarado’s teams have advanced to the state semi-finals twice in recent years.

During this year’s run to the state championship, Alvarado credited his team for coming from behind in nearly every game. “At some point in that tournament, every player on the squad made something happen,” said Alvarado. Because of that, I feel this Coach of the Year Award is more of a team award. We all pulled together to make it happen.”

During the 2026 season, Alvarado became the winningest baseball coach in the history of Goddard High School.

Roswell High’s Payne took his 2026 powerlifting team to the state meet, where they finished as the state runner-up. Even though he fell two points short of winning the title, he was named that state’s Powerlifting Coach of the Year.

Payne has done a lot with his program in a very short period of time. “I started this program in 2021 during the Covid year,” he said. “We had four lifters that year, and everything was done at our gym because we couldn’t travel anywhere. We had one lifter win a state championship during that initial year, and we’ve grown from there. This was our best year as a team.”

On the administrative side, RISD Athletic Director Britt Cooper claimed the Southeast Region’s Athletic Director of the Year Award. It was the third time Cooper was named the top AD in recent years.

RISD’s Micah Trujillo was named the New Mexico Assistant Athletic Director of the year.

Having the Roswell district’s athletic office bring home the two top awards for athletic administration is a testimony to the effectiveness of the leadership in that office.

08/03/2026

The 2026-27 school year began today as nearly 8,500 students enrolled in 21 schools made their way into schools across Roswell.
Nancy Lopez Elementary welcomed students into its new building for the first time. The recently completed structure, which was relocated from the corner of Bland and Atkinson streets to 301 S. Hinkle, directly north of Mesa Middle School, will provide 41,000 square feet in a facility designed for 300 students.
The new school was built at a cost of $22 million. The Public School Capital Outlay Council, a state organization that the RISD partners with, assumed 71 percent of the expense, or more than $15 million. The remainder of the expense comes from the RISD budget.
The Architect for Nancy Lopez Elementary was PA Architects from Albuquerque. Waide Construction from Roswell was the construction firm.
The school’s groundbreaking took place two years ago in 2024. The school is named after Roswell native Nancy Lopez, a professional golfer who dominated the sport in the 80’s. She is a member of the LPGA Hall of Fame.

07/31/2026

05/20/2026

📚 Exciting News for Roswell ISD Families! 📚
Every student in New Mexico now has FREE access to Rally Reader through the New Mexico Public Education Department!
Families can access:
✅ 50,000+ books for K–12 students
✅ Reading support tools built into the app
✅ Daily reading progress updates

FOR THE ENGLISH BROCHURE CLICK HERE:
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ESPANOL: FOR THE SPANISH BROCHURE CLICK HERE:
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