Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
This day will go down in history at Desert Trails
On Friday, Oct. 23 we celebrated taking a stand and saying No To Drugs by waving in the landing of the DEA helicopter! A Desert Trails first!!!
Students arrived out back around 9:20 and a few minutes later the helicopter could be seen flying overhead showcasing the arrival. The students brought their RED RIBBON hands to wave the helicopter to a safe landing in the Desert Trails playground!!! Once down DEA Special Agent Jeff, and Scottsdale Police Officer, Sargent Clark, exited the helicopter to the cheers of over 500 students, staff, and parents!!! The morning continued with Pearl, the drug dog, Special Agent Owens speaking to our students about good choices, and Special Agent Casey and Special Agent Jeff giving a tour of the helicopter!!!! Thank you to the Owens family for making the connections, and Thank you to PTO for putting this all together for our school!!! It was FANTASTIC~our students are still talking about this special morning!!!
Parent Conferences are going great! It has been wonderful to see you this week as you are coming to hear about all the things your child is accomplishing so far this year. The smiles as families are leaving is a great sign that communication is happening and expectations are being met!! Thank you for supporting your child on their educational journey!
Thank you for supporting us as we join with you to provide the best learning environment for ALL of our children at Desert Trails. Each one is worth it and so much more!!! Thank you for sending us your children each and every day. They are very precious to us!!!
November Events
11/5 Gov. Board Meeting 7pm
11/10 Early Release~Students dismissed at 12:30
11/11 No School
11/13 Lunch with Mrs. Lee @ Mimi's Cafe Star Citizen
11/16 School Council 7:45am
11/19 Student Council meeting 11:45
11/19 Gov. Board meeting 7pm
11/24 Coffee with the Principal 8:30am
11/26 & 11/27 Thanksgiving break
Tax Credit? What is that?
Click below for more informtion:
http://cmweb.pvschools.net/siteweb/taxCreditInfo.htm
Arizona tax law (ARS 43-1089.01) allows taxpayers a credit for contributions made or fees paid to a public school for support of extracurricular activities or character education (as defined in ARS 15-719). The credit is equal to the amount contributed or the amount of fees paid. However, the credit cannot exceed $200 for single taxpayers or heads of household. For married taxpayers who file a joint return, the credit cannot exceed $400. If married taxpayers file separate returns, each spouse may claim 1/2 of the credit that would have been allowed on a joint return.
Extracurricular activities such as sports, band, speech and debate or overnight field trips are generally not fully funded by school districts. These programs depend on fees from students. Click on the link provided to download the brochure to read about this valuable program and how you can participate. The Arizona Department of Revenue has additional information. Donations must be postmarked by midnight December 31 to be eligible for the current year.
Students arrived out back around 9:20 and a few minutes later the helicopter could be seen flying overhead showcasing the arrival. The students brought their RED RIBBON hands to wave the helicopter to a safe landing in the Desert Trails playground!!! Once down DEA Special Agent Jeff, and Scottsdale Police Officer, Sargent Clark, exited the helicopter to the cheers of over 500 students, staff, and parents!!! The morning continued with Pearl, the drug dog, Special Agent Owens speaking to our students about good choices, and Special Agent Casey and Special Agent Jeff giving a tour of the helicopter!!!! Thank you to the Owens family for making the connections, and Thank you to PTO for putting this all together for our school!!! It was FANTASTIC~our students are still talking about this special morning!!!
Parent Conferences are going great! It has been wonderful to see you this week as you are coming to hear about all the things your child is accomplishing so far this year. The smiles as families are leaving is a great sign that communication is happening and expectations are being met!! Thank you for supporting your child on their educational journey!
Thank you for supporting us as we join with you to provide the best learning environment for ALL of our children at Desert Trails. Each one is worth it and so much more!!! Thank you for sending us your children each and every day. They are very precious to us!!!
November Events
11/5 Gov. Board Meeting 7pm
11/10 Early Release~Students dismissed at 12:30
11/11 No School
11/13 Lunch with Mrs. Lee @ Mimi's Cafe Star Citizen
11/16 School Council 7:45am
11/19 Student Council meeting 11:45
11/19 Gov. Board meeting 7pm
11/24 Coffee with the Principal 8:30am
11/26 & 11/27 Thanksgiving break
Tax Credit? What is that?
Click below for more informtion:
http://cmweb.pvschools.net/siteweb/taxCreditInfo.htm
Arizona tax law (ARS 43-1089.01) allows taxpayers a credit for contributions made or fees paid to a public school for support of extracurricular activities or character education (as defined in ARS 15-719). The credit is equal to the amount contributed or the amount of fees paid. However, the credit cannot exceed $200 for single taxpayers or heads of household. For married taxpayers who file a joint return, the credit cannot exceed $400. If married taxpayers file separate returns, each spouse may claim 1/2 of the credit that would have been allowed on a joint return.
Extracurricular activities such as sports, band, speech and debate or overnight field trips are generally not fully funded by school districts. These programs depend on fees from students. Click on the link provided to download the brochure to read about this valuable program and how you can participate. The Arizona Department of Revenue has additional information. Donations must be postmarked by midnight December 31 to be eligible for the current year.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Facilities Improvement Ideas & Input
School Council would like to hear from you. We have the chance to gather your ideas and see what things around Desert Trails you would like to see updated or improved. Just a few of our ideas received: update lighting inside & outside, playground removal of sand to replace with soft turf, more and updated water fountains, smart toilets, parking lot resealed and painted. I have until the end of this week to continue to solicit your ideas. Thanks to PTO who also put out the word. Please email your parent representatives with your ideas, thoughts, and input:
Jeff Gaunt: jeff.gaunt@us.henkel.com and/or Lynn Clark: lynnfclark@cox.net
Open Enrollment enables Arizona students to attend public elementary schools (K-8) or high schools outside their attendance areas or their districts in an effort to give them a choice in school selection. Applications for Open Enrollment in the Paradise Valley Unified School District are accepted at the District Administrative Center Oct. 1 - December 1 each year, and all other times for out-of-district students at the schools- if the school is determined to have capacity for additional students by the receiving school administrator.
Red Ribbon Week has started off in the Red!!! Students and Staff wore red today to set the week in motion. Please see the plan for the remaining part of this week:
Tuesday: Wear your favorite team jersey ~ Team up against drugs!
Wednesday: Wear Red-White and Blue~ United we Stand against drugs!
Thursday: Wear your shirt backwards ~ Back away from drugs!
Friday: Wear your Desert Trails T-shirt to show your school spirit!
We will have the DEA helicopter landing Friday around 9:30 and you are more than welcome to join us!!! Thanks to Coach E. for all of his work putting this together!
Oct. 26-29 = Parent~Teacher Conferences and confirmations are coming home now.
Out late night is Tuesday, Oct. 27. We all look forward to seeing you and sharing with you the wonderful achievements your child has accomplished!
Tax Credit opportunities are coming soon! Please visit http://cmweb.pvschools.net/siteweb/taxCreditinfo.htm
for a brochure and more information on how giving your donation is a win-win for you and Desert Trails' students. Current enrichment classes being offered are Tutoring, Homework, GenYes, and Sports Club. Coming soon classes are: Mad Scientist, Reading Robin, and starting in January an Art class. I am attempting to find a qualified teacher for offering our students Spanish, as I believe this would be an excellent avenue for enrichment. If you or someone you know can teach Spanish, please contact me!!! With more Tax Credit we can offer our students more opportunities, but we need you!
Saturday, Oct. 24 5:00-7:00 please join us for Pizza in the Park. This is such a fun community event. Pizza, Kettle Corn, will be available and a movie on the playground for all to enjoy!
Thanks to the Rounds family for their generous support, and a thank you goes out to Millie Stevenson for all of her hard work putting this event together!! We will look for you and bring a lawn chair!!!
Jeff Gaunt: jeff.gaunt@us.henkel.com and/or Lynn Clark: lynnfclark@cox.net
Open Enrollment enables Arizona students to attend public elementary schools (K-8) or high schools outside their attendance areas or their districts in an effort to give them a choice in school selection. Applications for Open Enrollment in the Paradise Valley Unified School District are accepted at the District Administrative Center Oct. 1 - December 1 each year, and all other times for out-of-district students at the schools- if the school is determined to have capacity for additional students by the receiving school administrator.
Red Ribbon Week has started off in the Red!!! Students and Staff wore red today to set the week in motion. Please see the plan for the remaining part of this week:
Tuesday: Wear your favorite team jersey ~ Team up against drugs!
Wednesday: Wear Red-White and Blue~ United we Stand against drugs!
Thursday: Wear your shirt backwards ~ Back away from drugs!
Friday: Wear your Desert Trails T-shirt to show your school spirit!
We will have the DEA helicopter landing Friday around 9:30 and you are more than welcome to join us!!! Thanks to Coach E. for all of his work putting this together!
Oct. 26-29 = Parent~Teacher Conferences and confirmations are coming home now.
Out late night is Tuesday, Oct. 27. We all look forward to seeing you and sharing with you the wonderful achievements your child has accomplished!
Tax Credit opportunities are coming soon! Please visit http://cmweb.pvschools.net/siteweb/taxCreditinfo.htm
for a brochure and more information on how giving your donation is a win-win for you and Desert Trails' students. Current enrichment classes being offered are Tutoring, Homework, GenYes, and Sports Club. Coming soon classes are: Mad Scientist, Reading Robin, and starting in January an Art class. I am attempting to find a qualified teacher for offering our students Spanish, as I believe this would be an excellent avenue for enrichment. If you or someone you know can teach Spanish, please contact me!!! With more Tax Credit we can offer our students more opportunities, but we need you!
Saturday, Oct. 24 5:00-7:00 please join us for Pizza in the Park. This is such a fun community event. Pizza, Kettle Corn, will be available and a movie on the playground for all to enjoy!
Thanks to the Rounds family for their generous support, and a thank you goes out to Millie Stevenson for all of her hard work putting this event together!! We will look for you and bring a lawn chair!!!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Mid month update: Congratulations to our new Student Council officers- Jake W. President,
Nick M. Vice President, Brielle D. Secretary, and Gianna P. Treasurer. Also, congratulations go out to all of those who ran for an office. Preparing the speech, and giving the speech took a huge amount of determination and self confidence. I am proud of all students who demonstrated the desire to represent Desert Trails!! Thank you!~
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be here before we know it. Please mark these dates on your calendar: Oct. 26-29 and our late night will be Tuesday, Oct. 27. You should have already received the information requesting your prime date and time to meet. We look forward to seeing you and sharing your child's progress with you.
Grading continues to be a focus this year as we move forward in authentic grades and a more accurate grading system. From our book study that several Desert Trails' teachers are involved with this year I would like to share with you some current research. In A Repair Kit for Broken Grades, by Ken O'Conner, we see in chapter 1 the overall shift in how mixing behavior with academics can/will give us distorted achievement. As a positive response to this research, we have now separated behavior from knowledge and reflected that on our report card. We also are making the transistion from reducing marks for work submitted late, or not submitted at all to a more supportive stance where we now are offering students to make the work up or get the work done while at school. Perhaps the student will miss recess to get the work finished, but the important step is to provide support in having the student complete the work and gain the information.
In chapter 2, we reflected on what should grades tell us about students? We discussed the following: Grades should tell us what things a student knows and can do; Whether they have improved during a period of time; What are their strengths;What level their work is at; Whether they are ready to move on; Whether they've reached a standard and a few more factors. In chapter 3 & 4 we will look at low quality evidence and grading calculations.
As we work through these "fixes" for reporting grades, we encourage a conversation between parents and teachers!
School Council would like to hear from you! Please feel free to email the following representatives for any input, especially Tax Credit!
Parent: Lynn Clark at lynnfclark@cox.net --- Parent: Jeff Gaunt at jeff.gaunt@us.henkel.com
and our Community Representative: Armandina Brown at armandina.brown@nau.edu
Nick M. Vice President, Brielle D. Secretary, and Gianna P. Treasurer. Also, congratulations go out to all of those who ran for an office. Preparing the speech, and giving the speech took a huge amount of determination and self confidence. I am proud of all students who demonstrated the desire to represent Desert Trails!! Thank you!~
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be here before we know it. Please mark these dates on your calendar: Oct. 26-29 and our late night will be Tuesday, Oct. 27. You should have already received the information requesting your prime date and time to meet. We look forward to seeing you and sharing your child's progress with you.
Grading continues to be a focus this year as we move forward in authentic grades and a more accurate grading system. From our book study that several Desert Trails' teachers are involved with this year I would like to share with you some current research. In A Repair Kit for Broken Grades, by Ken O'Conner, we see in chapter 1 the overall shift in how mixing behavior with academics can/will give us distorted achievement. As a positive response to this research, we have now separated behavior from knowledge and reflected that on our report card. We also are making the transistion from reducing marks for work submitted late, or not submitted at all to a more supportive stance where we now are offering students to make the work up or get the work done while at school. Perhaps the student will miss recess to get the work finished, but the important step is to provide support in having the student complete the work and gain the information.
In chapter 2, we reflected on what should grades tell us about students? We discussed the following: Grades should tell us what things a student knows and can do; Whether they have improved during a period of time; What are their strengths;What level their work is at; Whether they are ready to move on; Whether they've reached a standard and a few more factors. In chapter 3 & 4 we will look at low quality evidence and grading calculations.
As we work through these "fixes" for reporting grades, we encourage a conversation between parents and teachers!
School Council would like to hear from you! Please feel free to email the following representatives for any input, especially Tax Credit!
Parent: Lynn Clark at lynnfclark@cox.net --- Parent: Jeff Gaunt at jeff.gaunt@us.henkel.com
and our Community Representative: Armandina Brown at armandina.brown@nau.edu
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