mar 28 internal news
DESCRIPTION
Internal news for employees of the Laveen Elementary School District.TRANSCRIPT
District
Dialogue
For employees of the Laveen Elementary School District March 28, 2014
The District Dialogue is issued on the second and fourth Friday of the month.
A+ committee visits Trailside Point School
The Arizona Education Foundation’s A+ School of Excel-
lence committee conducted their site visit of Trailside Point
School this week.
The site visit was the second
step in the application process
for the distinction.
A+ winning schools will be
announced at the end of April.
Both Trailside and M.C. Cash schools are candidates for
the award.
Board adopts English language arts curriculum
The Laveen Governing Board approved new English lan-
guage arts curriculum to be implemented next school year.
From August 2013 through January 2014, a committee of
44 teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators re-
searched, reviewed, and evaluated English language arts pro-
grams aligned to Arizona’s College and Career Ready Stand-
ards.
“Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards call for an
integrated approach to teaching reading, writing, language,
speaking and listening,” said Laveen’s Executive Director of
Academic Services Kathy Davis on the need for the updated
curriculum.
Committee members selected the following items:
Grades K through 3, Reading Wonders, published by
McGraw-Hill
Grades 4 and 5, Reading Street, published by Pearson
Grades 6 through 8, Common Core Literature, pub-
lished by Pearson
In addition to English language arts, new math curriculum
will also be implemented in the fall. That curriculum was ap-
proved by the board in May 2013. Both the math and English
language arts curricula feature a digital platform giving stu-
dents the ability to access resources, activities, and other
online tools.
Teachers are participating in numerous professional de-
velopment opportunities over the next several months to
prepare for the upcoming school year.
The new curriculum adoption was made possible by the
capital override approved by Laveen residents in 2012.
Laveen to participate in PARCC field testing
Arizona is among a group of states that are in the Part-
nership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers
(PARCC) Consortium. PARCC is conducting field tests on their
assessment around the country in randomly selected class-
rooms, and the Laveen School District has been chosen to
participate.
Each Laveen school will
have six to ten classrooms par-
ticipating in a portion of the
PARCC field testing, which is
aligned to Arizona’s College and
Career Ready Standards.
The district’s participation allows for those developing
the assessment to “test the test” and to ensure student tech-
nology devices used for the test work properly. Because the
focus of the field test is not on measuring student achieve-
ment, no student scores will be provided.
By taking part in the field tests, teachers and students will
play an important role in the development of next generation
tests. It will allow Laveen to become more familiar with this
new assessment, as our state works to align testing to Arizo-
na’s College and Career Ready Standards.
PARCC field testing in Laveen will take place on March 31
and May 14, 2014.
10 instructional days until AIMS
PAGE 2 March 28, 2014
Lions recognize penny drive
Classrooms that donated the most pennies to the Laveen
Lions Club’s annual drive were rewarded with a pizza party.
The Lions’ Mario Espericueta and Sharon Anderson deliv-
ered the pizzas to the following winning classrooms:
Desert Meadows — Todd Morgan
Rogers Ranch — Andrew Hudgins
Trailside Point — Alan Manka
M.C. Cash — Michelle Sawyer
Vista del Sur — Janette Rashedi
Cheatham — Luz Salgado
Laveen — Jeanette Hoskovec
Funds from the penny drive go to support the Lions’ holiday
toy and food drive.
Kroc Center welcomes student club
The Kroc Center opened a little ear-
ly one recent afternoon to welcome
members of Cheatham’s Rock
Climbing Club.
Twelve students are part of the
club that is sponsored by Cheatham
teacher Ms. Stephanie Zaleski and
Superintendent Bill Johnson.
Design revealed for Cheatham additions
The design for Cheatham’s upcoming building ad-
ditions were shown at this month’s board meeting.
Director of Support Services Eric Peterson provided
the design by EMC2 Architects.
A gymnasium will be added to the southeast cor-
ner of the campus . When Cheatham was originally
built, it was a K-6 school and did not need both a caf-
eteria and gym. Having since been reconfigured to K-
8, a gym is needed to support the larger campus in-
cluding grades 7 and 8.
Also, planned in the project, are the addition of
art and science rooms—facilities that weren’t neces-
sary in the K-6 setting. The library and computer lab
will also be enlarged. Playfields and basketball courts will be rearranged to fit nicely on the remodeled campus. These addi-
tions will bring Cheatham up to the district standards that other Laveen campuses currently meet.
The projects are funded primarily through proceeds from bond sales approved by voters in 2008.
Future Site of Additions
Vista parents learn about internet safety
Vista’s PTO hosted a presentation by the notMYkid organi-
zation on internet safety this
week.
Representatives from not-
MYkid presented information on
the dangers of sexual solicitation
and cyber bullying and the impact
of social media. The meeting gave
parents valuable tools to prevent
internet misuse at home.
This presentation was the sec-
ond in a three-part series that the
Vista PTO has hosted.
Saturday, April 26 First Pitch 8:00 a.m.
M.C. Cash Fields
Sign up with your team captain.
Eating a nutritionally balanced breakfast can help your child do their best every day. Our breakfasts include whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Milk and 100% juice are always offered.
Served free to all students, every day.
It’s a good start to a great day!
BREAKFAST: the most important meal of the day.
Join us in the cafeteria 30 minutes
before school.