AMS Desert Sky Newsletter

Newsletter | December 2022

Message from your Desert

Sky Principal

Dear Dragon Families,

It is hard to believe we are already in the heart of the holiday season. We have many happenings as we wind down the second quarter. Please be sure to scroll down to the bottom to look over important dates.

Grades are closing soon. This is a great time to make contact with your scholar's teachers and make sure your scholar is not missing assignments or tests.

You will read in Ms. Jenkins' message below that we have interim testing starting on December 5th. We are treating it very much like the end of the year state testing so that scholars get adequate practice. These assessments will enable us to make modifications to teaching plans and better enable us to meet scholars' needs. Please cheer them on this week and on all of the testing dates noted in Ms. Jenkins' message.

We have started video announcements this school year. Scholars seem to really enjoy them. I am including the link here in case you would like to join in on the morning fun.

MeLisa Thalacker - YouTube

Our Reindeer Run will be on Monday, December 12, 2022. We would appreciate any water donations as we will need them with over 1300 scholars participating. We have a new PE teacher, Mr. Turner. He is really excited to join our Desert Sky team and has already put in ample work to plan out a successful Reindeer Run.

Please know that this is a VERY busy time of year and this week my administration team is extremely busy supporting testing protocols. We ask for your grace and patience as we have to prioritize accordingly. We may be a little delayed in correspondence or may not be as available to meet this week or next. We appreciate your understanding as we attend to the needs of our campus.

Thank you, Dragon Families, for working alongside us and for allowing us the opportunity to serve you and your scholars. We are very proud to be a part of the Desert Sky community.

With sincere appreciation and best wishes for a wonderful 2023,

MeLisa Thalacker

Principal (Do Whatever it Takes ~ Act with Honor ~ Be Vulnerable, Candid, and Kind)

Academy of Math & Science | Desert Sky

5701 W. McDowell Rd., AZ 85035

O: (623) 242-2597 ext. 11504

www.amsschools.org

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Coaches' Corner

i-Ready Tips

Please talk to your scholars about their i-Ready work. Our goal is for scholars to get a minimum of 45 minutes of practice in i-Ready Reading, and an additional 45 minutes a week in Math. They can do i-Ready at school and at home.

The use of i-Ready has proven to be a strong tool in helping scholars, with content specifically tailored to each scholar based off of an adaptive assessment given at the onset of the school year. This test will be given again following Winter Break, so we want to get as much time in as possible practicing and passing lessons.

Thank you for supporting our efforts with i-Ready. We are a team, and we appreciate your support with time on task and number of lessons passed. All scholars can look this information up on their own and share with you, so just ask them:)!

Jenna Ortega and Christopher Jaime

Desert Sky Instructional Coaches

Assistant Principal of Academics Updates

Testing Information

Hello Desert Sky Families,

December and January are busy months for testing. As the end of the first half of the year approaches, we want to gauge how far our scholars have come, and how we can continue to help our scholars grow. Please ensure that your scholars are getting enough rest, eat breakfast, and arrive to school on time. If you have any questions about testing, please reach out to your scholar's teacher or Ms. Jenkins on ClassDojo for more information. Here is a list of important upcoming testing dates:

November 15, 2022-December 15, 2022: DIBELS Benchmark 2 Reading Assessment

Our kinder through 3rd grade scholars will be tested in the areas of phonological/phonemic awareness, basic reading and spelling skills, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

December 5, 2022-December 9, 2022: Mid-Term/Interim #2 (Math, ELA, Writing, and Science)

3rd through 8th grade scholars will be assessed in the areas of math, ELA, and writing. 5th through 8th grade scholars will also be assessed in science. These assessments will be computer-based and mimic state testing.

January 9, 2023-January 18, 2023: i-Ready Diagnostic #2 (Math and Reading)

Kinder through 8th grade scholars will be assessed in the areas of math and reading. These assessments will be computer-based.

Thank you for all you do to help make our scholars successful!

With Gratitude,

Stephanie Jenkins

Desert Sky Assistant Principal of Academics

Assistant Principal of Scholars Updates

Grade Level Spotlight

This month we are highlighting our 3rd Grade:

Third grade is working hard to support our scholars and help prepare them for testing in April. As you know, we have three teachers who are brand new to AMS and one who is teaching third grade for the first time. Because of this, we've need extra support from the admin team, but we are working hard to get where we need to be.

For the holidays, we are planning several fun things for our scholars. These will include class parties, ornament making, snow, and possibly cookie decorating. More information to come!

We are planning our field trip to the Odysea Aquarium for some time in the spring.

The team works so well together. They support each other, offer ideas, and share resources. The 3rd grade team is working hard and making great strides.

Brittany Colby

Desert Sky Assistant Principal of Scholars

Deans' Corner

Incentives

Hello Dragon Families!

This month we are launching our F.I.R.E. store! The F.I.R.E. store is full of fun items that scholars can choose from. Scholars can earn dragon dollars by breathing F.I.R.E. (showing focus, integrity, respect, and excellence). Each teacher will receive a certain amount of dragon dollars per week to hand out to scholars. The scholars can then come visit the F.I.R.E. store. We know our scholars can breathe that F.I.R.E. and make great choices!

Daniel Bremer and Robin Young

Desert Sky Deans of Scholars

Head of Operations Updates

Arrival & Tardies

Dear Families,

Please remember that school starts at 7:55am. We need scholars in driveline by that time. Just a friendly reminder that we need to keep the parking lot clear for safety reasons. We are too large of a campus to have scholars dropped off in the front, or parents parking and walking scholars up. Only parents with scheduled meetings or business to conduct with front office should be asking to go through the parking lot. We ask parents to please show integrity by following this important safety procedure, even when Ms. Thalacker is not in the parking lot.

The only two ways for scholars to get dropped off:

By entering driveline and having scholars enter through gated by turf area or kinder gate
By parking across the street and scholars walking over to the kinder gate (scholars should NOT be entering through the front office unless they are late).

Please take every possible measure to ensure scholars arrive to school on time. How the day begins impacts greatly the remainder of the day. Also, scholars need to be in the breakfast line by 7:50 in order to receive breakfast. Thank you for the help, we want our scholars to have a strong start to their Dragon Day!

Karla Espinoza

Desert Sky Head of Operations

Counselor's Corner

PAC Meeting

December 8th at 5pm

Our December Parent Advisory Committee meeting will be in-person or on Zoom! We will focus on Drug Prevention. The Book Fair will be open before and after the PAC meeting.

Here is the Zoom login information: