Dear Dragon Family~
Please see the VERY IMPORTANT handout above noting the importance of arriving to school on time. Talk with your families and make a plan to ensure scholars are arriving to school with enough time to eat breakfast and have some recess time before school starts at 7:55am. If you arrive after 8:04, you will be required to go into the front office to sign your scholar in and provide the reason for their tardy.
The months of March and April are particularly important for attendance. Just as college basketball has March Madness, Dragon scholars in grades 3-8 have March Madness as we prepare-much like athletes do-for our upcoming championship, the AASA.
AASA is Arizona Academic Standards Assessment, it's the statewide achievement test for students in grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (reading and writing), and Mathematics. During this Championship season, we must make every minute count. Please do your best to avoid absences during the month of March and the first two weeks of April. We need every minute to move that needle of student learning and positively impact our scholars’ success.
Students in grades 3-8 at AMS Desert Sky will take the tests during the first two weeks in April. Attendance for AASA is mandatory! If your scholar becomes ill, they will make it up upon their return to campus.
Here are some tips to ensure your student is successful during March Madness and AASA Testing:
- Make sure attendance is a priority and do not schedule any appointments during school.
- Make sure your student is up early and either has breakfast before arriving to school, or gets to school with enough time to get breakfast.
- Be sure to get your student to school on time DAILY (or even a little early), especially on testing days.
- It is important for your scholar to get a good night's sleep (research says no later than 9:00pm bedtime for school age children).
- Read communication from your child's teacher and school.
Talk to your student about testing and offer encouragement-a little goes a long way!
Lots of great happenings on the horizon. For now, we must work hard and push through the next month. Scholars in grades 3-8 are working on daily chunks of learning via a strategy called Mastery Machine. Teachers, students, and administrators are putting in extra time and effort as we build stamina and capacity leading up to testing days.
#MasteryMachineMarchMadness
Be sure to follow along with Facebook Page (link above) and with our daily morning announcements so you are in the loop on all things Desert Sky. Many members of the admin team have been taking turns with facilitating the morning announcements. It has been great fun to see their energy radiate on to our campus! Here is the link: MeLisa Thalacker - YouTube
It is hard to believe we are almost to Spring break. Please take time to read over this newsletter with your scholar(s). We value our Dragon families and truly believe in the importance of our home school partnership!
Thank you for choosing to be a Desert Sky Dragon,
#DragonsROCK #ShowFIRE #MasteryMachineMarchMadness #AMSpride
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
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Donate & Receive TAX Credit
Did you know you can use this to pay for field trips?
What is the School Tax Credit?
The School Tax Credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your Arizona income tax liability. In other words, you subtract the amount of your contribution to your child's school as a direct credit against the amount of you tax liability.
How much can I contribute?