DU December Newsletter
December 2018 * Explore Excellence*
Important Dates
11/26-12/7 NWEA Winter Benchmark Assessment
12/3 Motivational Monday: Courageous
12/10 PTO Meeting 5pm-6pm
12/13 Winter Musical 5:30-6:30pm
12/17-12/21 Spirit Week
12/24-1/8 Winter Break
1/9 Back to School
Team Emery Bear Drive
Mrs. Matie’s class is proud to be hosting our 1st annual Bear Drive at DIscover U to benefit Team Emery Bear Drive for Phoenix Children’s Hospital during the holiday season. Our students would like your help to make their dream of starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion a reality.
We are collecting NEW teddy bears and other stuffed animals so that each child at Phoenix Children’s Hospital (and 20 other children’s hospitals across the country) can have a cuddly buddy for the holiday season. Please make sure that all donations are brand new from the store. We are unable to accept used animals because of health concerns.
With your help, we know we can reach our goals of collecting 200 NEW bears and stuffed animals by the 13th of Dec. Emery set a goal of collecting 10,000 bears in total here in Arizona. Let’s help him reach this goal and put 10,000 smiles on 10,000 little faces.
Thank you in advance for helping us with our goal. There will be a drop off for the bears in the office and in each classroom!!
Check out Emery’s story at www.teamemery.org
Mrs. Matie’s 1st/2nd/3rd Grade class
Ms. Makowski is now Mrs. Wegner!
Her new email address is wegner@discoverulearning.com. However, if you email makowski@discoverulearning.com it will still be forwarded to her.
Our students are having fun as they try to remember her new name.
Mr. Catullo, Dean of Students
What is a Dean of Students? The Dean of Students helps lead the efforts to build and maintain a strong, positive achievement oriented school culture that nurtures, inspires and empowers our students as they 'Explore Excellence'. He will support our positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) around campus. Our PBIS program focuses on "Exploring Excellence' by being respectful, kind, proactive and courageous. Mr. Catullo will have a visible presence in all areas of our school and will be supporting the well-being of our students.
Winter Wonderland Musical Production-December 13th
Our students will need to arrive in their classroom by 5:00pm to prepare for the big event. Each classroom has different outfits. If you haven't heard how your child's class will be dressing, please ask their teacher or call the front office.
We will also have other exciting events at our Winter Wonderland Musical.
- Our 6th Graders and club for Youth Entrepreneurs will be holding a market event after the musical from 6:30pm-7:00pm. This culminating market event will help students use business principles like scarcity, sunk cost, subjective value and opportunity cost. Students have identified their customer segment and revenue streams. The "Youth Entrepreneur Market Day" gives our Discover U student entrepreneurs a small chance to sell their inventions to our Discover U community. Students are excited to provide affordable fun fixings for the DU community immediately after attending the Winter Musical. We have worked hard to come up with ideas that are creative and priced right to ensure that everyone benefits. Items will be sold for as low as one quarter all the way up to two dollars. We sure hope you will consider taking part.
- Our 'Artists at Work' club will be creating a display of their work for all to enjoy.
- Our 'Dance and Music' club will be performing the song "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran at the end of the night as their culminating project.
Improving Attendance
- Cristina Orozco in the front office will be working full time as our attendance clerk.
- She will be sending letters home informing families when their child has been absent over 5 days of school.
- When a child reaches 10 or more absences, she will be scheduling meetings with families to meet with her and Ms. Wegner to create a plan.
- If a child reaches 18 or more absences, she will be scheduling a meeting with families and contacting our Truancy Officer.
If you have any questions or concerns about attendance, do not hesitate to call Cristina and discuss it with her. She is extremely knowledgeable and is happy to help discuss attendance and help in anyway.
December: Bully Prevention Month
How is bullying defined?
- Bullying = Intentionally aggressive behavior, repeated over time, that involves an imbalance of power.
- Experts agree that bullying entails three key elements: an intent to harm, a power imbalance and repeated acts or threats of aggressive behavior. Kids who bully say or do something intentionally hurtful to others and they keep doing it, with no sense of regret or remorse — even when targets of bullying show or express their hurt or tell the aggressors to stop.
- Bullying may be physical, verbal, relational or carried out via technology
To support the work we are doing, we are tying our Spirit Week into being kind and preventing bullying.
NWEA & Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment
Your child learns better-and faster- when teachers and students have a clear picture of what they know and what they are ready to learn next. The NWEA assessment is an "adaptive" assessment which reacts to each child's answers and gets more challenging when they are getting answers correct and becomes easier when they are getting answers incorrect. The Founas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment determines student’s independent and instructional reading levels by measuring their fluency and comprehension.
At Discover U kindergarten through sixth grade students have started their benchmark assessments. The goal of our assessments is to measure each child's growth, find their strengths and their focus area. This information allows our teachers to personalize instruction for your child when working in small groups.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to your child's classroom teacher.
Discover U Proudly Supports a Uniform Policy
We know that it is starting to get chilly out. Even with the chilly temperatures Discover U still proudly supports a uniform policy.
Since it is getting chilly outside, students may bring a warm jacket or sweater to wear while on the playground. While in the classroom, students must be wearing either their DU polo or DU sweater.
Shirts and sweaters are for sale in the front office. Please call if you have any questions 623-974-4827.
Please Join Our Parent Teacher Organization
Our PTO President, Shawntel House and team of parents are brainstorming ways to increase parent involvement on campus and working to plan and organize school fundraisers.
Everyone is welcome! If you have any questions please feel free to email Shawntel at dupto@discoverulearning.com or Ms. Makowski at makowski@discoverulearning.com
Tax Credit Donations
Make a tax credit donation to our school. The Arizona State Tax Credit program allows you to make a donation to an eligible organization and receive a dollar-for-dollar credit against Arizona state taxes owed. These donations count as charitable contributions and may be deducted on your federal return if you itemize your deductions. To do so, go to http://bit.ly/DUtaxcredit.
Thank you for partnering with us to create a school that nurtures, inspires and empowers all of our students through hands on learning.
Mission
To provide a school that works for all students: socially*emotionally*academically
Vision
To be the most student-centered school working to nurture, inspire, and empower our learners so that they become strong, successful individuals with 21st century skills
As Explorers We Are
Respectful, Kind, Proactive, Courageous
21st Century Skills: Critical Thinkers, Collaborative/, Curious, Creative, Empowered, Resilient
Angela Wegner, Principal
See what's going on at Discover U by following our hashtag #DUexplorers #ExploreExcellence
Email: makowski@discoverulearning.com
Website: discoverulearning.com
Location: Discover U, North 113th Avenue, Youngtown, AZ, USA
Phone: 623-974-4827
Facebook: facebook.com/DUlearning