Hawk Happenings
March 24, 2021
Reminders
- Staggered Release
- Kinder releases at 12:15
- 1st and 2nd grades release at 12:20
- 3-6th grades 12:30
Closed Toed Shoes
- For safety reasons, students must wear closed toed shoes to school. This is listed in our DTES Student - Parent Handbook
March Calendar
3/25 - Governing Board Meeting 7 pm
3/31 - Picture Day
- Online families have a designated time at 1:30pm. You will need to enter through the outside library door. Parents should park in the parking lot near the kindergarten playground. There will be signs to direct you.
Campus News
Extended Learning Opportunities
I am excited to share that we have 16 teachers who will be running small group intervention classes before and after school for ELA and/or Math. Over 90 students have been invited to participate based on academic need.
Summer
Desert Trails will be the host of Community Education Summer School during the month of June. We are still working on plans for any additional opportunities that we may be able to offer.
AZM2 & Science Testing Calendar 2021
Testing Dates & Schedules
3rd Grade
April 8 - Writing
April 13 - Reading Part 1 ; Math Part 1
April 15 - Reading Part 2 ; Math Part 2
4th Grade
April 13 - Writing
May 4 - Reading Part 1; Math Part 1
May 6 - Reading Part 2; Math Part 2SCG 3/4 Grade
April 8 - Writing
April 13 - Reading Part 1; Math Part 1
April 15 - Reading Part 2 ; Math Part 2
5th Grade
April 13 - Writing
April 22 - Science Part 1
April 27 - Science Part 2
May 4 - Reading Part 1; Math Part 1
May 6 - Reading Part 2; Math Part 2
6th Grade
April 13 - Writing
April 27 - Part 1 Reading
April 29 - Part 1 Math
May 4 - Part 2 Reading
May 6 - Part 2 Math
SCG 5/6 Grade
April 13 - Writing
April 22 & 23 - 5th grade ONLY Science
April 27 - Reading Part 1
April 29 - Math Part 1
May 4 - Reading Part 2
May 6 - Math Part 2 Math
PVConnect Students
Administration of the AzM2 is only available for face to face administration. All COVID-19 safety protocols will be in place for testing day.Teachers will be sending out a form to determine your testing preference of having your child to take the AZM2 test with their teacher in their classroom on the days the class will be testing, or having your child to take the AZM2 test after school on Wednesdays at 12:30. Please be sure to respond so that we can plan appropriately.
Social Emotional Learning? Parents, This Is for You!
Parents, are you wondering what all the talk is about SEL and social-emotional skills? Now that we have a SEL Specialist at our school, you might be wondering what does she do!
You are already doing a lot to support your child with these skills, so keep reading to make additional connections about what it is, why it’s important, and what resources you can turn to if you’re interested in doing more.
Why do children need social-emotional skills?
Social emotional skills are essential for connecting with others! They help us manage our emotions, build healthy relationships, and feel empathy. Some examples of social emotional skills in action are: recognizing when a friend is sad and asking if they’re ok, asking for assistance when he/she needs help, listening and paying attention, having an argument with a friend and knowing how to navigate that situation, having big feelings and knowing how to self-regulate.
With social-emotional skills, children can make lasting friendships with others, maintain meaningful relationships, and handle difficult social situations. They can manage times of high stress, and during times of anger and keep from having unhelpful behaviors they may regret later.
Social-emotional skills help children have positive life experiences. When these skills are taught and supported, children are more likely to have academic successes and have a good attitude toward school as well as his/her self. They are less likely to experience emotional distress and use drugs or alcohol.
Where and when are SEL skills used?
Social-emotional skills are needed and used from early childhood through adulthood. There is never a time they aren’t needed. We use these skills many times a day with sibling and parent-child relationships, friendships, social and academic situations at school, our jobs, and anything we do in our communities. We need them for interaction with others and even when communicating by phone or email.
Confidence, the ability to identify his/her feelings, as well as having assertiveness skills, such as refusing peer pressure and reporting if someone is bullying him/her is another outcome of having good SEL skills.
Additionally, I am here to help children manage their stress and feelings. But I am also here to help you, as a parent. Please feel free to reach out to me at mwarda@pvschools.net or fill out this form if you want to refer yourself or your child.
-Meryl Warda
Notes from the Health Office
- If a child is at school and develops any of the symptoms of Covid-19, they will need to be sent home for the 10 days unless they show proof of a negative Covid test along with an improvement in symptoms.
- These are the kids that we can test here in the health office before they get picked up in order to ease the burden of having to now take the child somewhere to be tested.
- Parents can pre-register their child at https://inofficediagnostics.com/ and click on the red K-12 School Testing on the top right. This will also include signing consent for your child to be tested.
- Results are currently taking 24-36 hours to come back.
- We are not testing children in the school health office that are already at home sick, students at home quarantining for positive Covid exposure, nor are we testing family members of a sick or exposed student.
- The district has drive thru testing that anyone can be taken to, including the above reasons, and no appointment is necessary.
- PVSchools District Administration Center is located at 15002 N. 32nd St. Phoenix, AZ 85032 and the operating hours are Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 7 am- 5:30 pm.
- If a child at school comes to the health office after 1 pm for a Covid-like symptom, we can still test them here in the office but the test won't be picked up to be sent to the lab until after 1 pm the following day.
- If you would like to get the test done sooner in order to expedite getting the results, you can go to the district testing center, or there are testing places at no cost like Embry Women's Health Testing Blitz. This is a drive thru as well, and they have been very efficient with getting results back.
- Registration and appointment scheduling for that is done online https://embrywomenshealth.com/testing-blitz/
~Nurse Tara
Introductions
This Year
We have warmly welcomed new support staff to our Desert Trails Family!Mrs. Lee Richardson is our new Resource teacher.
Ms. Gabi and Ms. Toni are our newest duty aides.
Next Year
Though we are incredibly sad that Mrs. Cox will no longer be at Desert Trails, we are excited for her because she was selected to be on the Leadership Cadre for the new school.
I am ecstatic to introduce Ms. Eryn Frank, as the Gifted Specialist next year! Please click here to read more about her. We sure did get lucky!
Food Drive
United Parent Council
"Old" News (but still valuable!)
Learning Modality Reminders
- We will continue to apply mitigation strategies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within the school. This includes cloth face mask requirements, limiting visitors, and modified drop-off and pick-up routines. Please understand that we will make every effort to maintain appropriate social distancing when possible
- Prior to any permanent change in learning modality (switching from PV Connect to in-person and vise versa) parents/guardians need to notify the school and teacher a minimum of one week in advance, and also have that week include a Wednesday (teacher prep/planning time). This will allow the teacher time to get materials, the learning environment, groupings, etc. prepared. It also cuts down on disruption and disengagement of student learning.
- In- person students will be assigned to PVConnect for COVID exposure or illness. At-home materials may not be readily available for these absences, as teachers need advance notice to make take-home materials available. We are asking parents/guardians to allow the teacher 2 days to provide all the needed learning materials.
In-person students who are absent for reasons other than COVID exposure or illness may be able to access the online classroom when the absence is scheduled in advance with the teacher and school administration.
Please understand that the PVConnect model is not in place to allow students to still be attending school while on vacations, long weekends, at doctor's appointments, sports tournaments, etc. If a student who normally attends in-person learning needs to be absent from school for any reason, the teachers can help them get caught up as they would during any normal school year. This will help minimize the disruption of learning to all students in the class.
- If a student continues to be absent from in-person instruction for reasons other than COVID-19, we will work with the parent/guardian to assign the student to PVConnect for the remainder of the school year
Safety Reminders
- Send your child in a mask, with several spares in their backpack. GAITERS and VALVED masks are NOT allowed
- Send your child to school with a labeled water bottle
Lunch: Single use lunches and easy to open items are preferred
Please review our updated Drop-off & Pick-up Procedures with your child so they know what to expect
Please remember that masks must be worn correctly during pick up and drop off by students and parents. This includes while on sidewalks and in crosswalks
No dogs allowed on school property
Materials Distribution
- We will still continue to provide materials for pick up in our front lobby in teacher bins
- Please refrain from picking up supplies during arrival and dismissal times to limit traffic congestion
Social & Emotional Learning at Desert Trails
Social emotional learning is a priority at Desert Trails. Please click here for more information.
Digital Support for Parents and Students
DTES PTO
DTES Reopening Playbook
About Desert Trails
Location: 4315 East Cashman Drive, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone: 602-449-4100