Desert Mountain Hawk's Eye View

On Sept. 1st, Blackhawk students and families attended the the morning Flagpole to learn about the upcoming Arizona Civics Celebration Week, Hispanic Heritage Month, our PTO fundraiser with Step It Up, the Day of AWESOMENESS, and what it means to be Honorable. We all took a pledge to help our teachers by demonstrating the Desert Mountain HAWK expectations (Honorable, Accountable, Willing and Kind).

September looks to be another extraordinary month at Desert Mountain! It marks the start of the middle school athletic season, the kick off of Battle of the Books for 5th and 6th graders, and the first Choir Performance of the year at the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Houston Astros baseball game. We hope everyone is as excited as we are to be Blackhawks!

Congratulations to our newly elected Student Council Members!

Cam Carson for Public Relations

Sevilla Simonson for Treasurer

Tatum Kelly for Secretary

Frank Kramer for Vice President

Cameron Grunert for President

Our first StuCo fund-raiser will be Wear a Hat Wednesday. Students will be asked to pay a dollar at parent pick or bus drop off in the morning on their way into school if they plan to wear their hat through out the day.

Our first Wear a Hat Wednesday will be Sept. 13th and we will host the fundraiser once per month.

Congratulations to our Desert Mountain students who earned the highest scaled scores in the State on the 2023 AASA assessment!

In English Language Arts: Alana Lerette

In Math: Elijah Henry, Aurora Hudson, Callen Sanchez, Sage Davlin, Zen Davlin, Giovanni De La Vega Leon, Kinsey Ongstad and Kiley Smith

Teams of 2-3 students will read 12 books over the course of the competition and compete in 3 "battles" to demonstrate their knowledge. Winning teams will move on to the District Competition. To participate, teams will read 4 books for each round of competition and test their knowledge during battles. The books for the first round include Danger in the Desert by Fields, El Deafo by Bell, Ella Enchanted by Levine and The Tale of Despereaux by DiCamillo. Our first battle is in October, so if you’re interested please see Ms. Rachael in the Media Center.

Last year our amazing students and their families were able to fundraise over $18,000, which PTO used to purchase the beautiful teal shade structure at parent pick-up. This year we have set our fundraising goal at $30,000 and we hope to continue our campus improvement efforts with the purchase and installation of a new flag pole for the center of our campus, the installation of turf to replace our grass and other items for school assemblies. This new area will be a gathering location for our community as we continue to build our new Flagpole tradition.

*Image of flagpole and turf area created for promotional purpose

In combination with our All Things E.Q. program, we will be teaching and reinforcing basic social skills (with common language) throughout the campus this year. Our focus skills include having academic and social conversations, disagreeing appropriately, working with others, staying on task (perseverance), asking permission, and giving and receiving compliments. Just as parents understand the need to teach social skills to their children from the time they are very little, we as educators understand the importance of teaching character and social skills during the K-8 years. These skills are necessary for children to build positive relationships with others.

Educators have long recognized the importance of social skills in achieving academic, behavioral, and social-emotional success. As students get older, their exposure to communication through technology may decrease their opportunity for positive social interaction. Our goal is to provide regular, consistent opportunities and encouragement so that students can practice these social skills in a safe and supportive environment. Desert Mountain staff strive to support the whole child as we work together with parents to provide opportunities for daily social and emotional learning.

For more information, please contact Mrs. Julie Tite at julie.tite@dvusd.org

Sept. 1: Flagpole Assembly

Sept. 1: Early Release - PLC

Sept. 4: No School - Labor Day

Sept. 6: Picture Day

Sept. 6: Curriculum Night 5:00-6:15 pm

Sept. 12: PTO Meeting 4:30-5:30 in Media Center

Sept. 12: PTO BINGO 5:30-7:00 in Cafe

Sept. 15: Early Release - Professional Development

Sept. 22: Early Release - PLC - Multi School Collaborative Teams

Sept. 25: No School - Fall Break Day

Oct. 6: Flagpole Assembly

Please join us on Sept. 6th at 5:00pm for Curriculum Night. Administration will greet families in the Gym at 5:15pm and briefly share information regarding School Improvement Efforts for the 2023-24 school year. Teachers will be hosting two 20-minute classroom sessions. Parents may attend either session. If you are unable to attend Curriculum Night, all presentation materials will be shared on our teacher websites.

Classroom sessions will run as follows:

5:00 Campus opens

5:15-5:20 Administration Welcome in the Gym (5 min)

5:25-5:45 Session 1 (20 min)

5:50-6:10 Session 2 (20 min)

6:15 Campus closes

Please join our amazing PTO leadership for our first Public PTO meeting of the school year. The team will be meeting prior to the start of BINGO from 4:30-5:30pm in the DMS Overflow Cafeteria. Everyone is welcome! Parents/guardians are not required to be members to attend the meeting. If action items are proposed, only paid members are eligible to vote. BINGO will begin immediately following the meeting.

PTO Public Meeting Agenda Link

On Tuesday, September 12th from 5:30-7:00pm PTO is hosting an evening of games, dinner and prizes. Celebrity guest, Mrs. Patti Atchley will be calling numbers and awarding prizes in the DMS cafe. Bring the whole family and enjoy an evening with your friends in the DMS community! Doors open at 5:00.

BINGO Cards: 5 for $5, 10 for $10 and 25 for $20

Meal Deal $5: Your choice of a hot dog or a slice of pizza with chips and a drink

A La Cart: Pizza $3 Hot Dogs $2 Chips/drinks/deserts $1

*PTO members will get 5 free BINGO cards and 1 slice of pizza or a hot dog with proof of paid membership. Limit one per family.

Monday - No School

Tuesday - Tacky Tourist Day -Dress like you are going on vacation.

Wednesday - Western Day- Wear your favorite western gear.

Thursday - Throwback Thursday- Dress in your favorite decade.

Friday - Pajama Day- Wear your favorite PJs.

Bring your family and friends to support our regional students as they perform the National Anthem before an exciting game of D-backs baseball vs. the Astros on September 29th at 6:40pm.

$5 from each ticket purchased will be donated back to our school's choir program.

Seating options in the lower level:

Bleachers - $27

Baseline Reserve - $34

Baseline Box - $46

Order online at: www.fevogm.com/desertmountain23

Tickets are digital

Desert Mountain PTO is inviting all families to join the team! This year we are hosting our first membership drive since 2018. We need your support! To accommodate all families, we have two membership options this year.

• The "No Fuss" membership for $15: I do not plan on volunteering but I'll be attending PTO events. I'd also like to vote on how fundraising dollars are spent.
• The "Volunteer Membership" for $10: I plan to volunteer at a PTO event and I'd also like to vote in how dollars are spent.

Click HERE to follow the Desert Mountain PTO on Facebook.

Click HERE to Join the Desert Mountain PTO.

Next PTO Meeting:

September 12th at 4:30pm in the DM Overflow Cafeteria

Upcoming Events:

BINGO at DMS - September 12th from 5:30-7:00pm