Deer Canyon Echoes
February 23, 2024
To Do
- Collect and bring gently used books for TK-5th graders for the Book Swap starting 2/26 (Front Gate).
- Register for Camp Read S'more Read-a-Thon.
- Volunteer at the Talent Show! Sign up here.
- Order DCES Spirit Wear.
- Parent volunteers are needed for February Black History Month and Leap Day lunchtime activities: Contact Maha (melmeniawy@powayusd.com) if you’re interested!
Save the Date
February
2/26 - Return to school!
2/26 to 2/28 - Book Swap book collection
2/29 - Talent Show dress rehearsal @1:45 pm
March
- 3/1 - Continuing registration opens (look out for a separate email communication)
- 3/1 - Talent Show @ 6 pm
- 3/1 and 3/4 - Book Swap for student selection (during school hours)
- 3/4 to 3/10 - Read-a-Thon
- 3/5 - Campfire Storytime and Author Event in the Library @ 6:30pm
- 3/11 - Pro Grow Day (no school for students)
- 3/19 and 3/20 - DC Dining: California Pizza Kitchen
- 3/20 - MVMS Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night
April
- 4/26 - DC Dining: Chuck E. Cheese, 3 to 9pm
Principal's Message 📚
Good evening, Deer Canyon Families!
Warm and loving thoughts are coming to you from Bend, Oregon! I hope this week has been everything your family needed. I’m excited to return to campus on Monday morning to round out February together. We have lots in store for Deer Canyon students this week!
This Monday through Wednesday, we will be accepting donations for our Deer Canyon Book Swap/ In preparation for Read-a-Thon (March 4-10), please drop off any of your books in the boxes located at the front gate.
On Wednesday, February 28, our School Site Council will be meeting at 7:45am in Room 14 or on Zoom. The agenda will be posted on the Deer Canyon website on Monday, February 26.
On Thursday, February 29, Ms. Bendix will host a Safety Committee meeting, students will participate in fun Leap Day activities at lunch (contact Maha if you’re interested in volunteering!), staff will participate in Inclusive Practices professional development, and the Equity Committee will finish the day with a multilingual learner parent/guardian listening session.
On Friday, we will kick off the month of March with a FUNky Friday, have a blast at our Talent Show Assembly (students/staff attendees only), appreciate and celebrate Black Americans in Art through lunchtime activities (parent volunteers are needed - please contact Maha!), and round out our day with our final Talent Show performance at 6 pm in the MPR (all are welcome to attend!).
Parent/Guardians of Multilingual Learners
On Thursday evening, February 29, the DCES Equity Committee will be hosting a listening session with parents/guardians of DC Multilingual Learners. Our goal is to understand how we can better serve our multilingual learner community at Deer Canyon. All MLL students should have received a flyer in their Friday Folder. We hope to see you there!
Through this Friday, March 1, Poway Unified will be conducting our Family Engagement and Accountability Survey to gather input from all families of English Learner students. This survey helps shape the District’s goals and guide priorities for the 2024-2025 school year. Your feedback is extremely helpful as we continue to seek ways to better our English Learner program. Please click HERE to complete the survey.
Palomar Council PTA JEDI Summit 2024
Interested in learning how National PTA guides diversity, equity & inclusion work? REGISTER to attend the Palomar Council PTA JEDI Summit to support and build our school community in the expansion of ideas to support our students on topics such as:
Ways to combat hate
Supporting LGBTQ+ students
Promoting neurodivergence awareness & action
Understanding the economic & language diversity of families in PUSD and how to better engage and meet those needs.
Families of students served through Special Education
PUSD and EFRC are hosting a 3-session, online IEP Training Series for parents, focused on the basics of an Individualized Education Plan, further detailed exploration of the IEP, and strategies and options for collaboration and meaningful participation in IEP meetings. CLICK HERE to register for one or all sessions!
Community is important to us here at Deer Canyon and our parent ambassadors want to connect with you on whatever level you need: general camaraderie, answering questions, or sharing their own experiences. Sometimes, simply connecting with another person through a shared experience can be powerful. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the PUSD parent ambassadors with students at Deer Canyon, Michael Matsuda and Stacy Zhang, using THIS FORM.
2024-2025 Transfer Information
The Poway Unified transfer window is now open! Transfer requests for students who live within the Poway Unified boundaries and would like to attend a different Poway school other than their school of residence should be submitted online by visiting the PUSD webpage and clicking the “Transfers” link on the home page. This includes incoming siblings of current students. Please also enroll your student at their school of residence when new student enrollment opens online on April 1, 2024. Transfer requests cannot be processed until the student is enrolled in their school of residence. The transfer window closes on March 31 at 5 pm. For more information, please visit PUSD’s Residency & Transfers webpage.
I’ll see you all on Monday morning! I look very forward to returning to your childrens’ smiling faces. :)
Katie Bendix
Principal
Updates from the PSO
Spring Musical Theater Workshops
Our PSO is sponsoring after-school Musical Theatre workshops taught by Angie Serrano. Details and registration form are below.
Registration is limited. Sign up soon: first come, first served. Finding Nemo (K-3) is already half full!
Email Angie Serrano at jserrano@me.com with any questions..
Upcoming Events
Book Swap is Coming!
Are you ready to clean out your student’s book collection and make room for some new titles? Well, get ready!
From February 26-28, the DCPSO will be accepting book donations by the front gate and hosting a "swap" on Friday, March 1, and Monday, March 4. Students will have the chance to select a book from the collection during school hours.
This is a great way to reduce clutter, recycle and help inspire our readers just in time for our Read-a-thon! All books should be in good condition and appropriate for TK - 5th graders.
Please donate baby board books, young adult or adult books to your local library.
Thank you!
DC: The Eras Tour Talent Show — March 1
Don’t miss the Deer Canyon Talent Show presented by the PSO.
Join us on Friday, March 1, at 6 pm for the DC Eras Tour Talent Show! Admission is FREE and DC Leaders will sell popcorn & water.
Come see dazzling displays of dancing, gymnastics, martial arts, singing and more.
See our 5th grade Talent Show Crew entertain us with skits, as emcees, and running the show. And, of course, there’s the 5th Grade Dance!
We would love you to help out if you can volunteer. Sign-up here.
Questions? Email us at deercanyontalentshow@gmail.com
“Camp Read S’more” - Registration and Campfire Storytime/Author Event
Get ready to read and read s’more Deer Canyon!
Our annual Read-a-Thon is coming up March 4-10. Coinciding with “Read Across America,” all DC students (preschool to 5th grade) are invited to embark on a week-long reading adventure to inspire their hearts and minds and to raise funds to support the DCPSO.
This year, the DCPSO will use funds raised from this event to pursue hiring certificated specialist personnel such as an Art or P.E. teacher. We are so excited for this opportunity to elevate our resources for our students, and we hope you are, too!
Key things to know:
Registration and participation is FREE. All students who wish to participate and receive prizes must sign up on FundHub. Register today! They will set up a personal webpage, track their reading minutes and have the chance to send messages to family and friends asking them to sponsor their reading efforts and help support our school.
All participants will get a special DC bookmark just for signing up! The first 200 registrants will also receive a DC pen.
Readers of all levels can and should join in the fun! Younger students can be read to by parents. Older students can read solo or with parents, too. All reading after school hours counts!
There are various ways students can participate and win prizes:
Complete one-way bingos for small prizes and ticket entries for opportunity drawings
Read for specified amounts of time (ex: 40 minutes = Jr. Camper’s Club prize)
Raise money at different levels to support student reading (ex: $50 = prize)
Help their class achieve their fundraising goal for a special prize or experience
Help the school achieve a total reading minutes or fundraising goal for a schoolwide prize or experience
More specific prize information is available on FundHub and in material coming home next Friday.
A special THANK YOU goes out to Sunray Pediatric Dentistry for sponsoring our Reading Bingo Cards, prizes and opportunity drawings, and to Kona Ice of Pacific Beach for sponsoring celebrations for the Top 3 Classrooms with Highest Participation.
Save the Date
Tuesday, March 5 @ 6:30pm
Get cozy in your pajamas and join us for Campfire Storytime in the Library with Ms. Bendix, followed by a reading and presentation with special guest author, Deborah Kelson (via Zoom).
Deborah is a tech marketing executive by day and an author of a book about talking sandwiches by night. This LA-based married mother of two middle schoolers fulfilled her dream of writing a children’s book when her kids were in preschool. Her clever and creative story, Peanut Butter or Jelly, presents a humorous twist on the relationship between the two sides of one of America’s favorite sandwiches.
Deborah will talk with students about how to develop a story, how she created her book from start to finish, and then she will host a brief Q&A session. Deborah has shared her journey with elementary schools, bookstores, and families in San Francisco, Los Angeles and beyond, and the book's website has registered thousands of votes from young readers. In fact, most young families who own her book regard it as a family favorite (Melissa Davis can vouch for this!). Deborah is excited to share her story and experience with Deer Canyon.
We hope to see you there!
Any questions? Please contact Melissa Davis, vpfundraising@deercanyonpso.org
Seeking Families to Participate in Family Heritage Night: March 29
Each spring, DC students and families get to take a trip "around the world” in one night at the Deer Canyon MPR. This year's event will take place on Friday, March 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
DC families set up tables with information about their country’s heritage, artifacts, and food samples. There are multicultural performances to enjoy, too. It’s a great way to celebrate and learn about the rich cultural tapestry here at Deer Canyon.
This is a FREE event for our families, but we need your help. We are looking for families to help host tables!
Interested in...
- Hosting a table? Sign up here! (deadline: March 1)
- Participating in the Fashion Show? Sign up here! (deadline: March 10)
- Performing for our audience? Sign up here! (deadline: March 10)
Questions/Concerns? FHN@deercanyonPSO.org
Important Updates
New Student Enrollment for ESS Summer 2024
We anticipate very limited capacity to enroll new students in the ESS Summer Program in 2024.
Space in the summer program is subject to the availability of staff, transportation, and priority enrollment for continuing students and unduplicated pupils.
To apply for the 2024 summer program, families must complete a separate interest application by completing this INTEREST FORM. The interest list for SUMMER will be open February 5- March 1.
If space is available, ESS will notify parents/guardians whether their child(ren) has been accepted to enroll in the summer program or placed on a waitlist by April 1, 2024.
Acceptance into ESS Summer 2024 does not guarantee enrollment in the program for the 2024-25 school year. Parents/guardians must complete the separate application process for new student enrollment in ESS for 2024-25 that will be available online beginning Monday, March 4, at 9 am.
Get Your DCES Yearbooks
Hold on tight to those Deer Canyon memories!
It's not too late to order a Deer Canyon yearbook — and you get two free custom pages! You can purchase the yearbook now (price: $25.06) and submit the pages by April 18.
Questions: Contact the yearbook committee at deercanyonyearbook@gmail.com.
How to Purchase:
- Visit the TreeRing website
- Enter the DCES passcode: 1015490278194159
Seeking: Pictures for the DCES Yearbook
Do you have pictures to share for our DCES Yearbook? If so, please upload them via TreeRing.com or directly from your phone using the app. We'd love to have them!
Instructions:
Show Your School Spirit with DCES Spirit Wear
Make Friday mornings a little easier by ordering Spirit Wear!
Our Spirit Wear shop is open and taking orders. Choose from a variety of options: tie-dye T-shirts (perfect for FUNky Fridays), cartoon T-shirts (perfect for kids — and adults!), school logo T-shirts, hoodies (perfect for the cold weather), zip-up jackets and more.
Orders are placed online and can be delivered to DCES for free.
Questions: Please contact Razan Lin rbattikha@gmail.com