Viper Voice
Week 6
An Action Packed 4 Days
Kindergarten Readers
Read a Book Day
4th Grade PE
Positive Office Referrals for the Week
Student Council Spirit Week
Monday- Red, White, and Blue Day
Tuesday- Tie-Dye
Wednesday- White Out (Optional Due to Picture Day)
Thursday- Twilight (Black or Dark Color)
Friday- X-treme Purple and Green Day
Welcome to our Student Support Team Ms. Luttinen
Hello Sierra Verde!
My name is Aimee Luttinen and I am so proud to be a new member of the Sierra Verde Viper family! I will be working in the Special Education Department as the new LC teacher! This will be my 12th year in education as twelve years ago I started my educational journey as a para professional! I am from the beautiful state of Washington and have been in Arizona since 2000. I graduated from Grand Canyon University in 2017 with my Bachelors in Elementary and Special Education. From there- I went to Arizona State University and graduated in 2020 with my Masters in Special Education with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis- Go Sun Devils! Not only am I excited to be at Sierra Verde, but my daughter, Mikaela, is starting at Sierra Verde in Kindergarten this year! My boyfriend, Andrew, Mikaela, and I love to go traveling to different places, and our favorite place to go is Disneyland! We have one dog, Nola, and one cat, Luna, in our home! A little fun fact about me: Before I got into education, I worked as a professional chef! I absolutely love cooking and baking! I am so excited for the 2022-2023 school year and to get to know my Sierra Verde family- fellow teachers and staff, students, and families! It's going to be an amazing year!
PTSO Update
The PTSO is currently looking for donations for our Bingo Night and Silent Auction. Have a gift card laying around? Donate it to us! Have season tickets but can’t make an upcoming game? Donate the tickets to us! Did you know that every donation is a tax write off?
Donors Choose
There are currently 17 Sierra Verde projects posted to Donors Choose. Visit our school’s page here to donate.
Volunteer of the Week ~Lori Pierce~
Lori Pierce has been volunteering at Sierra Verde for the past 5 years! Over the years she has been a homeroom mom, PTSO Secretary, PTSO President, field trip volunteer, working at the PBIS store and copy/packet maker extraordinaire! She is also the creator this year for the PTSO monthly newsletter. We can honestly say Lori has positively impacted Sierra Verde and we are so grateful to have her. When she is not devoting her time to SV, Lori is hanging out with her son Brooks (5th grade) and listening to true crime podcasts. Thank you, Lori!
Picture Day 9/14
Grads Photography will be at
Sierra Verde Steam Academy
on 9/14/2022
for Fall Pictures.
You may PRE-ORDER your pictures by
Under the current limited contact conditions, online is the preferred method of ordering. It is Easy, Secure and Safe. Your student will receive a specific QR code on picture day to order their Fall pictures.
Please note that, school dress code will be in effect.
If you have any questions, please call Grads Photography at 623.580.4723.
Social distancing and other precautions will be taken during the event for everyone's safety.
Thank you,
Sierra Verde Steam Academy and
Grads Photography
Standards Based Mindset at Sierra Verde
Sierra Verde is aligned to the DVUSD Standards-based mindset, which helps guide our staff in tracking and reporting academic performance related to the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards.
Students are expected to complete daily practice assignments/homework to reinforce skills and concepts learned in class. In-process learning assignments will be factored into a student’s final grade, but will only count for 1% of the entire grade. Daily assignments are essential in developing the skills and knowledge in order to excel on the summative assessments. Assessments will be 99% of a student’s final grade. There will be no opportunities for extra credit. Grades take into consideration mastery of standards and skill development. All grades are supported by appropriate documentation (e.g., anecdotal notes, work samples, checklists, portfolios, rubrics, projects, tests, performance assessments, etc.). The grade a student receives on any assignment will reflect an accurate assessment of the student’s performance on the assessment. No individual test, performance assessment, assignment, or project should be more than 25% of the total grade.
It is absolutely imperative that students keep up with classwork, daily assignments and discussions in order to fully comprehend and grasp the material. These in-process learning assignments directly impact student performance on assessments. A standards-based mindset also embraces allowing students opportunities to show learning through reassessment when appropriate.
We will continue to provide updates and clarification throughout the year regarding these best-practices for grading and reporting on student learning. We are proud of the work our students, staff, and administration are doing to align definitions of mastery and essential standards across our district, leading the state in proficiency and growth for all students in DVUSD.
Donor's Choose
Join Team SV
Due to our nursing vacancy there are some days when we do not have a nurse on site, and for any illness or medical issue, we will need to contact parents for pick up if your son or daughter is ill. We appreciate your cooperation as we will be running short-handed until our nursing vacancy is filled.
Visitors and Volunteers @ SV
Hello SV Families,
For parents who are interested in volunteering at any DVUSD school, but have not taken the required District Volunteer training classes we have the following training classes in place at Sierra Verde:
Thursday, October 20th at 5:00 PM
The volunteer training is a requirement to do any type of campus volunteering including attending field trips with your student as a chaperone. The classes will be held in our Media Center. No RSVP is required to attend; however, you must be on time and stay for the full training. The trainings last about 40 minutes or less.
If you have previously taken the volunteer training, you will not need to attend another one. You will need to come to the front office to update your information and your volunteer agreement for the year prior to volunteering.
Below you will also find the master calendar of volunteer training dates at all DVUSD sites. You can attend training at any site.
Thank you,
Mrs. Morales and Mrs. Olofson, Volunteer Coordinators
Baseball & Softball Opening Day.
Next Tuesday, our baseball team opens up the season hosting Sonoran Foothills at 4:30 at our baseball field. Softball travels to Sonoran Foothills for a 4:30 game. On Thursday, softball is home hosting Terramar, and baseball is away to Terramar and both are 4:30 starts. Good luck to both teams!
PBIS Rewards Update
PBIS Rewards is off to a great start this year. Students can use their points earned for being safe, responsible, respectful and kind to purchase fun items. These items are delivered on Fridays. If you are interested in tracking your student through our PBIS Rewards app, download the PBIS Rewards for Family app and ask your child's teacher for their unique QR code.
If you are interested in donating to our PBIS store, we have a PBIS Store Amazon Wishlist. You can also drop off any donation items to our office - new/gently loved stuffed animals are always a popular item.
Help stock the PBIS Store Rewards Store by purchasing Rewards directly on Amazon. If you purchase from our PBIS Rewards wishlist it will ship directly to campus and our kids can purchase immediately. Stock our store here:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2YZ9H9VV492G3?ref_=wl_share
Mindfulness Monday Challenge of the Week
Mindful Giving
Thoughtful giving comes from the practice of mindfulness. Being mindful, as we know, means paying attention to the present moment without judgment, bringing greater clarity to the mind and more insight and creativity into life. The concept of giving and receiving gifts is closely tied to compassion, love and gratitude. When you give someone a gift, no matter how big or small, you convey that you were thinking of them - it's a type of caring. The true gift of giving is how you make someone feel when you offer heartfelt energy. Mindfully considering the person to whom you are giving is a wonderful way to express care and deepen connections. Take time through the week to notice they way you give to others. Do you give smiles in the hallway? Do you give your time when a friend drops their belongings to help them pick up? Do you give kind notes to others? Do you give your time on the playground to play with a friend?
Challenge of the Week: Give to someone else each day this week. Maybe it's a kind note, a high five, a smile, a hug, an encouraging word, time spent together on the playground or even a very small gift.
Yearbook Sales Are Open
Office Updates
- DVUSD is no longer under any Covid restrictions or mandated reporting. If your child is healthy they may come to school, and if they are ill with Covid or any other illness, you just need to call them in as ill and keep them home until they are fever free for 24 hours and not experiencing any major symptoms.
- If you bring your student's lunch to the front office, we have a late lunch table in the cafeteria that all student's will be able to check. Just put their name on their lunch bag and it will be delivered to the cafeteria.
- If you are calling in your student as absent, please call the attendance line directly so you can leave a message. Our absence line is 623-376-4890
- Next Friday, 9/16 is a 90 minute early release for our staff to participate in Professional Development. We will release at 2:00 pm.
Social Studies and Music Curriculum Adoptions
Mountain Ridge Little Lions Pom Camp
City of Glendale Update
Have a Great Weekend!
Sierra Verde STEAM Academy
Nationally Accredited STEM Certification
"A" Rated School by Arizona Dept. of Education
Proud Home of the Vipers
Deer Valley Unified School District
Email: Tony.Galietti@dvusd.org
Website: dvusd.org/sierraverde
Location: 7241 West Rose Garden Lane, Glendale, AZ, USA
Phone: 623-376-4800
Twitter: @SVViperPride