Deer Canyon Echoes
March 1, 2024
To Do
- Parent volunteers are needed for lunchtime activities: Developmental Disabilities Awareness and Women’s History Month activities. Please contact Maha (melmeniawy@powayusd.com) if you’re interested.
- Got design skills? The PSO is still looking for someone with graphic design experience to help us design a new logo. If you are interested in helping, please contact Eve Lanham at president@deercanyonpso.org.
- Order DCES Spirit Wear
Save the Date
March
- 3/1 - Continuing registration opens (Check your email for specific information.)
- 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 - Band Concert with MVMS
- 3/5 - Campfire Storytime and Author Event in the Library @ 6:30pm
- 3/11 - Pro Grow Day (no school for students)
- 3/13 - PSO meeting @ 5:30pm (Zoom link)
- 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!
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that it is MARCH (and with an extra Leap Day in February, too!)!
March is a significant month as we celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This is a time to embrace and appreciate our unique differences. Throughout March, we look forward to opportunities to come together to learn, grow, and celebrate the diverse strengths of one another. We will focus on the strength and beauty that comes when individuals with and without disabilities come together and create lasting connections.
March is also a special month because we honor Women's History Month, celebrating the remarkable contributions women have made throughout history. This month, our students will engage in inspiring activities and lessons that highlight the achievements of extraordinary women who have shaped our world. We look forward to coming together to empower our students with the knowledge and inspiration from the incredible women who paved the way and continue to contribute significantly to our world.
This week, campus was bustling! We spent the front portion of the week collecting personal book donations for today and Monday’s Book Swap, in preparation for next week’s Read-a-Thon. There are piles of books available for students that will continue to be available for students to select one book (while supplies last) on Monday at lunch and recess.
On Wednesday, San Diego Symphony musicians visited campus to visit our third graders as part of their Sound and Silence program. Students had Leap Day fun at lunch, folding origami frogs and participating in leaping races organized by staff.
Today started off with students turning me into an ice cream sundae at FUNky Friday, as a surprise for meeting our school-wide goal at the Book Fair last month! We continued the day with a school assembly of our Talent Show (including a staff performance), created art in celebration of the contributions of the Black female artist Alma Woodsey Thomas, and ended with our community Talent Show (happening now!).
Thank you to the many parents, students, and staff who have contributed to such a successful Talent Show; we have been preparing for many weeks and the final product is a wonderful representation of our community’s collective talents! Check Instagram for photos @deercanyonpusd .
Adults also kept busy this week: the School Site Council met to review progress on our school climate goals, the Safety Committee met to review school safety celebrations and concerns, the Equity Team hosted a listening session for our multilingual families, staff met with our PUSD Inclusive Practices Team to continue to learn and grow together, and staff worked up a sweat and some major smiles as we prepared for today’s Talent Show assembly!
Next week is Camp S’More Read-a-Thon! I look forward to hearing all about your student’s reading minutes, fundraising, and earned prizes. Students and classes can earn special toys and trinkets for their accumulated reading minutes or fundraising, in addition to parties and games with me. Don’t forget to register your student HERE, so they can log their minutes alongside their classmates!
Mark your Calendar: On Tuesday, March 5th, join me and a guest author for Campfire Storytime in the Library @ 6:30 pm. I will be doing a couple read alouds, while we will read our guest author’s book, and she will provide a kid-friendly presentation about how to develop a storybook plot, explain her process for the creation of her book, and answer our questions.
2024-2025 Enrollment
Online Continuing Student Registration is open now through March 31, 2024! We must receive a completed digital packet for all returning students. This will allow for proper placement of your student for the 2024-2025 school year. Please check your email for instructions. If your student is not returning to Deer Canyon next school year, please email me as soon as possible at kbendix@powayusd.com.
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 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.
Positive Attendance Incentives
This week, we continued to see a lower Attendance Rate compared to last year, with 30% of our absences for the 5-day week happening on Friday, February 16. Our chronic absenteeism rate continues to remain steady, and staff (along with our School Site Council) are beginning to disaggregate data to identify trends and support student groups overrepresented on our chronic absentee list at Deer Canyon. My hope is to soon return to our increased positive attendance, with celebratory Friday music at lunch!
Parent/Guardians of Multilingual Learners
On February 29, the DCES Equity Committee hosted a listening session with parents/guardians of DC Multilingual Learners. Thank you to those who attended. We continue to seek to understand how we can better serve our multilingual learner community at Deer Canyon and look forward to additional opportunities to engage.
Through this Monday, March 4, Poway Unified is 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.
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.
PUSD Safety Summit
The third PUSD Safety Summit for the 2023-2024 school year will be hosted Thursday, March 14, from 6:30 to 8 pm in the District Office Community Room and will focus on the topic of Substance Abuse & Addiction. This event will also be live streamed on the PUSD Board of Education YouTube channel (I will share the link next week!).
Please join me and members of our Deer Canyon Safety Committee for this important event. Interim Superintendent Greg Mizel will be joined by an expert panel that includes representatives from the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office and Department of Behavioral Health Services, in addition to local first responders.
Have a wonderful weekend. When we return on Monday, it’s time for Camp Read S’More! I can’t wait to see what the week of reading brings for our students and school community :)
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
It’s Time to Go to "Camp Read S’more"!
Who doesn’t love the idea of hiking, campfire, star gazing, friendly animals, and yes, s’mores?! Well, it’s time to go to camp!
Camp Read S’more is this year’s Read-a-thon from 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 explore new books, ideas and information, while raising funds to support the DCPSO.
This will be our last major fundraiser for the year. The Deer Dash in May will be a fun run with no fundraising strings attached.
If there was ever a time when you wanted to support Deer Canyon with a contribution or to ask friends and family for their support, now is the time! Our goal is to raise $20,000. DCPSO will use funds raised 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 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 Getmovinfundhub.com. 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 of any kind outside of school hours counts!
There are various new (and free) ways for students of all grades to participate and win prizes:
Complete bingos on the Reading Bingo Card
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
Help the school achieve a total reading minutes or fundraising goal
Some exciting prizes include camping gear, Pizza Picnic with Ms. Bendix, Crazy Hair Day and an all-school Glow Party!
More specific prize information is available in the attached flyer, on Getmovinfundhub.com and in material coming home today in Friday folders. Please make sure to check it all out!
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 the celebrations for the Top 3 Classrooms with Highest Participation. We sincerely appreciate your support!
Please join us for Campfire Storytime with Ms. Bendix and Guest Author - March 5, 6:30pm
Get cozy in your pajamas and join us in the DC Library for Campfire Storytime with Ms. Bendix, followed by a read aloud and interactive 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