Chandler Unified School District

Weekly News Update 1-23-2023

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Basha AMS Student Wins the District Spelling Bee

Frank Narducci With Opal

Congratulations, Opal Mishra! Opal is a sixth grader at Basha Accelerated Middle School, and she is the winner of the CUSD spelling bee held on Wednesday, January 18. Opal won the Spelling Bee with the word "dodecahedron". She also spelled "neonatology" and "Belgravia" to reach the top. Regina Rascon, a seventh grader from Bogle Junior High School finished runner-up.

The top 10 spellers from the district will advance to the regional bee on Feb 15. Joining Opal and Regina at the regional bee will be these great spellers:


In order by school:

  • Venkata Suchith Nathani – Arizona College Prep Middle School

  • Kaiya Johnston – Casteel High School

  • Jieyi Chang – CTA Goodman Elementary

  • Kamryn Redish – Jacobson Elementary

  • Sean Kirkham – Knox Gifted Academy

  • Joshua Hanson – Payne Junior High School

  • Nolan Kim – Santan Junior High

  • Priya Konduru – Weinberg Gifted Academy

Frank Narducci With Opal
Spellers moving onto regionals

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Congratulations Perry High School

PHS Cheer
The Perry High School Show Cheer Team now have back-to-back State Championship wins!

These amazing student-athletes secured the title during competition over the weekend.



We also want to celebrate Perry Pom! The team was named AIA State Runners Up and winners of the Be Bold and Outstanding Artistry awards.

Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year from CUSD! We wish you peace, happiness, and luck in the new year.


Pictured: Tarwater Elementary School, one of our Mandarin Dual Language Immersion schools, performed at the Chandler Center for the Arts during a 2023 New Year Celebration.

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Upcoming Open Houses

Are you interested in learning more about our elementary schools and our junior high schools? Attending an open house is a great way to see our schools in person and get your questions answered.

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Last call for CEF Scholarship Applications

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Chandler Education Foundation hosts scholarships offered by local families and businesses who are invested in lifelong learning. Donor scholarship applications for graduating CUSD seniors close on February 1, 2023. Students are encouraged to apply now in order to allow time for any additional documentation requested by the donor. Visit the Chandler Education Foundation’s website for additional.

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Student, School, & Staff Success

Thirteen CUSD Students Win Awards in the Creative Expression Contest

The entries for the City of Chandler’s Creative Expression Competition were beautiful art pieces and eloquently crafted essays from students throughout all of Chandler. Each year judges are amazed by the creativity, sincerity, and talent of Chandler Unified students. They mention how the work produced by CUSD students makes them hopeful about the future and proud of the next generation. All the winning artwork and essays can be found on the City of Chandler website here.

For the writing contest:

5th-8th Category:

2. Carol Zhang – Inclusiveness Throughout Time – Arizona College Prep Middle School

3. Aditri Patra – Embracing our Differences to Build a Connected Community – Weinberg Gifted Academy


9th-12th Category:

1. Skylar Best – The Divided States of America – Hamilton High

2. Kenneth Su – Diversity is a Disease and Inclusivity is the Cure – Hamilton High

First Place Winning Entry, Rachael Park

For the visual arts contest:

K-4th Category:

1. Rachael Park – A United Heart of Our Community – Knox Gifted Academy

2. Dreanna Bartolome – Inclusivity for a Stronger City – CTA Liberty

3. Daphne Bartolome – Inclusivity for a Stronger City – CTA Liberty

First Place Winning Entry, Rachael Park
First Place Winning Entry - Ethan Garza

5th-8th grade Category:

1. Ethan Garza – Together – Willis Junior High

2. Audrena Flores – The Rainbow of Colors – Willis Junior High

3. Tara Nair – Planting seeds of Diversity: The Catalyst for a Stronger Community – Arizona College Prep Middle School

First Place Winning Entry - Ethan Garza
First Place Winning Entry, Brandon Lee

9th-12th Category:

1. Brandon Lei – We are all Connected – Hamilton High

2. Sumaya Quitugua – Longevity – Perry High

3. Isaiah Villegas – Generational Touch – Perry High

First Place Winning Entry, Brandon Lee

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Casteel "Colture Day" Inspires Students

Casteel High School celebrated foreign exchange students, diversity clubs, and cultures with a COLTure Day Assembly. Great job setting an example of a Global Citizen from our Portrait of a Learner initiative! #WeAreChandlerUnified

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Jacobson Elementary Welcomes City Leaders

Jacobson student leaders were excited to welcome city leaders to campus. Chandler Mayor, Kevin Hartke and Chandler City Manager, Mr. Josh Wright paid a visit with the JETS student government club this week.

Jacobson students with City leaders

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Auxier Elementary Student Artwork Chosen for Casteel Choir Shirt

Auxier Student
Sophia Burleson, fourth grade student at Auxier Elementary, entered her hand drawn artwork to be considered for the Casteel choir t-shirt design for 2022-2023. She waited for several months to hear if her design was chosen and was incredibly surprised to walk into the winter choir concert and see her design printed on their new shirts! Pretty exciting for a fourth grade students artwork to be featured on a high school shirt.
Auxier Student

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Perry Dancers Win First Place

PHS Dancers
Perry High advanced dancers group piece, “Crazy in Love”, choreographed by Belle Matson, won 1st place in the teen division in the City of Chandler’s Youth & Teen Talent Competition. They were awarded $100 towards the Perry dance program.
PHS Dancers

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Basha High School News Crew earns National Honors

BBN News Crew

The Basha Bear News (BBN) crew Skylar Meister, Charlie Murphy, Timothy Seale and Antonio Miele placed third in the Student Television Networks 2022 Fall Nationals! The BBN team competed against other students around the country in the Sports Story category which featured Basha Football's very own James Durand who has committed to continue with athletic and academic career at the University of Wisconsin. The team was given the prompt and had less that 5 days to record, write and edit the story using the skills they learn in their Multi-Media and Film class. Click here for a link to their story.

BBN News Crew
Back to His Roots

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Fifth Graders at Elementary Connect Design Slides

Fifth graders at Chandler Online Academy - Elementary Connect used their critical thinking skills to create a slide that would cause the slider to start to slow, speed up, and slow down again before safely exiting the slide.
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CUSD BRAGS - HONORS, AWARDS AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Do you want to see your school, program or students featured?

There are a TON of great things going on in our schools -- honors, awards, community service projects, special programs we offer and accomplishments. Click below to spread the word, and to see the things we're doing. Check out our BRAGS | BRAG about our schools

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CUSD Nutrition offers A La Carte Snacks

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Elementary parents, did you know that we sell à la carte snacks in addition to the nutritious meals that we serve? Whether your child is in a growth spurt, participating in extra-curricular activities, or you just want to treat them, we have snack-time covered! Check out our à la carte list to see all that we have to offer. Students can pay for à la carte items with cash or their student account. If you would like to limit the number of snacks they can purchase, we can put a note on their student account – just call your kitchen manager and they will be able to help! We hope to see your child in our cafeteria soon!

Community Education Updates

Looking for your tax statement for 2022?

As January wraps up and you start to collect documents to do your taxes, don’t forget about your tax statement from Community Education! Looking for your tax statement for 2022?

1. Login to your Eleyo account at www.cusd80.ce.eleyo.com
2. Click the drop-down tab on the upper right hand corner: "Explore All Programs"
3. Choose the second box on the right: "Account #xxxx"
4. A few tabs down click "Download Tax Information"

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Spring & Summer Camp Is Filling Up!

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Kids Express Spring Break Camp and Kids Express Summer Break Camp already have some dates that are full! Kids Express Spring Break Camp is FULL on March 27 at Navarrete Elementary and CTA Independence. Kids Express Summer Break Camp is FULL on June 6, June 13, July 12, and July 13 at Rice Elementary.

Don’t delay! Register for Spring Break Camp and register for Kids Express Summer Break Camp by scrolling to the bottom and clicking “Non School Days.”

Questions? Contact Community Education at 480-224-3900 or communityeducation@cusd80.com.

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Students in camp

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Opt In for Text Updates

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Please opt in for CUSD text messages. Using the same cell phone that you have on file in Infinite Campus, opt in by texting YES to 67587. (There is no charge from School Messenger for this service. Standard messaging rates from your carrier may apply.) You should immediately receive a reply text from School Messenger confirming that you have opted in.
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Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show Art Contest

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The Arabian Horse Association of Arizona is hosting the 68th Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show, February 16-26, 2023. The 18th Annual Art contest will be open to kindergarten through Grade 7 & older. Students are invited to submit their interpretations of "Arabian Horses." Deadline for entries is February 6.

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Each entry received will receive a t-shirt, two free one day passes for the entrants' parents to attend and two for one tickets to invite family and friends to the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. Please circle the size of the t-shirt on the entry form. Please see the Rules and Regulations for more information.


1. Entries submitted will be judged in the following age categories:

  • Kindergarten
  • Grade 1
  • Grade 2
  • Grade 3
  • Grade 4
  • Grade 5
  • Grade 6
  • Grades 7 & older

2. An Arabian horse must be depicted in each entry.

3. Only ONE entry per child.

4. Submitted entries MUST be matted with white mat board.


If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona at (480) 515-1500.
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Important upcoming Dates

School Calendar

The CUSD calendar can be found on the website here.

CUSD Governing Board Meetings

The CUSD Governing Board meeting dates can be found on the website here.

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Did you know that you can register on our website to subscribe to get emails when content you are interested in is updated on the website? Click the register button on the bottom right hand corner of the website, follow the prompts to create an account. Once registered, you will be able to sign in to subscribe to things you are interested in by clicking the "Subscribe" button on the bottom of the pages you wish to receive updates for, or from the "My Account" area of your account.

Learn more about how to register here.

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Notice of Nondiscrimination:

Chandler Unified School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex or gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The Title IX coordinators are Dr. Craig Gilbert, and Dr. Jeff Filloon, and the Section 504 coordinator is Dr. Kym Marshall. Address: 1525 W. Frye Road, Chandler, AZ 85224

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Chandler Unified School District

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1525 West Frye Road, Chandler, AZ, USA ChandlerCommunicationOffice@cusd80.com 480-812-7000 cusd80.com/chandlerschools

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