District Dialogue Bi-weekly news from the Laveen Elementary School District Local church collects, delivers 1,000 items for students CrossWalk Church delivered two truckloads of gently-used uniforms and hygiene products to benefit students throughout the district. The church recently conducted their 5th Annual Laveen School Uniform Drive. Church volunteers washed, sorted, and packed over 1,000 items to be donated to families throughout Laveen’s eight schools. If you have gently-used uniforms you would like to donate to our students, you may drop them off at your nearest school’s health office. District nurse Lucinda Sorenson receives a load of boxes from CrossWalk Church members.
September 16, 2016 Administrators recognized with Pinnacle of Leadership awards
At the September 8 Governing Board Meeting, two administrators were recognized with Pinnacle of Leadership awards. Director of Instructional Leadership Jaime Camacho and Data Analyst Coordinator Nancy Ramirez received the award. The Pinnacle of Leadership recognizes select individuals for exceptional leadership, outstanding accomplishment, and dedicated service to Laveen’s students and community.
Camacho
Ramirez
Pitts, Ames-Ortiz are August’s Employees of the Month
Pitts
Employees of the month for August are Matthew Pitts, Trailside Point music teacher, and Karla Ames-Ortiz, SAIS Coordinator. Matthew Pitts is a caring, dedicated educator who pushes his students to their fullest potential. He makes learning fun, whether it be by creating their own music, using technology to research music, dancing, and performing. His positive outlook is noticed outside the music room as he greets dozens of students in the courtyard each morning as they make their way onto campus. This year Karla Ames-Ortiz assumed the additional responsibility of managing the demographic data for the realignment of district boundaries. She took the initiative to generate multiple options for school boundaries beyond those given to her and worked through multiple iterations. Her work was very thorough and precise. Ms. Ames-Ortiz did all of this while also helping to troubleshoot issues with the ADE's implementation of the AzEDS system. Her work in this area provided feedback to ADE on changes needed to make the system function better.
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Vista gifted class featured in SRP’s Learning Circuit Salt River Project’s Learning Circuit e-newsletter featured Vista del Sur’s intelligent cities gifted project. Gifted teacher Ravae Johnson received a grant from SRP to help fund the lesson. The yearlong multidisciplinary exploration helped students learn about why people create cities and how the cities evolved. The SRP grant provided for field trips to city transportation centers, reclamation projects, historical preservation sites, building construction sites, and public art projects allowing students to see what their own community is doing to address intelligent urbanization. You can view the full Learning Circuit online.
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Native American Parent Meeting Scheduled The next Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meeting for Native American parents will be held on Tuesday, November 15 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Laveen School library. At this meeting, parents will receive information on the Gila River Health Care Prevention Program, the Girl Scouts, and a cultural activity for Native American Heritage Month. The PAC meets quarterly. All Native American parents are encouraged to attend. For more information contact Julie Black, Native American Liaison at 602-237-9110 ext. 3180.
Paseo Pointe Dedication
Paseo Pointe School held their dedication ceremony on September 15. Highlights of the evening included the Dual Language Immersion kindergarteners performing their ABCs in Spanish, a ribbon cutting, and tours of the new facility. Chasse Building Team co-hosted the event.
Dr. Bill Johnson
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Heather Farmer
Rep. Rebecca Rios
Barry Chasse
September 16, 2016