May 25, 2007
Editor's note: Schools and District offices will be closed on Monday, May 28 in observance of Memorial Day. Classes will resume on Tuesday, May 29. Please have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
Principals-elect Named for Schools
Scottsdale Unified School District is pleased to announce the following principals-elect for 2007-08: Dr. Gregory Reid, Sequoya Elementary School; Charles Grisier, Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center; and Chad Caudle, Hohokam Elementary School.
The Governing Board will vote on these personnel actions at the June 5th meeting.
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Chaparral Makes Top 1200 High School List
Chaparral High School was named one the top 1200 high schools in the country, according to Newsweek' s Web site. Chaparral was one of a handful of Valley high schools to make the list and was ranked 1000 on the list. The school also made the Newsweek list in 2006, 2005 and 2003. To view the complete list, please visit Newsweek .
Congratulations on this outstanding achievement!
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Coronado Wins State Championship
 Coronado High School's Baseball Team defeated Notre Dame 20-8 for the Class 4A Division II title on Saturday, May 12.
This is the first time since the 1991-1992 school year that the DONs have won a state championship in any sport.
Congratulations to the team members and Coach Buck Holmes!
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Cheyenne Students Collect Supplies for Iraqi Children
Students in Carrol Shields' and Cyndie Van Hook's PACT Program at Cheyenne Traditional School have assembled school supply kits for Operation Iraqi Children (OIC).
The most efficient and effective way to help Iraqi children is to create School Supply Kits. Each Kit contains basic, badly-needed items that can make a world of difference to a child heading to school. Assembling standardized kits ensures that each child receives the same number of the most needed items, facilitates customs clearance, and relieves our volunteers and soldiers of the time-consuming and labor intensive process of sorting and allocating random donated items.
Supplies included in the kit are blunt-end scissors, 12 inch ruler with metric units, #2 lead pencils with erasers, small pencil sharpener, colored pencils, notebook paper, composition book, folders with inside pockets, zippered pencil bag and 2 gallon zip-seal plastic bags.
OIC was co-founded by actor Gary Sinise and author Laura Hillenbrand. This program enables Americans to send school supply kits to Iraqi children.
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Coronado High School Receives Flags for its Classrooms
Coronado High School received 100 American-made American flags from the Sipe-Peterson American Legion post (Unit 44) in Scottsdale. This donation will help the school comply with a new Arizona law that takes effect July 1, 2007. That law, HB-2583, requires that an American-made American flag and, for seventh grade and above, copies of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights be displayed in every Arizona
classroom.
Carol Dustin, president of the American Legion Post that is donating the flags, said that they were made aware of the need for flags by Ronni Stirling, a junior at Coronado High School. Carol then put information in the post's newsletter asking for donations to purchase American flags for Scottsdale Unified School District schools. She said, “The donations just started pouring in at that point.” These donations allowed the post to purchase all 100 flags and the hardware needed to display them in the classrooms. Coronado currently has 90 classrooms, but the school is under construction and will have more classrooms in the near future.
Tuesday’s event included a presentation of the flags, music from two Coronado DONs band members who will be joining the military after graduation, a speech by the student who made the donations happen and a speech by the American Legion Post Commander, Len Rosenbaum.
“The American Legion is proud that we are able to help this way,” Ms. Dustin said. She says they will also help other SUSD schools if necessary.
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Jump Start the START SMART Process!
 Is your child entering kindergarten this August? If so, Community Schools is offering a summer Kindergarten Jump Start program for students entering kindergarten in the Scottsdale Unified School District. This program will be held at the following locations: Hopi, Kiva and Zuni. This unique summer program is designed to give your child a glimpse into what it will be like to be a kindergartner. Activities are designed to foster both social and educational growth in children. Don't miss out on this amazing educational opportunity. Space is limited, so Register Today! For more information, please view the brochure .
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Do You Know a Community Hero?
 A Community Hero is…
- Someone whose volunteer service to others embraces the Scottsdale sense of community
- Someone who has not received prior public recognition for his or her volunteer efforts
Nominations for the 2007 Frances Young Community Heroes are due by 5 p.m., August 10, 2007. Criteria: An individual, age 14 or older, whose volunteer services directly benefit Scottsdale citizens and/or Scottsdale organizations through:
- Providing services that support education, youth or senior programs, environmental issues, animal interests, religious institutions, neighborhoods, arts and culture, or health and human services
- Performing outstanding volunteer work
- Serving as a community role model and mentor
- Demonstrating random acts of kindness
Nominations forms are available in the Scottsdale Tribune, through the City of Scottsdale, or submit online at www.gdc4s.com/communityheroes.
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Planning Your Summer Vacation? Remember to Plan for START SMART Too!  Keep the first day of school – August 13th – in mind when planning your family vacation this summer. It’s important that children are in school because learning begins on the very first day of instruction. Scottsdale Unified teachers come to class each day prepared to teach all students, but learning can only happen when children are in class! Remember to START SMART on August 13th!
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This past Saturday, 40 sixth grade students, parents and teachers met at Pueblo Elementary School to complete their Lions Quest Community Service Project. This year, the sixth grade students wanted to do a beautification program for the school courtyard. The courtyard is the center of the school in which all students, staff and parents gather, meet and use to transition from one classroom to the next. The sixth grade team, Marilyn Engle, David Norris and Cindy Pomeroy, facilitated a brainstorm session with the students and started to come up with realistic ideas to beautify the campus. The students measured different parts of the courtyard, drew different designs and discussed several ideas. Mrs. Engle represented the students at the April PTO meeting and asked the PTO to donate funds to help with the project. The PTO overwhelmingly supported the plan and students were ready to get working. The team of students, teachers and parents shoveled 10 tons of gravel, raked and cleared large areas around planted trees, and planted several ground cover plants to change the entire look of the courtyard. It is beautiful, well done and low maintenance.