September
25, 2009
Editor's note: District offices and schools will be closed
on Monday, September 28 for District Recess.
Superintendent Dr.
Gary Catalani — K-3 Override Message
As a parent and educator, I know that one of the keys to
a child's educational success is building a strong learning
foundation beginning in early education. This is just one
reason why stakeholders in our community voted to pass the
K-3 Override in 2005.
In 2005 we asked our taxpayers for permission - and they
agreed - to raise funds to address the needs of our youngest
learners. This includes students in Kindergarten through third
grade. Because the K-3 Override passed, we have been allowed
to budget five percent more than the K-8 revenue control limit
for five years. Read
more...
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SUSD Hosts Informal
Discussions
Scottsdale Unified School District invites you to join Dr. Gary T. Catalani, Governing Board members and school administrators to attend an informal discussion on several topics including K-3 Override, class sizes, enrollment, budget and goals. The meetings will include a presentation followed by a Q&A session for the public.
The remaining meetings are scheduled for 6 p.m. on the dates indicated for the following sites:
- Thursday, October 1
Desert Mountain Complex
Desert Mountain High School
Cafeteria
12575 E. Via Linda, Scottsdale
- Wednesday, October 7
Saguaro Complex
Saguaro High School
Media Center
6250 N. 82nd St., Scottsdale
- Wednesday, October 28
Coronado Complex
Coronado High School
Media Center
7501 E. Virginia Ave., Scottsdale
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Dr. Catalani's Office Hours at Schools
Superintendent Dr. Catalani will be visiting schools throughout the year.
- September 24 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Cochise Elementary
School, 9451 N. 84th St., Scottsdale 85258
- October 5 from 8-10 a.m. at Sierra Vista Academy, 7501
E. Oak St., Scottsdale 85257
View the complete schedule
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Factual Override Information Available Online
On November 3rd, a K-3 Renewal Override will be on the ballot.
The K-3 Override is a continuation of an existing override approved initially by voters in 2005. The K-3 Override reduces Kindergarten class size to a District-wide target of 21 students to 1 teacher. These funds also allow us to reduce class sizes in grades 1-3 below current staffing ratios. Additional funds are used for instructional assistants in Kindergarten and first grade as needed. The override raises about $3.4 million per year.
To view a complete Fact Sheet about the K-3 Override, please visit www.susd.org.
Classroom Technology
Installation Update
The Classroom Technology Implementation has been completed at Saguaro, Chaparral and Desert Mountain high schools and Sierra Vista Academy, Supai and Mohave middle schools, ANLC, Copper Ridge and Cheyenne Traditional School and Anasazi, Tonalea, Yavapai, Hohokam, Navajo, Pima, Tavan and Redfield elementary schools. Installation is in progress at Desert Canyon Elementary.
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Hip Hip Hooray for
the SUSD Foundation Night at Chase Field
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| Photo
credit: Jon Willey
Pictured left to right: Karen Beckvar, Governing Board
president; Superintendent Dr. Gary Catalani; Katy
Cavanagh, assistant superintendent for Excelling
Teaching & Learning; Jack McCartney , student at
Pueblo Elementary School; Dr. David Peterson,
assistant superintendent for facilities & operations;
Carla Partridge, coordinator of communications/media
& business partners/volunteers;
and Dr. Mark Stieg,
SUSD Foundation Board member.
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It was a win-win night on Tuesday for both The Arizona Diamondbacks
and the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Foundation.
The Diamondbacks won their game 10 to 8, and the SUSD Foundation
benefited from the support of the community. SUSD Foundation
hosted a night out with the Arizona Diamondbacks to support
SUSD. The SUSD Foundation is a non-profit group that raises
money to support teachers, student programs, projects and
scholarships that would otherwise be unfunded. Additionally,
a portion of every ticket sold went directly to the SUSD Foundation.
Thank you for showing your support to education and the SUSD
Foundation.
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 MMS
Teacher Participates in 2009 Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless
Flights of Discovery Program
The Northrop Grumman Foundation has selected Tracey Dodrill,
a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Mountainside
Middle School, to participate in the 2009 Weightless Flights
of Discovery program in Albuquerque on September 22, 2009.
Weightless Flights of Discovery allows educators the opportunity
to prepare for and participate in micro-and zero-gravity flights
to test Newton's Laws of Motion with the purpose of taking
their experience back into their classrooms to energize their
students in math and science. Read
more...
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 Chaparral
Football Coach Receives Honor
Charles Ragle, football coach at Chaparral High School, was
honored by the Arizona Cardinals as the Coach of the Week.
Big Red, along with several Cardinals cheerleaders, paid a
visit to Chaparral on September 17 to present Coach Ragle
with his award on Firebird Word.
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28 SUSD Students Named Semifinalists in the 2010 National
Merit® Scholarship Program
The National Merit®Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) announced
the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 55th
annual National Merit®Scholarship Program. These academically
talented high school seniors have an opportunity to continue
in the competition for some 8,200 National Merit® Scholarships,
worth more than $35 million, that will be offered next spring.
To be considered for a National Merit® Scholarship award,
semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance
to the finalist level of the competition. About 90 percent
of the semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing,
and approximately half of the finalists will win a National
Merit® Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
The following Scottsdale Unified School (SUSD) students were
named as semifinalists for 2010 National Merit® Scholarships:
Arcadia High School
Jacob Coppersmith, John Thurau and David Tobin
National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars are:
Graciela Armendariz, Ranier Barrett and James Upton.
Chaparral High School
Christopher Bremer, Matthew Dundas, Laura Eckhardt, Nathan
Gaw, Emily Hudspeth, Stefani Jones, Michaela Karis, Molly
Kupfer, Miranda Loeber, Lawrence Matiski, Patrick Murray,
David Nguyen, Hilary Novatt, Carter Owen, Neel Rao and Barbara
Terzic
Desert Mountain High School
Nathan Boninger, Mackenzie Brennan, Kari Broder, Katherine
Delahoyde, Lindsey Garland, Rahul Kini, Emily Mitchell, Morgan
Whitaker and Sungroa Yoon
Please note: SUSD has not received a complete list of
National Merit® Commended students. A follow up story
will run in Community Connection once it is received.
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 Kiva
3rd Graders Receive Dictionaries from the Scottsdale Sunrise
Rotary
On Thursday, each third
grade student at Kiva Elementary received a dictionary from
the Scottsdale Sunrise Rotary. Robert Lawder, Scottsdale Sunrise
Rotary, presented the students with the dictionaries.
In total, the Scottsdale Sunrise Rotary will be donating
more that 500 dictionaries to the following Scottsdale Unified
School District schools – Kiva, Navajo, Pima, Pueblo,
and Yavapai. Kiva will be receiving more than 100 dictionaries
for the third grade students.
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The Benefits of All Day Kindergarten and K-3 Override
- The K-3 Override was originally approved to provide all day Kindergarten for Scottsdale Unified School District.
- When the State provided funding for all day Kindergarten, we were able to support smaller class sizes in Kindergarten and grades 1, 2 and 3.
- The current State budget challenges may impact the funds provided by the State for all day Kindergarten. District leadership is continually monitoring the State budget process and will update this information as often as possible.
- If the State does not provide funding for all day Kindergarten, the K-3 Override will be used to continue our current all day Kindergarten program. We would not be able to continue to reduce class sizes in grades 1, 2 and 3.
Thank You
- The K-3 Override was passed by voters in 2005. A voter-approved K-3 Override runs for a period of seven years.
- The first five years of this override allow for a school district to budget an additional 5% of K-8 funding capacity.
- If the Override is not renewed after five years, it will be reduced by 1/3 of the approved funds in year six and an additional 1/3 reduction will occur in year seven.
- The K-3 Override allows $3.4 million per year of additional education funding so that the District has reduced Kindergarten class sizes targeted at 21 students to 1 teacher.
- These funds also allow reduced class sizes in grades 1-3, during the important early years of a student’s education. Funds also provide for instructional assistants in kindergarten and first grade.
The Benefits of the K-3 Override to Our Children Are:
- Better academic preparation.
- The opportunity for enrichment of the curriculum.
- More interaction between teachers and students.
- More focused participation during early childhood education which positively impacts later academic performance.
- A more productive learning environment and the opportunity to learn to work well with peers.
Thank you for your continued support of public education! Your support has made excelling education possible in the Scottsdale Unified School District. Thank you!
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Scottsdale Republic Features SUSD Teachers
Do you know an outstanding teacher in the Scottsdale Unified School District? Would you like that teacher to be recognized in the newspaper? The Scottsdale Republic runs a weekly feature highlighting a different SUSD teacher each week. To nominate a teacher, simply fill out the online Teacher Nomination Form.
*Please note that a high resolution digital photo must be submitted to be considered for publication.
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H1N1 (Swine Flu) Update
08-09 - Parent Letter Update
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