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SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Marching band and orchestra students at Desert Mountain High School will be taking the trip of a lifetime to start 2025.
They'll get to perform in the New Year's Day Parade across the pond in London.
It's a trip the students at Desert Mountain get to make every handful of years, but this is the first time the students have gotten to go since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Desert-Mountain-Story
As Principal Margaret Serna prepares for retirement in 2025, her 48-year career with Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) leaves countless memories, celebrations, and success stories behind. Among those is that of Phoenix Jose, a student whose journey has been defined by perseverance and the support of family, friends, and educators.
- Arcadia-Story
As we usher in 2025, it is the perfect time to reflect on the remarkable achievements of the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) in 2024 and look forward to the exciting year ahead.
We hope the new year brings health, happiness and success to all of our students, staff, families and community.
- District-Story
The Lady Titans had the opportunity to cheer for freshman, JV, and varsity football this season and are currently supporting both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams. This year, they competed in the USA Regional 1 Competition, earning second place in JV Show Cheer Novice and third place in Varsity Show Cheer Advanced, along with national qualifications for both teams.
- Arcadia-Story
For the sixth time in the school’s 30-year history, Scottsdale Unified School District’s Desert Mountain High School marching band and orchestra will ring in the New Year in London, England.
The 68-strong member band, joined by its color guard, will take part in the Jan. 1 London New Year’s Day Parade, known for its nearly two-mile route past some of central London’s most iconic landmarks. The parade is expected to draw an in-person audience of up to 500,000 people and a television audience of at least 500 million. Here at home, KAET-TV(Channel 8) will carry the parade, tape-delayed, at 1:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day.
- Desert-Mountain-Story
The Desert Mountain High School Marching Band will be welcoming 2025 over 5,000 miles from home.
Band members will be joining some 8,000 other entrants in the 39th annual New Year’s Day Parade in London, England, which will be broadcast worldwide.
The globally renowned street spectacular makes a hugely popular return to the heart of the West End of London and will be shown in its entirety on network television across the U.S. and beyond. Hundreds of thousands of spectators will fill the iconic 2-mile route.
- Desert-Mountain-Story
SUSD Families Share Their Reasons, Experiences
SUSD families choose their specific schools for a variety of reasons. Some families gravitate toward the rigorous academics and numerous unique program offerings like IB, STEM, gifted, dual language immersion, CTE, AP and Honors. Others choose schools for their stand out athletics and arts programs. And, many families choose their schools for the community, parent involvement and neighborhood feel.
The students of Arcadia are always looking for ways to give back to their community. Some – the members of the National Honor Society, to be more specific – actively volunteer on and off campus to help those in need.
“NHS allows for its members to be more hands-on and connected to their surrounding communities,” NHS President Siddha Lennox said. “With the effort the club puts into bettering the community, the community feels appreciated and gives back in return, creating a more positive environment and culture.”
- Arcadia-Story
At Hopi Elementary School, Library Resource Specialist Traci Fish discovered a way to bridge the gap between her elementary students and the middle school they’ll soon attend through a creative art project.
Fish challenged Hopi students to design tissue boxes based on characters from their favorite books. It gave them a chance to work on their art skills and create an item that could be helpful for other students.
“I saw the idea on a librarian’s social media page and thought it would be fun to try,” Fish said. “The librarian had been doing it for years, and almost every student in her school participated. It had become a tradition within the school.”
- Hopi-Story
- Yavapai-Story
The Arizona School Administrators (ASA) organization has named Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Menzel Arizona’s 2024-2025 Superintendent of the Year.
As such he is now a candidate for the ASA’s national organization, the AASA’s, contest for National Superintendent of the Year, according to a press release from the Scottsdale Unified School District.
The ASA is a nonprofit organization formed in 1971 and represents more than 1,500 school administrators across Arizona. The School Superintendents Association, known as AASA, is the organization of school system leaders that serves as the national voice for public education and school district leadership in Washington, D.C.
“Without a doubt, Dr. Menzel works tirelessly to the betterment of our school district and community,” Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board President Dr. Libby Hart-Wells said in the release. “This award is yet another testament to his leadership and dedication to quality education for all. On behalf of the Governing Board, we sincerely congratulate Dr. Menzel on this well-earned and well-deserved honor.”
Lea Mitchell SUSD Lea Mitchell, assistant superintendent of Educational Services “It’s the first time we’re putting all 30 of our schools, district departments, family and community services in one place so that all of our Scottsdale families and families across the Valley can really see everything that’s going on here,” Lea Mitchell, assistant superintendent of Educational Services, said.
In an exciting initiative that bridges the Atlantic, Arcadia High School joined forces with Lënster Lycée International School in Luxembourg to embark on a student exchange program that began with a musical flourish in 2023. This exchange, helmed by music teachers Louise Hottias and Richard Maxwell, brought students closer through the universal language of music and set the stage for a more profound cultural exchange.
Thanks to a social media message – and the power of the internet – Arcadia High’s Contemporary Music and Sound Class has been playing music with students from Lënster Lycée International School through virtual music sessions.
- Arcadia-Story
The students of Arcadia are all about working hard – but they don’t forget to play hard, too. Senior Ava Bramini has brought together the school’s most exuberant students through a brand new organization: Bingo Club.
- Arcadia-Story
Titan Times founder Ahva Ghazanfari was a junior at Arcadia High when one of her dreams became a reality. Now a year older, she has written many stories and expanded her dream of a school paper to one the whole Arcadia community reads in each month of the Arcadia News. The column shares stories that may not have otherwise been told while also providing high school students experience in the journalism industry.
“I think that more kids in high school should get out and start exploring what they like to do outside the classroom,” co-editor and writer Maya Campbell said. “Some kids like to write but essay writing is not for them, so I think that opportunities like this are a really good way to get involved.”
- Arcadia-Story
Numbers show the Scottsdale Unified School District is emerging as a leader in the academic recovery following the ill-effects of precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic where schools across the nation were forced to closed.
Across Arizona, performance by third- through eighth-grade students on the 2024 Arizona Academic Standards Assessments indicates continuing challenges for many school districts, Scottsdale Schools officials tell the Digital Free Press.
Families across the Valley of the Sun continue to choose Scottsdale Unified School District as local school officials say parents are choosing the local public school district for its strong academics, unique programs, and sense of community.
“SUSD felt like coming home,” said Navajo Elementary and Mohave Middle School parent Jenny Duran. “The long tenure of teachers and their support for gifted learners sets the district apart.”
- District-News
Scottsdale Unified School District’s (SUSD) Anasazi Elementary School is not only the starting point for the district’s globally recognized International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme continuum, it is also home to the Arizona IB Association’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) 2024 Teacher of the Year, Angie Griffith.
Griffith, who teaches fifth grade at Anasazi, was nominated for the award by her teacher colleagues last spring. At an August staff meeting, she was surprised with news that she had been selected for the honor. She was officially recognized at the Arizona IB Schools’ quarterly meeting in September.
- Anasazi-Story
SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Lucas Taylor is Mohave Middle School's newest Student Class President! The Scottsdale student's election by his peers is a significant and historic achievement, making him the district's first special needs student to win the election through a popular vote.
Just five years ago, Taylor was working on regulating his emotions and learning social skills, and, with the help of a supportive community, he is the first autistic student at his school to be named class president. He has also been able to transition from special-needs classes to full-time general education.
- mohave-story
Located in DC Ranch in the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), Copper Ridge offers students the opportunity to stay at the same school starting at Pre-K until they graduate from middle school.
With students able to start at just 4 years old, the culture and community at Copper Ridge has grown since it first opened in 2001.
- Copper-Ridge-Story
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