Deer Canyon Echoes

• Treat someone to a Nothing Bundt Cake for Valentine's Day - order here.
  
• TK-4th Grade families, please complete the DCES Continuing Student Family Survey by this Sunday, January 28.
  
• DCES Spirit Wear is here - order now!

Save the Date

January

• 1/26 - Nothing Bundt Cakes orders begin
  
• 1/29 - Pro Grow Day (no school/no ESS for students)

February

• 2/1 - Winter Recital @ 6pm
• 2/5 - Nothing Bundt Cakes orders end
  
• 2/5 to 2/9 - Book Fair

• 2/6 - Book Fair Night @ 5 pm

• 2/6 - Nothing Bundt Cakes final payment day
  

• 2/7 - DCPSO meeting @ 5 pm
• 2/8 - Morning with Books @ 8 am
  
• 2/13 - Nothing Bundt Cakes pick up (12-3:30 pm)
  
• 2/19 to 2/23 - District Recess (school closed)
  
• 2/29 - DC Dining at Chick-Fil-A @5-8 pm

March

• 3/1 - Talent Show @ 6 pm
• 3/11 - Pro Grow Day (no school for students)
• 3/20 - MVMS Incoming 6th Grade Parent Night

This week, I continued to visit grade 1-5 classrooms to review and reiterate school expectations. As of today, I have visited all classes (except one, scheduled for Tuesday!) to clarify school expectations, rules, answer questions, and provide reflective opportunities to discuss strategies and approaches to conflict. Students were wonderfully engaged, receptive, and participatory. I encourage you to review the slide deck and discuss with your student what Deer Canyon school expectations look, sound, and feel like to them: respect yourself, respect others, and respect the environment.

Today was a particularly heartwarming and energizing day on campus. Watching our students light up with joy as they picnicked with their loved ones and showed them around the playground was truly special. Thank you to all who were able to join us! Please check Instagram for photos of the fun.

Next week at school, we will welcome Westview students for an Ambassador playdate and a science lesson in one of our 4th grade classrooms. We love having high school students on campus! We will also celebrate our 100th day of school on Tuesday, January 30 (can you believe it?!).

Our multilingual learner staff team will meet with other PUSD teams and district leadership on Thursday to review data and discuss ways to continue to provide meaningful instruction and support to our phenomenal multilingual learners. On Friday, we will host another FUNky Friday, with an opportunity to have Coffee with the Principal immediately following. I look forward to rocking my new tie-dye DC t-shirt. Please join us!

TK-4th Grade Families:

Each year at this time, DCES begins the task of planning for the 2024-25 school year (wild, right?!)! Accurate projections of our enrollment for the 2024-25 school year are critical for effective planning.

In order to help determine accurate projected enrollment numbers for the 2024-25 school year, please complete this google survey by January 28 to let us know if your student plans to return to Deer Canyon next school year. This will provide us with the number of returning students as well as those who will be leaving Deer Canyon, and will ensure that your child(ren) is enrolled correctly in the 2024-2025 school year.

• Please complete one form for each student in your household. Please be sure that you do not double-up your submissions if your student lives in multiple households.

• You will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your responses, for your records.

• Current 5th-grade families do not need to complete this form because they will be automatically enrolled in 6th-grade at their school of residence.

• This is NOT continuing student registration. Continuing student registration will take place March 1-31 and is for ALL students enrolled in PUSD for the 2024-2025 school year. Visit PUSD Continuing Student Registration for more information.

Coming Soon to Deer Canyon: Hope Squad

We are excited to announce that we will be bringing the Hope Squad to Deer Canyon Elementary! Hope Squads will be present on every campus throughout PUSD starting this year. The goal of this program is to increase inclusion and connectedness in schools by teaching students how to provide friendship, encouragement, and support for students who may be bullied or feel isolated. CLICK HERE for a letter introducing the program.

Families of students served through Special Education: Deer Canyon’s Parent Ambassador(s)

In PUSD, we offer a wonderful resource for families of students served through Special Education: the PUSD Parent Ambassadors program. At Deer Canyon, parent volunteer representatives whose own child(ren) access special education services through PUSD are available as mentors to guide and support parents of children with IEPs or those exploring special education options. Drawing from their own experiences, they offer invaluable insights and advice to encourage collaboration among parents and school staff on behalf of students.

Community is important to us here at Deer Canyon, and our parent ambassadors want to connect with you on whatever level you need: general camaraderie, answering questions, or sharing their own experiences. Sometimes, simply connecting with another person through a shared experience can be powerful. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the PUSD parent ambassadors with students at Deer Canyon, Michael Matsuda and Stacy Zhang, using THIS FORM.

Wishing you all a restful, dry weekend as we prepare for another rainy couple of weeks ahead. As a reminder, we have no school on Monday, January 29; please plan accordingly!

Katie Bendix

Principal

Celebrate the special people in your life this Valentine’s Day with a Nothing Bundt Cake! So many delicious flavors to choose from and three sizes available, starting at $8 per bundtlet.

Online ordering starts today and runs through Monday, February 5. Pick up your cakes at the Deer Canyon office conference room (near the front gate) on Tuesday, February 13, from 12-3:30pm, just in time for Valentine’s Day!

See the order form for more details and for alternate pick-up arrangements, if needed. Cash, checks and Venmo will be accepted.

Approximately 20% of each cake sold will be donated back to the DCPSO to help support critical staff positions, enrichment programs, teacher supply budgets, student events and much more.

Questions? Email Melissa Davis - vpfundraising@deercanyonpso.org

Wishing you and yours a sweet (and delicious) Valentine’s Day. Thank you for your support!

The annual Book Fair will be held February 5-9, and the MPR will be filled with our children's favorite books from Scholastic.

This is a great shopping experience for kiddos and a perfect opportunity for you to expand

your home, class and school libraries.

Hours:

• Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri: 8:30 am to 3:30 pm
• Thu: 8:30 am to 2 pm

Special Family Events:

• Family Book Night: Tuesday 2/6 @5-7pm. Enjoy shopping, cookies and milk, and a Choir performance
• Morning with Books: Thursday, 2/8, @8-9am. We'll serve coffee, juice and yummy muffins.

eWallet:

Scholastic offers a “cash-free digital payment” system for the Book Fair and for online purchases on the Scholastic website. This is a hassle-free and convenient way for your child to shop at the Book Fair. Any remaining money in your account can be carried over to next year’s Book Fair or for use online, anytime. Click eWallet for setup and more details!

Volunteers needed!

This is one of the favorite events for our awesome volunteers! You don’t have to be a

district-approved volunteer and the jobs are very simple. Join us and let’s help our

students to shop! Please sign up.

If you're wondering when your child's class will visit the Book Fair, click here.

Teacher Wish Lists:

You can purchase a book for your child's classroom by viewing our teachers' wish lists at the Book Fair. Come in, find paper slips with book titles from your teacher, and send a book or two to the classroom with love!

Questions: Please email Maha at melmeniawy@powayusd.com or Kumiko at kumiko_ijichi@hotmail.com.

A separate application is now required for all new students enrolling in the Extended Student Services (ESS) program.

Effective for the 2024-25 school year, new applications to the ESS program will be centrally managed by the PUSD District Office's Before/After School Department through a single application and interest list.

Information on how to apply for ESS for the upcoming school year will be available on the ESS webpage starting on January 19.

Submitting an application for ESS does not guarantee participation in the program. It is anticipated that demand for ESS will exceed program capacity at most schools. Should a site be determined near capacity for ESS enrollment, a lottery process may be necessary to determine new student placement.

Students in Grades TK-4 participating in the ESS program during the current 2023-24 school year will be considered continuing students and will not need to re-apply. Continuing students will receive continuing registration information directly from the ESS Site Supervisor by January 19.

Students in Grades TK-4 currently on an ESS waitlist for the program must apply as a new student to the program for the 2024-25 school year.

Hold on tight to those Deer Canyon memories!

It's not too late to order a Deer Canyon yearbook — and you get two free custom pages! You can purchase the yearbook now (price: $25.06) and submit the pages by April 18.

Questions: Contact the yearbook committee at deercanyonyearbook@gmail.com.

How to Purchase:

1. Visit the TreeRing website
2. Enter the DCES passcode: 1015490278194159

Do you have pictures to share for our DCES Yearbook? If so, please upload them via TreeRing.com or directly from your phone using the app. We'd love to have them!

Instructions:

• Uploading photos via the TreeRing website
• Uploading photos from your mobile

Make Friday mornings a little easier by ordering Spirit Wear!

Our Spirit Wear shop is open and taking orders. Choose from a variety of options: tie-dye T-shirts (perfect for FUNky Fridays), cartoon T-shirts (perfect for kids — and adults!), school logo T-shirts, hoodies (perfect for the cold weather), zip-up jackets and more.

Orders are placed online and can be delivered to DCES for free.

Order today!

Questions: Please contact Razan Lin rbattikha@gmail.com