Doolen Monthly
August 2023
Message from the Principal
Dear Doolen Community!
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! I am so excited to welcome everyone back to school! Over the summer, I hope that you were able to relax and make special memories with your friends and families. Now, it is time to hit the ground running as we are moving forward as a UNITED Doolen Middle School – GATE, ELD, ExEd, General Ed – We are…DOOLEN THUNDERBIRDS!
I am grateful to our amazing custodial staff as they worked all summer getting our school in great shape and our office team who has been working hard to provide an improved start to the 2023-2024 school year! Besides those that you already know, we have some more staff members on campus:
Lourdes Cirerol, MTSS Coordinator
Shelly Gordon, ELD/Science
Devlin Houser, ELD & Spanish
Gregory McKinstry, Restorative Practice Facilitator
Thomas Mery, ExEd Resource 7/8 (ELA)
Leslie Spencer, Social Studies, 7th grade
Anna Wozniak, 6th grade Math
And a few long-term subs from last year that are now OFFICIALLY part of the certified staff:
Luz Martinez, Art
Nicholas Romo, ExEd Resource 7/8 (Math)
Cecelia Siruno, French.
To all our new and returning families, please know that academic instruction will be prepared through effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) of content and grade level teams following state standards, utilizing AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) practices in all classes through strong student to student engagement/learning. Our social and emotional learning (SEL) helps promote community and will be equally embedded into our daily practices through PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention Systems) and the Character Strong curriculum so that our students get a well-rounded whole child educational experience.
We are still waiting for our 6th grade ELA hire to be cleared to start, and I hope we can do that soon. We are also waiting for a new ExEd TA to begin very shortly, so I will be announcing this as quickly as I can. A little sad news, I regret to inform you that our 6th grade science teacher resigned just last Friday, so now we are looking for a new 6th grade science teacher. If you know of one - let us know! Don't worry, we will be back to a full team soon!
Partnering with families is crucial to promote a healthy transition to school. I would like to make sure that this year our community works closely with our Higher Ground partners. Kim Clark, our Higher Ground on-site Director, and I went to a conference in Philadelphia this summer to learn how we can best implement a community school program at our school. We are pumped and excited for what is to come! We encourage our community to stay connected and informed by following our district website, announcements, and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) and to participate in our site council and PTO meetings.
Looking forward to a great year!
Nathaly Santin
School Starts this week - Thursday, August 3!
Our staff is here Monday, July 31 - Wednesday, August 2, however, our staff is preparing their classrooms and in training so we are limited to the front office staff and library staff only. You are still welcome to register. Remember office hours are 8:15 am - 4:15 pm.
- Wednesday, August 2- KVOA will be here doing the back-to-school drive. They will be setting up in our school starting at 4:30 in the morning and will be live filming throughout the day - starting at 5 am and ending at 6:30 pm. Parking will be scarce! Stop by and donate or cheer our school on!
- Thursday, August 3rd - First Day of School! The UofA mascots will be here to cheer on the kids, class schedules will be distributed by cafeteria, and breakfast will be served (free)! Gates for students open at 8:15 am. I highly suggest you show up early for parking purposes. Reminder that students must wear a uniform on their first day of school. Polos in burgundy, white, grey, and/or black. Neutral colored pants/skirts/dresses including jeans. No holes please and no leggings. Gates are open at 8:15 am but will close promptly at 8:50am so we can begin our classes. After that point, parents can sign in their students through the office. Don't worry - noone will be marked/disciplined for being late for the first 7 days of class. However, we will require parents to check kids in after 8:50 am for the safety and security of our staff and students.
- Friday, August 4th - We do it all again!
Month at a Glance...
Week 1
W - Aug 2 - KVOA on campus 4:30am to 6:30 pm. Bring supplies to donate for staff and students.
Th- Aug 3 - First Day of School. 8:50am -3:50 pm.
F-Aug 4 - 8:50am-3:50 pm
Week 2
M- Aug 7 Fall Sports Begin
T- Aug 8 - PTO meeting 5:30 pm in the library/ zoom.
Th-Aug 10 -GATE family night 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm.
Week 3
Content starts being taught at school!
Week 4
W- Aug 23 - PLT Day. No students. Staff must be present at school.
Week 5
Th- Aug 31- Title 1 Open House - 5 pm to 8 pm. All families and students are welcome!
Week 6
M - Sep 4 LABOR DAY WEEKEND! No school!
T - Sep 5 Site Council and PTO 4 pm for site council, 5:30 pm for PTO.
F- Sep 7 GATE Booster 5:30 pm.
KVOA School Supply Drive - @ Doolen Middle School
The sixth annual News 4 Tucson School Supply Drive will be taking place at Doolen this year! News 4 Tucson has partnered with six school districts to collect supplies all summer. We will then host all-day live drives at each of the districts during the end of July - beginning of August.
News 4 Tucson will be accepting donations at Doolen for TUSD on Wednesday, August 2nd. They will be televised live. The live drives will take place on the Tucson Today newscast, noon, 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. newscasts. Please help to contribute and get the word out!
Supplies needed:
- Uniform shirts - Burgundy, white, grey, black.
- Closed toed shoes (sneakers preferably)
- Pants, shorts, skirts - neutral colors, including jeans - no holes.
- COPY PAPER!
- Backpack
- Lunch Box
- Pencils
- Pens
- Notebook
- Glue Sticks
- Colored Pencils
- Markers
- Pencil Sharpener
- Erasers
- Scissors
- Pocket Folders
- Highlighters
- Binders
- Stapler
- Ruler
- Calculator
- Loose Leaf Notebook Paper
- Tape
- Crayons
- Drawing Paper
- Planner/Agenda
- Note Cards
- Crayola Washable Colored Markers
- White Board Erasers
- Kleenex/Tissues
- Clorox Wipes
- Baby Wipes
- Copy/Printer Paper
- Standard Size, Sturdy Backpacks
- Expo Dry Erase Markers
- Gallon Size Zip Lock Bags
- Headphones/Earbuds (for Chromebooks)
- Wireless Mouse with extra batteries
- Colored Printer Paper
- Post It Notes
- Hand Sanitizer
- Plastic Pocket Folders
- Two Pocket Folders
- Spiral Notebooks
- Black and Blue Ink Pens
- Crayola Crayons and Crayola Twistable Crayons
- Pencil Boxes
- Zippered Pencil Bags
Follow Doolen on Facebook and Instagram
Instagram: @doolenthunderbirds
Email: nathaly.santin@tusd1.org
Website: https://doolenms.tusd1.org/
Location: Doolen Middle School, North Country Club Road, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: 520-232-6900
Facebook: facebook.com/doolenmiddleschool