Parent Newsletter

November 2023

Dear Dunham Families,

You may have seen in the news that school letter grades have been released by the Arizona Department of Education. We are disappointed that Dunham received a C, but we also know that student learning is taking place and that their growth is amazing.

What does a school letter grade mean? The state calculates letter grades based on a variety of criteria. Sometimes student proficiency and growth are adequate but other factors affect the grade. Other times growth and proficiency are not adequate but the other factors raise the scores just enough to result in a satisfactory letter grade. Unfortunately, the grades do not always reflect how a school is actually performing.

How are letter grades computed? The following criteria are used to determine a school's letter grade. While most is dependent on practices taking place inside the school, chronic absenteeism relies on families ensuring that their students are in school and miss less that 18 days a school per year.

Student growth in ELA and math
Student proficiency in ELA and math
The number of English Language Learners that are considered fluent in English by the end of the year
Chronic absenteeism

Truancy is considered as missing more than 20% of the school year. Last year, 26% of our students missed more than 18 days of school. This means they missed three weeks or more of learning which affects their learning and is reflected in the proficiency and growth scores.

Our staff is dedicated to ensuring that they meet students where they are and to assist them in making growth. We have already put measure in place to make sure students are making growth and no one falls through the cracks this year. If you have any questions, please contact our office.

Mrs. Chandler and the Dunham Staff

Important Information

Did you know that Arizona families can donate to their local schools and receive a tax credit? Those who are married and file jointly can receive credit for up to $400, while those who file individually can receive credit for up to $200. Donation money can be used for things such as equipment, fine arts, extracurricular activities, and field trips. Donations can be made at the link below.

Donate to Our Schools (tusd1.org)

We frequently hear from parents that they feel their child is being bullied. Know that we do not tolerate bullying in any form at Dunham. Appropriate steps are taken whenever an accusation of bullying occurs. Please note that due to confidentiality laws, we cannot discuss disciplinary actions of other students with parents. We also cannot set up meeting between parents. What is bullying anyway? Bullying is mean behavior in which a student purposely hurts a student physically or emotionally multiple times even after being asked to stop by the other student or an adult. Once or twice is not bullying. Over and over again is definitely bullying.

Reminders

School begins at 7:40 am. Students who are not in their classrooms by 7:50 am will be marked tardy. We dismiss at 1:55 pm Monday through Friday and at 12:55 on Wednesdays. Please make sure your child is picked up on time. Remember that every minute counts towards your child's education. Help make sure they are at school every day and are on time.

October Character Strong Focus

PE News

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November 14 to 17 Dunham Elementary will compete to help break the current record of 737,863 stackers! 2,287 schools will be competing in this event. Dunham is 1 of 8 schools participating in Arizona. Sport stacking is a sport where the objective is to stack a number of plastic cups in a pre-determined sequence. The sport can be played individually or in teams. Players compete against each other to complete the sequences in the lowest time possible.

Coming Events

11/9 @ 7:15 am--Take a Veteran to Breakfast

11/10--Veterans Day--No School

11/17--Picture Retakes

11/17 @ 1:00 pm--November Student Assembly

11/20 @ 5:00 pm--PTO Meeting

11/23-11/24--Thanksgiving Break--No School

12/1 @ 5:00 pm--STEM Night

Wish List

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Small prizes to be used for our weekly PBIS drawing for students who earn Panther Paws. We will accept anything! Past donations have included party favors, markers, stickers, coupons for free items at local businesses, and dollar store items.

New and gently used books for our Sharing Library in the office. This year five names will be called every month at our assembly. These students will get to pick a book of their very own to keep.