Carrillo Community Update

Happy 2025 Carrillo Families!

Welcome to the first update of 2025! I hope that you all had a wonderful Winter Break. As we return to school, I want to remind students that the New Year is a time to set goals and start fresh.

The results of the 2nd Quarter Benchmark exams are in. Carrillo students scored 3rd overall in ELA. This continues to be an area where we can grow. Parents, by making sure that your students read from a book at their reading level for 20 minutes (or more) each night, you can help your students make progress towards their reading goals for this year. Another way to help students reach their goals is to have them log into IXL or iReady and master an extra ELA skill or 2 each week from their recommended star skills. Carrillo students scored 1st overall in Math. Continuing to work on fact fluency, reviewing troublesome homework items, or again getting in an extra session in IXL or iReady is a great way to make growth in math this quarter.

Setting academic goals with specific steps students can take at home goes a long way in providing extra support to students in meeting their goals. Supporting your students as they work towards challenging goals is a great way to build their self-esteem and ultimately provide them with the best opportunities as they move forward in their school careers.

Welcome back!

Sincerely,

Ms. Bittel

THIS WEEK -

Monday, January 6

• Quarter 3 Begins

Wednesday, January 8

• PTO Meeting Online

Thursday, January 9

• Basketball at 4:30 @ Robins Elementary
• Middle School Night at 5:00 in the Carrillo MPR

COMING SOON

Monday, January 20

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No Classes

Thursday, January 23

• TUSD Step-Up Event at the TCC 5:00 - 7:00 pm

Wednesday, January 29

• Professional Learning Day - No classes for students

Just a reminder the Winter Break IXL/iReady Challenge has one more day left! So if you are missing a practice, today is your last day. As of today, several students have shown proficiency in ELA or Math, but only 2 students have completed both skills. So if you want to be in the running...hop on IXL today and be sure you have 4 ELA and 4 Math.

Over the break, we challenge all students to get on IXL (grades 2-5) or iReady (grades K-1).

Grades 2-5

• We are challenging students in 2nd - 5th grades to log on and earn a smart score of 80 in at least 4 new skills (from their star skills under the assessments tab) in ELA and Math. Students can use the attached tracker to chart their progress.

Grades K-1

• We are challenging students in Kindergarten and 1st grade to complete 4 Reading lessons and 4 Math lessons over the break.

Prizes!

Students who complete the challenge will have a prize waiting for them when we return from winter break.

• To make things more fun, we will have an extra prize for the students who master (smart score of 100) the most IXL skills per grade level in ELA and Math. That's 8 different prizes!

• For our iReady students, we will have an extra prize for the students who complete the most reading and math lessons per grade. That's 4 extra prizes!

Students can get to IXL and iReady through their CLever portal on the Carrillo Quick Links Tab.

Attendance is a major factor in a student's success. Absences can add up quickly and have a longer impact than you may realize. Aside from schools losing funding, your students miss important learning opportunities.

Attendance HEROS are Here Every day and Ready On-time! Thank you for bringing your cougar to school on time each day and for allowing them to complete their academic day each day. Our goal is 95% attendance this quarter. Last quarter, we fell short of the mark with only 92.5% attendance. We appreciate you help in reaching this mark this quarter.

Absences can add up quickly.

• Missing a day a month means over 12 years a student will miss 3/4 of a school year.
• Missing a day a month means over 12 years a student will miss 2.5 years of school.
• Missing 2 days a week over 12 years a student will miss 5 years of schooling.

Tardies (and early withdrawals) add up as well.

• Arriving 10 minutes late each day is equal to missing a full week of school each year.
• Arriving 30 minutes late each day is equal to missing 3 full weeks of school.
• Arriving an hour late each day is equal to missing almost 2 months of school.

Thank you for helping us meet our school goal of 95% and helping your students learn all they can by being present and engaged.

Trying to figure out what middle school to send your 4th or 5th grader to when the time comes? Carrillo will be hosting a Middle School Night on Thursday, January 9th from 5:00 - 6:30 in the Carrillo MPR.

Please join us to chat with 6 different middle schools in advance of the magnet lottery. See the flier for more details!

Can't make our night? We encourage everyone to attend the TUSD Step Up Expo on Thursday, January 23rd from 5:30 - 7:30 at the TCC.

Registration for the 2025-26 school year is now open. The competition is on and the the first class to be completely registered for next year will win a pizza party!

Here are the current top 5.

• #3 - (4-way tie) - Ms. Leyva, Ms. Mills, Ms. Ms. Maldonado, Ms. Vasquez - 40% registered
• #2 - Ms. Peralta 350% registered
• #1 - Ms. Barraza 60% registered

For returning students...

• Please go to your ParentVUE account, and confirm or update your student’s information.
• Add a current proof of residency
• Please NOTE: Online registration is required for all students every school year.

**The first class with 100% registered will win a pizza party!

For incoming kindergarteners...

• Visit the Carrillo Registration Page.
• Verify your address to see if you are within the Carrillo boundary.
• If you are in the boundary, submit your registrations and be sure to upload the following documents with your registration.
• Student birth certificate
• Proof of Address
• Student Vaccination Record
• Parent Identification
• If you live outside the neighborhood boundary, please submit a magnet application
• Please NOTE: Siblings of current students are required to submit a magnet application they are not automatically enrolled at Carrillo.

*Please call the front office at 520-225-1200 if you need assistance.

When we create a culture where people feel supported, we help them practice kindness towards themselves and others, even in difficult situations. Cultivating supported communities involves kind behavior like checking in on each other, knowing when to ask for help, considering the outcomes of our intentions, saying “no” when we need to, calling out injustices, and providing tools for emotional support and well-being. Supporting others with kindness, care, and concern in the face of negative life events can help us lower defensiveness or self-judgment and cope with stress. Actively engaging in social support behaviors creates an environment where kindness, community connection, and self-care can help us navigate change, loss, or unjust treatment.

Thank you to everyone who attended the December PTO meeting. Please save the date, our next PTO meeting is THIS Wednesday, January 8th. It will again be online. Please use this link to join the meeting.

PTO Board

• President - Aaron Valencia
• VP - Roy Massani
• Secretary - Margaret Zuniga
• Treasurer - Angelina Celix

The minutes from our October meeting are attached below. Please email PTO if you have any questions.

Parents volunteers are welcome on campus. Speak with our office manager (Kenia Alvarado-Martinez) or our Magnet Coordinator (Rebecca Stroup) to learn how you can volunteer! We also encourage families to attend PTO meetings to learn about other ways to support our Carrillo Cougars. We encourage all parents to register as volunteers on the TUSD website as the process takes a few weeks. We ask non-parental volunteers to contact the office before registering as a volunteer so we can explain the process and coordinate volunteer opportunities.

Thank you to everyone who supported our "Box Tops for Education" fundraiser this year! As of Saturday, January 5th Carrillo has raised $172.60 with 2 earning moments already this month! Keep checking out the Bonus offers and monthly challenges for ways to earn extra box tops.

This month there are several big opportunities for bonus box tops. Several big ones expire on January 8th, so this is a great time to stock up on lunch items at Safeway, Albertson, or Target. Check the app for other bonus offers or ways to combine them to earn even more for Carrillo. And remember, scan even if you don't have a participating item. Last year, we won $20 through the Box Tops Sweepstakes.

LEADERBOARD

1st Place - Kindergarten (302 box tops)

2nd Place - 2nd Grade (110 box tops)

3rd Place - 4th Grade (99 box tops)

4th Place - 1st Grade (88 box tops)

5th Place - 5th Grade (32 box tops)

6th Place - 3rd Grade (3 box tops)

Thank you to Adrian at Big Frog! This year, when you purchase Cougar spirit gear, $5 will come back to the school to support students. The store has this year's "Growing Together" shirts for students and parents, as well as our classic shirts and some designs from previous years. Check out the store online.

The TUSD Mexican American Student Services Department is holding FREE Saturday academic tutoring by qualified teachers to help students with reading, writing, and math.

Limited space available for students in grades 3rd to 8th

When: September through May

Register by calling 520.232.8566 or by email.

Tucson Community Tennis Program is starting its FREE spring tennis clinics for students.

Who – ​Children grades 1st through 12th​

How Much - $5 donation for the semester

What – ​Tennis clinic with certified coaches​

Where -​ Pueblo High School Tennis courts​

When -​ Saturdays​, starting January 18th!

Time - 12 and Under - 8 – 9:30 and 18 and Under – 8 - 10

Contact – ​If interested email: ​Stacy Renner or call 520-591-8904​

Casa de los Ninos is one of our community partnerships. They offer a variety of community education and outreach classes. Please check out the flyer below to see the dates and topics in September. Email Carol Bolger with questions.

Parents, we are asking for your help with social media. As a reminder, most social media user agreements state that users must be 13 or older to have an account. Please take a moment to discuss the reasons for the age limits with your students.

Most social media sites do not allow attacks or abuse based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability or disease. Please encourage students to be socially conscious and report any accounts that violate those policies directly to the social media platform before blocking the account.

Attendance at school is directly correlated to student achievement, so it is extremely important they are in school every single day to be successful. Research shows that missing more than 8 days of school can cause significant gaps in a student’s education. Please try to schedule appointments or family outings around the school schedule and during school holidays. To help track attendance goals, we've created a "Path to Success" attendance tracker you can use at home to help us make our 95% goal. You can download it by opening the attachment on your computer.

A student is considered "chronically absent" if they miss more than 10% of the school year. Students who miss more than 5 days a quarter are considered at risk for chronic absenteeism. If your student reaches this number, we will be reaching out to see how we can support you in getting your students to school on time.

State law requires parents to call in to report student absences. Parents, you can now immediately report an absence from school using ParentVue. This reduces the calls in our attendance office and allows you to directly enter the reason students are absent. To self-report simply follow the steps below.

1. Log into ParentVue from App or Computer
2. Click the "Attendance" tab on the left column on the computer or on the App as soon as you log in the blue "report absence" with a small bell icon is there.
3. On the top right corner of the page it will have a blue link that says "Report Absence" click on this
4. Use the calendar to select dates and the drop-down for the reason for the absence.
5. You may also add notes or upload a doctor's note and hit "save".

Of course, you may still give Ms. Diane Quiroz a ring at (520) 225-1200 if you prefer. Thank you for reporting all absences!

**Students who attend Carrillo as Magnet students may be asked to return to their home school if they accumulate excessive absences and/or tardies.**

Did you know that all TUSD elementary magnet students are eligible for transportation if they live more than 1.5 miles from the school?

For more information, visit Transportation's website to see if your student qualifies for FREE transportation and to begin routing. We strongly encourage families to consider this option for this school year. It's a great way to help your student develop independence and responsibility. You can also call them at 520-225-6262.

Due to some budget changes, the earliest students can be dropped off is 7:35 am at 17th Street. The office does not open until 8:00 and while Ms. Bittel is usually on campus well before 8:00, she is often in meetings or other parts of the building and unable to hear the doorbell. From 7:35 - 8:00 the only safe drop off is 17th Street. Thank you for helping us to keep all our cougars safe in the morning.

Parent Pickup will continue to be at 17th street. Thank you for remaining in your car. We’ll be using radios and a loudspeaker to call for students this year in hopes of speeding up the process. Please note that the city has redefined some fire lanes that must be kept open along Samaniego with bright red paint. Thank you for not parking or stopping in those spaces. Thank you also for keeping the neighborhood driveways and mailboxes open as a courtesy to our neighbors. Thank you for your help!

We know that the 17th Street area can get a bit congested at pickup. To help alleviate the situation, the City of Tucson has installed new signs to direct traffic and changed the direction of Samaniego Street. The City of Tucson is requesting that families picking up on 17th Street exit the neighborhood using the following route.

• Travel west on 17th Street
• Turn south on 11th Avenue
• Turn west to access the frontage road or turn east to return to Main Avenue and 22nd Street.

Our neighbors kindly ask that you leave the driveways and corners open when you park so they can enter and exit their homes safely. If you do wait in your car along Samaniego, thank you for waiting at the bottom of the hill on the east side of the street so the roadway is clear for all vehicles and families crossing the street.

We are also asking families to arrive no earlier than 2:35 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and no earlier than 1:35 on Wednesdays. Parents of intermediate students, if you plan to arrive at 2:50 or 1:50, that will give the primary students time to load up and reduce your wait time.

Thank you also for being patient, driving slowly, and watching the road carefully. The streets behind Carrillo are narrow and we want to avoid any accidents. Our neighbors kindly request that everyone drive like they live in the neighborhood, and many of our cougars do. Thank you for helping us keep our Cougars and our community safe.

If your child is walking/riding home, thank you for ensuring the office has a note giving permission at the beginning of every school year. Thank you for making any pickup arrangements with your student prior to your student coming to school.

Stay current on our events by visiting our Facebook Page as well as the school website. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns please reach out. It is our mission to provide all students with a first-rate education in a kind and respectful environment.

Email the Principal:
Visit Our Website:
Location: 440 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (520) 225-1200
Like Us On Facebook:

Mission Statement

Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School engages children's minds, bodies, and senses using multiple modes of learning, thought, and self-expression.

Vision Statement

At Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School, students become 21st Century leaders in a diverse world, through the development of a strong academic core, communication skills and creative arts abilities.