Quail Run Community Newsletter

Dear Quail Run Families,

As the year winds down and the holiday season approaches, I am filled with gratitude for the wonderful community we have at Quail Run. The spirit of togetherness and the dedication to learning that our school community shares are truly inspiring.

This December, we have a variety of exciting events and activities planned that will bring joy and cheer to our school community. I encourage you to participate in as many as possible and to spread the word to your friends and family. We are always looking for volunteers to help with our school events and activities. If you are interested in volunteering, please look for signups from PTO or contact your student´s teacher.

As we reflect on the year that has passed, I am proud of the accomplishments of our students and staff. We are proud to share that we have been announced as a US News and World Report ¨Best of Elementary Schools¨ again this year. This is the third year in a row that we have been given this recognition. Congratulations, Quail Run!!!

Consider making your tax-credit donation to our school. I have provided all the information below. These are funds you can allocate directly to our school community instead of paying them on your federal taxes. It is a great way to ensure our school receives extra needed funding. Please share this information with grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, etc. Every donation counts!

If you know anyone interested in Kindergarten next year, please send them our way. We hope to attract new families who will continue our school´s legacy and honor our focus on student success. Suggest they come to our Kindergarten Preview Night tomorrow. Walk-ins are welcome! They can contact the school and we will get them the information they need to enroll. We also have a link to sign up for school tours on our website.

I wish you and your families a happy and healthy holiday season. Happy December!!!

Your Partner in Education,

Vicky Raymond

Proud Principal

Our tax credit donations provide countless opportunities to our QR students. We need your help to replenish this fund! Please consider making your tax-credit donation to our school and speaking with family and friends to join you. Our tax credit funds have been used this year to scholarship students for field trips and provide materials for our Quails ROCK! PBIS program.

It is easy to do this online - just visit this website! Make sure to select Quail Run Elementary School.

Making a contribution to receive an Arizona public education tax credit is simple. You can get a tax credit of up to $200 for an individual or $400 per married couple.

Tax credit eligible fees paid and contributions made to a public school from January 1 through April 15 of any calendar year may be used as a tax credit on either the prior or current year's tax return. For additional information, contact the Finance Department at 602-449-2033.

Arizona tax law allows taxpayers a credit for contributions made or fees paid to a public school for support of extracurricular activities or character education (as defined in ARS 15-719). If married, taxpayers file separate returns: Each spouse may claim one-half of the credit that would have been allowed on a joint return. Extracurricular activities such as sports, band, speech and debate, or overnight field trips are generally not fully funded by school districts, so your donation directly supports students.

As we move into the cooler weather and the season of layering, please label your children´s outerwear. Last year, we had over 300 unlabeled jackets in the lost and found. If the clothing item has a name on it, we can return it to the student. We appreciate it!

Choir parents are welcome to attend this event. Please sign in at the front office. You can come at whichever time is more convenient as the choir will be leading both groups of students.

Thank you to Chelsea Radford for making this opportunity possible for our students!

Attention all Quail Run 5th and 6th Grade students! We want to invite you to take action and join our Quail Run Safeties team.

Our student leaders can help make our campus safer from 8:15 am - 8:40 am by signing up to volunteer in three designated areas. They can help Mr. Roy and Ms. Nina by opening car doors and greeting/assisting students out of their cars at car drop off or with our baby quails on the kindergarten playground.

Please sign up here if your 5th or 6th grade student is interested. They can help as many days as you choose. Students will check in at the front office at 8:15 am to pick up a safety vest on the days they sign up.

Questions? Email Mrs. Sanborn at jsanborn@pvschools.net

Does your student share with you what is happening in Art, P.E. Spanish, and STEAM?

Check out our December Special Area Update for all the information you need to see what will be happening this month in these special areas classes!

We are SO excited to announce that our Penguin Patch Holiday Shop will be open next week! This is a time for students to purchase gifts for their loved ones. On Friday, every class will be able to come into the Holiday Shop for a sneak-peek at the items that will be for sale. The students were also given a list of the Holiday Shop items so they can plan out what they want to buy. Please remember that sometimes we do run out of items, so it is a good idea for kids to have some back-up ideas in mind while shopping.

We are also REALLY in need of volunteers for the Shopping Days next week. We would like to have at least 10 adults at each time slot so that we can get the classes in and out quickly and smoothly. We have some slots with only 1 or 2 people. We just can't run the shop without help. It is a lot of fun and very easy. Please click on the link to sign up. Even if you can only come in for a little bit, please consider helping us out. And please invite others to help--we have grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. that come in. As a volunteer, you will just need to check in at the office and make sure you have a volunteer form on file.

Quail Run Families: Penguin Patch Holiday Shop (signupgenius.com)

Each year, we aim to support families experiencing difficulties during the holiday season. Letters were sent home with your child before Thanksgiving and we hope you and your family may consider donating by choosing an item from the list and bringing it to school to share with these families. Your generosity is very much appreciated and we are thankful to our community that allows us to take action and support others during their time of need. Let´s make this a joyful holiday season for all!

On Wednesday, December 18, students will participate in our fourth annual outside "Holiday Hustle" during their special area classes. Running shoes, sunscreen, hats, and water bottles are recommended.

This year´s theme is SHINE BRIGHT! Wear your holiday sparkle, glitter, and light-up attire as you hustle around the track.

We would love to have your help for the Holiday Hustle. Our PTO will be sending out a volunteer sign up. We will need one parent per grade level to run the sign-in table. If you are available to help with sign in, you should be able to join your child during their running time.

Parents are encouraged to attend and welcome to walk with the students during their child's special area time and must remain outside of the building. We ask that you only stay for your child's grade level unless you are signed up to volunteer.

On Monday, November 19, 2024, we picked up the food donation from your school. You did an AMAZING job on your food drive!!

Attached is your receipt for the 950 pounds of food your school just donated to the PV Community Food Bank (PVCFB). Your donation made a huge impact on the availability of food at the food bank!

Again, a tremendous THANK YOU to everyone at your school who planned, organized, motivated, managed, and collected all the food. Thank you to the families who made the generous donations! We are so grateful for your hard work and team coordination.

It was a pleasure working with you.

Thank you,

Judy McLeran, Volunteer

School Food Drive Area Captain

PV Community Food Bank (PVCFB)

As an International Baccalaureate school, we are given the opportunity every five years to showcase our program to outside evaluators. We had two evaluators from the IB Organization visit Quail Run last month and wanted to share these highlights with you:

• Our environment is safe, healthy, and nurturing; characterized by respect and diversity as well as fairness and trust. It is clear we care about ourselves and our students. We are a family here at Quail Run.

• The cultural identity of our school relates to IB philosophy. We revise policies regularly that relate to our mission and support strategic goals.

• We show international mindedness and are creating global thinkers.

• We promote lifelong learning as part of our school´s cultural identity.

• Our students have the opportunity to understand our local community and its needs. They take action to support our community.

• Our students are excellent communicators and describe our school as a ¨family.¨

• There is good communication between students - one-on-one with their peers, but also with staff and teachers. Students provide each other with helpful feedback.

• We have designed a coherent curriculum that promotes international mindedness and the IB Learner Profile. Our community can articulate meaningful progress of learning to support the future goals of our students.

• Our governing body shows support for the PYP program and its continuation at Quail Run.

Questions? Reach out to Ms. Hubbs, our IB Coordinator, at jhubbs@pvschools.net.

The QRES School Council is composed of staff, parents, and community members. The purpose of the School Council is to assist in planning, coordinating, and facilitating safety and instructional ideas that will promote and enhance the safety and learning of the students at Quail Run Elementary School.

School Council meetings are open to the public and generally meets monthly. Meeting dates can be found on our website.

If you have an item of interest you would like for the School Council to review, please complete this form. Complete the form once for every issue or interest you would like discussed.

All parents at Quail Run are valued members of our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). We do not collect membership dues. Our goal is to provide support to our QR staff and enrich our students’ learning environment and experience. The PTO organizes many fun family activities and student programs as well as fundraising events to support these programs. All are welcome!

We are looking forward to Penguin Patch, Holiday Hustle, and this week´s restaurant night. We hope to see you there!

Have you signed up for our PTO website yet? It will help keep you up to date with all things PTO- check it out here, create an account and join our school directory!

https://quailrunpto.membershiptoolkit.com/

To keep up to date and get involved, please follow Quail Run PTO on Facebook and Instagram!

Amanda Bunney

Quail Run PTO President

ptoquailrun@gmail.com

• If you need to relay a message to your student during school hours, you can call the office or leave a message directly on our Voicelink account at (602) 449-5465. The office staff will NOT transfer calls to classrooms, as this will interrupt important instructional time.

• If your child forgets their lunch, you may bring it to the front office before 10:30 am.

• Be sure to communicate end-of-day arrangements with your student in the morning, prior to coming to school. We want to ensure all students get home safely. If there are any changes in how students get home, please notify the office and the teacher.
  

• School hours are from 8:45 am - 3:15 pm. If you are picking up a student early, please be aware that every minute counts and minutes missed accumulate throughout the school year. Also, be aware that students cannot be called to the office early for an appointment. Students will be called from class at the time you arrive to check them out.

• If your child is late to school, arriving after 8:45 am, a parent is required to walk them into the front office to sign them in tardy.

• No early pick-ups are allowed after 3:00 pm. You cannot sign out your student from 3:00 - 3:15. This is a change from previous years.

• School breakfast is available beginning at 8:30 am. Please drop off at 8:30 am if your child is eating breakfast. It is the same purchasing system as our school lunches. Students are not allowed to bring Starbucks drinks, smoothies, etc. on campus in the morning.

• Birthday treats must be store-bought and easy to pass out for the teacher. No cakes that need cutting, please. Cupcakes are allowed. Balloons are not allowed on campus.

• You will need your ID every time you pick up students prior to dismissal.

• Your student will not be released if the person picking her/him up is not on the contact list. If you need to add a friend or family member to the contact list you will need to go to Infinite Campus to update Emergency Contact information through your annual update.

• You can check your child's grades by downloading the Infinite Campus app or logging on online. Click here for directions.

If your child is ill or unable to attend school for any part of the day, please notify the office at (602) 449-4401. Please give your student’s name, teacher's name, and reason for absence.

**For your child’s safety, please make sure to notify the school office before 9:10 a.m.

**Fever or vomiting requires a 24-hour period in the absence of those symptoms without the use of medication before they may return to school.

Lunch Reminders:

• If your child forgets their lunch, you may bring it to the front office before 10:30 am. Any student that does not bring a lunch will choose a hot lunch and their meal account will be charged.

• There is no hot fast food allowed for lunch if you are dropping off a lunch. Visitors may bring in hot lunches (see visitor section below). Subway, Jimmy Johns, and Jersey Mikes are all good options for a special drop-off lunch.

• Students are not allowed to share food.

• We will have a special table for students with food allergies. Your student may be invited to join a friend at this table. If your child is invited to sit at this table, peanut butter is not allowed.

• When packing your student´s lunch, please be mindful that they are able to open the food or containers themselves. No glass containers.

• Based on the recommended State Nutritional Recommendations, sodas/carbonated beverages are not to be brought to school.

Lunch Visitors:

• You must sign into the front office and get a visitor sticker.
  

• You may bring lunch for your child. If you are coming to visit and stay with your child during lunch, the lunch may be a hot lunch. Sodas/carbonated beverages are not to be brought to school.

• You may not bring lunch for any student other than your own.

• You may not pass out treats to any students due to allergies.

Purchasing a School Lunch:

The Nutrition & Wellness Department will charge students for their meals based on their free, reduced, and paid meal application status during the 2024-2025 SY.

PVSchools provides meals at no cost to students qualifying for the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. Click on the link below to see if your child is eligible.

National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program

Visit the Lunch Menu section of our website for more information about menus, meal prices, and to load money into your student´s lunch account.

Do you shop at Fry's Food? You can link your Fry's VIP card to Quail Run PTA and effortlessly earn money for our school simply by doing your normal shopping. Signup once and the school will reap the benefits all year!

Looking to get more involved in your child’s education? Want to be among the first to know what is happening in the district? If so, I encourage you to attend United Parent Council meetings. Paradise Valley United Parent Council is a district-wide parent group that has been active in Paradise Valley Unified School District for more than 30 years and is a 501(c)(3) organization. Looking out for the interest of students is their primary goal. They do this by offering parents support, information, and opportunities to be influential voices in the decisions that affect their children's education. UPC meetings are held on the third Wednesday of the month in the District Administration Center East/West Conference Rooms on the grounds of the PVUSD complex at 15002 North 32nd Street. Visitors are always welcome. Click here to visit their website for information on this month’s meeting.

We welcome site volunteers on our campus as well as chaperones for field trips.

Site volunteers must be parents, guardians, or grandparents of a current student.

School chaperones perform an invaluable service, helping to ensure the safety of students attending events and field trips. Parents, guardians, grandparents, or relatives are eligible to be a school chaperone after completing a background screening. Chaperones are fingerprinted and must agree to a background check.

Apply to be a Site Volunteer or Chaperone

1. Visit the PVSchools job search page.
2. Search for "Volunteer" or "Chaperone."
3. Select the opportunity that best fits your interest.
4. Click on the "Apply Online" button.
5. Create a login and password.
6. Complete the application process.

Please be aware that this application can take up to 12 weeks to clear, so be sure to get it in early. Please contact our front office if you have any questions.

If you or anyone you know needs to enroll a student for the 2024-2025 school year, please know we are still accepting applications for students both inside and outside of our school enrollment boundaries. Open enrollment enables Arizona students to attend public schools outside their district attendance areas or outside their district of residence. It is open to all Arizona-based students.

Click here to enroll for the 2024-2025 school year.

Required Documents for Enrollment

• A certified copy of your child's birth certificate

• Your child's immunization records

• Proof of Arizona residency (e.g., utility bill, house payment, lease/purchase agreement)

• IEP/504 forms (if applicable)

Please note, to register for kindergarten, your student must be 5 years old PRIOR to September 1st, 2024.

You will also be required to complete an Annual Update on Infinite Campus. Please visit the PV Assist website for links and more information.

Dec. 3: School Spelling Bee at 9:00 am

Dec. 3: Kinder Preview Night at 5:30 pm

Dec. 4: Kinder Little Red Hen Puppet Show at 9:00 am

Dec. 4: PTO Restaurant at Habit Burger from 4 - 9:00 pm

Dec. 5: 6th Grade Panoramic Picture

Dec. 6: Penguin Patch Preview Day

Dec. 6: Spirit Day - Wear QR or blue shirts!

Dec. 7: Cross Country Race

Dec. 9-13: Penguin Patch Shopping Week

Dec. 10: Strings Concert at 6:30 pm

Dec. 12: Student Council Campus Pride at 7:45 am

Dec. 12: PVSchools Governing Board Meeting at 6:30 pm

Dec. 16: Spirit Day: Don´t Be a Grinch Day

Dec. 16: Kinder Nursery Rhyme Performance at 9:30 am

Dec. 16: 3rd Grade Field Trip to AZ Capitol

Dec. 17: Spirit Day: Cozy Cabin Day

Dec. 17: Student Council Meeting at 8:00 am (officers arrive at 7:45)

Dec. 18: Spirit Day: Shine Bright! for the Holiday Hustle

Dec. 19: Spirit Day: Silly Sweater Day

Dec. 19: Holiday Sing-a-long, led by our QR Choir

Dec. 20: Spirit Day: Pajama Day

Dec. 20: Yearbook Club Meeting at 8:15 am

Dec. 23 - Jan. 3: Winter Break, No School

Jan. 6: Classes Resume

Jan. 13: PTO Meeting at 3:30 pm

Jan. 14: Early Release at 12:30 pm

Jan. 16: PVSchools Governing Board Meeting at 6:30 pm

Jan. 20: No School, MLK/Civil Rights Day

Jan. 23: Student Council Campus Pride at 7:45 am

Jan. 24: Donuts with Grownups at 8:00 am

Jan. 27 - 31: Spring Parent/Teacher Conference Week

Jan. 30: Early Release at 12:30 pm

Jan. 31: Early Release at 12:30 pm

Attendance Line: 602-449-4401

Nurse Kate: 602-449-4403

School Cafeteria: 602-449-4407

Principal, Quail Run Elementary School

Email: vraymond@pvschools.net
Quail Run Website
Location: 3303 E. Utopia Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85050
Phone: 602-449-4400

Assistant Principal, Quail Run Elementary School

Email: jsanborn@pvschools.net

Quail Run Website

Location: 3303 E. Utopia Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85050
Phone: 602-449-4400