Diamond Canyon Coyote Chronicle
Sept. '24 Communication for our wonderful Coyote Families
Note from Principal LeCount
Please pay special attention to the upcoming items that impact DVUSD on the November ballot. I am asking all Coyote families to be informed and encourage you to scroll all the way to the bottom of the ballot to cast your vote. Thank you for your continued support and commitment. I look forward to working together to make this year exceptional for everyone involved. Here’s to a successful and inspiring year ahead!
With Coyote Pride,
Mrs. LeCount, Proud Principal
For additional communication and DC information, follow Diamond Canyon on Facebook (Diamond Canyon School (picture with multiple students in sports uniforms and instruments) and X/Twitter (@Diamond_Canyon)
Save the Dates
September 2: Labor Day - NO SCHOOL
September 6: Full Day Friday, Baseball & Softball Pep Rally 3:00 pm
September 9: Camp Surf Chaperone Meeting 4:30 pm
September 10: DC PTA General Meeting 7:00 pm
September 17: Constitution Day Assembly (on Announcements)
September 20: PTA Mother/Son Event (more info to come)
September 24: PTA Chick-fil-a Restaurant Night 4-8 pm
September 27: Diamondbacks Night @ Chase Field 6:30 pm
Early Release Dates for September
September 13
September 20
September 27
Diamond Canyon staff engage in collaboration and learning during early release days. In September, teams will be focused on creating and planning enrichment/intervention for students across our campus.
Free & Reduced Meal Applications
Applying for free and reduced meals has never been easier:
•Only one application per household is required for families with multiple students enrolled in the district
•On-line applications offer the quickest processing time: www.ezmealapp.comA Note from Student Council
Attention DC Families!
We’re excited to announce that our Student Council will be hosting the very first pep rally of the school year on Friday, September 6th! All 6th-8th graders will attend. This special event will celebrate the upcoming season for our softball and baseball teams.
This is a great opportunity for our students to show their support and enthusiasm for their peers.
Spirit Week!
At the March 19 2024 Governing Board meeting the Deer Valley Unified School District Governing Board voted unanimously to call for the M&O Override to appear on ballots in November and also approved the recommended Bond election be placed on the November 5, 2024 ballot.
These measures, if passed, would be a continuation of what has been in place since 1991, WOULD NOT INCREASE TAXES to a DVUSD taxpayer and would allow for DVUSD to
remain competitive in per pupil funding.
For more information on both elections, visit dvusd.org/election
Important information from Nurse Lisa
ALL over the counter lotions/anti-itch creams, cough drops, and medications need to be dropped off and signed in to the health office BY THE PARENT. These items will not be given by the nurse unless the proper paperwork has been completed by the parent. Doctor signatures are also required if it is a prescription. Students can NEVER be in possession of these items on school grounds. The above items need to be picked up BY THE PARENT from the health office. These items will not be released to the student to take home.
Thank you!
Lisa Salihar, RN, BSN
Gifted & Talented Corner
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We are so excited to be working with so many gifted and talented students. We are looking forward to an exciting and adventure-filled year of exploration!
Great Resources
We are here to assist with any questions you may have about Gifted and Talented at Diamond Canyon. You can visit our websites on the Diamond Canyon page or the district website, https://www.dvusd.org/gifted. The DVUSD Gifted Services Website provides parents with a tremendous amount of information about our PreK thru 12 Gifted Programming. We can help families find answers to:
Gifted Identification and Placement
PreK-12 Gifted Programs
Gifted Testing
Gifted Parent Workshops
Gifted News (INSPIRE)
What’s Coming Up?
Gifted Parent Seminar
DVUSD Gifted Services is proud to offer Gifted Parent Seminars! Being the parent of a gifted learner can be an isolating experience. Gifted Parent Seminars provide support and connection for our families.
Upcoming Seminar: My Child Is Gifted.... Now What?
Presenter: Dr. Aimee Sulit, Manager of Gifted & Advanced Academics
Description: Join Dr. Aimee Sulit as she provides an overview of the continuum of gifted services available in DVUSD. Parents will gain insights into various program models to determine which services best fit their children’s distinctive needs.
Date/Time: Thursday, August 29, 2024 (6:00 – 7:00 p.m.)
Location: Deer Valley Governing Board Room (20402 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85027)
Link for flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Lsh8dpZJb9nMzyQhjHIAXs7N72axhwh/view
Thank you,
Anna Kramer & Sherri Shereshovech
Gifted Specialists
Middle School Athletics
Meet our Coaches
Coach Sneed- Softball
Originally from Erie, PA, Coach Sneed has been coaching for 18ish years! She played high school softball and also played for the 18U Jr. Olympic League in PA. Her advice for athletes is "Mistakes will happen, be able to have a “NEXT” mindset because that same play or hit will happen again."
Coach Sneed brought our team to victory last two years at the 2A District Championships AND the Regional Championships, and was also honored with 2023 Team of the Year at the DVUSD Pursuing Victory with Honors Awards Banquet!
Coach Ternes- Baseball
Originally from Conway Springs, KS, Coach Ternes has been coaching for 23 years! Coach Ternes grew up as a well rounded athlete playing baseball, football, basketball, and ran track and cross country. This is why we LOVE Coach Ternes working with our young athletes as our PE teacher at DC! His advice for athletes is "No matter what in life you do, the more you put into it, the more you will get in return."
We are ecstatic about Coach Ternes joining our coaching staff at Diamond Canyon again! Coach Ternes spends his "free time" coaching the Boulder Creek baseball team and reading. Welcome back, Coach!
Softball Schedule
Tuesday 9/10: DC Bye
Wednesday 9/11: DC @ NC
Thursday 9/12: WW @ DC
Tuesday 9/17: DC @ SV
Thursday 9/19 SF @ DC
Thursday 9/24: DC @ CS
Tuesday 10/1: DC @ GP
Thursday 10/3 DC @ TE
Monday 10/14: CS @ DC
Wednesday 10/16 DC Bye-- Mini-Coyotes Camp
Tuesday 10/22 & Thursday 10/24: Playoffs
Saturday 10/26: Championship
Game Times 4:15
Baseball Schedule
Tuesday 9/10: DC Bye
Thursday 9/12: DC @ WW
Tuesday 9/17: SV @ DC
Thursday 9/19: DC @ SF
Thursday 9/24: CS @ DCTuesday 10/1: GP @ DC
Thursday 10/3: TE @ DC
Monday 10/14: DC @ CS
Wednesday 10/16 DC Bye-- Mini-Coyotes Camp
Monday 10/21 & Wednesday 10/23: Playoffs
Saturday 10/26: Championship
DC Coyotes PTA News
Hard to believe that we are already finished with the first month of the 2024/2025 school year. We have a lot planned for the year. Here are some September events.
September Staff Luncheon
The DC Staff Luncheon is scheduled for Tuesday, September 10. The theme is Tailgate. Every other month we are hoping to cater the meal through a local restaurant and look for business sponsors to help fund that. This way we are still able to express our appreciation to the DC staff without having parents provide all of the food.
Please click on the attached link to sign up to bring something for our staff to enjoy.
This is our teacher's favorite day of the month!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4DADAF2AA7F9C43-50833838-september\
Thank you so much for all of your support!
General PTA Meeting
The September General PTA meeting will be Tuesday, September 10th at 7pm in the library. This month in addition to our regular business, we will be joined by a representative from Deer Valley Votes for Kids who will introduce the bond and override that will be on the ballot this November and answer questions from the board.
PTA Membership
Our final push for PTA membership will be a grade level competition that will take place September 9th-13th. The winning grade level will win a pizza party provided by Rosati’s! More information will be shared in the first week of September. If you want to give your grade level a head start, make sure to join PTA.
Mother / Son Night
Have a date night with your bestie! Learn to line dance and put your new skills to the test on our school dance floor on Friday, September 20th, 6pm-8pm (doors open at 5:30pm). More details to follow.
Restaurant Night
Thank you to all our families who came out to support our first PTA restaurant night at Cafe Zupas! It was a great success. Mark your calendars for our next restaurant night at Chick-fil-A on Tuesday, September 24th, 4pm – 8pm. We hope to see you there!
Do you own a business? If you are interested in being one of our sponsors for our Boosterthon t-shirts, please reach out to Tiffany Frogley at meansvp@dcpta.net. We will have various sponsorship levels available.
If you missed our Spirit Wear table at curriculum night, you can still buy shirts, hoodies and accessories on the PTA website here!
Coyote Code Winners
Students are given purple Coyote Code tickets when they are caught following our Coyote Code (Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Safe, Be A Learner). Check out our awesome Coyotes that have been recognized the past few weeks.
Policies regarding absences and tardiness
School attendance is not only a good habit, state law requires it. Arizona State Law (15-802.E, 15-803.) requires every person who has custody of a child between the ages of six and sixteen years shall make sure the child attends school for the full time school is in session unless unable to attend due to illness or another legitimate reason.
To encourage and improve school attendance, Diamond Canyon School has implemented a truancy service in partnership with Maricopa County Juvenile Court. This truancy service is called C.U.T.S. (Court Unified Truancy Suppression). We will be tracking attendance very closely. Your child is expected to be at school every day, unless there is an excused reason not to be. An absence is defined as a minimum of one missed class period per day. An unexcused absence will count as a truant day as defined by law. A student is “habitually truant” if he/she has five or more unexcused absences from school. A student that is absent more than ten percent (18 days) of the required number of school days per year is considered to have “excessive absences” whether the absence is excused or unexcused.
When a student has five or more unexcused absences or 19 excessive absences (excused OR unexcused), the student can be cited and will have to attend a hearing through the Juvenile Court. A parent or legal guardian must be present with the student at the time of the hearing. Consequences at the hearing may include the following: required attendance of the parent and the child at an education class, community service hours assigned to the child, counseling, etc. The parent will be assessed a $50 Diversion fee. Failure to complete these consequences may result in suspension of your child’s driver’s license, or inability to get a driver’s license until their 18th birthday. It is the parent /guardian’s responsibility to ensure their child’s attendance in an approved academic setting. If you fail to take the necessary steps to provide your child with appropriate education you may receive a citation. If convicted, it is a Class 3 misdemeanor punishable by jail time and/or fine.
The education of your child is extremely important to us. This service is another way that Diamond Canyon is working with the community to ensure a quality education for all students. Please note that the school also reserves the right to have a CUTS Officer speak at Orientations and Assemblies, as well as to individual groups of students regarding the importance of school. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Diamond Canyon at 623-445-8000.
Device Protection Plan
DVUSD will be offering an Optional Device Protection Plan for families of 4th-8th graders utilizing take-home devices. Enrollment in the plan is optional with the understanding that if students/parents do not enroll in the protection plan they may carry full liability for the student device (iPad or Chromebook) in the same way they do for other damaged or lost school property, such as textbooks.
The fee for this protection is $25 per child/per school year.
Parents can purchase the protection plan online at https://url.dvusd.org/PaymentPortal. Instructions for using the payment portal can be found here. .
For students who damage or lose their district technology device, the deductible can be debited to the student's account in In-Touch and the parent can pay the fee online.
Attendance Line
This is a great time to save our attendance line to your phone! The number is 623-445-8090, this line is accessible 24/7. Please leave your students name, their teacher or grade level, your name and relationship to them and the reason for the absence in your message. Please do not leave attendance messages on the main school number.
Forgotten Item Policy
In an effort to reduce interruptions to instructional time, as well as promote responsibility and accountability, Diamond Canyon will only allow glasses, medically required items, water bottles and lunches to be dropped off for students.
Forgotten homework assignments, backpacks, PE uniforms, projects, and musical instruments will not be accepted or held for students.
Thank you for your cooperation with this matter.