Deer Canyon Echoes
December 20, 2024
- Buy tickets to the Jan. 31 Gulls game and help our students get a chance to sing the National Anthem on the ice!
- Sign up to host a table, perform or emcee at Family Heritage Night (details below).
- Help us choose our PSO logo.
- Sign up to perform at the DC Winter Music Recital.
12/23 to 1/3 - Winter Break (no school or ESS)
- 1/6 - School resumes
- 1/8 - Deadline to sign up for the DC Winter Music Recital.
- 1/14 - DC Dining @ Kebab Shop (Carmel Mountain Plaza) @ all day
- 1/17 - New deadline to buy tickets for the Gulls Hockey Night
- 1/20 - MLK Day (no school)
- 1/27 - Professional Growth Day (no school)
- 1/29 - Winter Recital @ 6 pm
- 1/30 - Deadline to sign up for Family Heritage Night
- 1/31 - SD Gulls Hockey Night & Performance
Save the Date
December
January
Good evening, Deer Canyon Families:
On behalf of the entire Deer Canyon staff, we extend our warmest wishes for a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable Winter Break to you and your loved ones! We hope you find time to embrace this joyful season with your children, family, and friends; these are the moments that matter most. Wishing you and your families a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, vibrant New Year! I look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday, January 6.
This week on campus, we hosted a schoolwide assembly on Monday, our 5th Grade Band and Orchestra Concert on Wednesday, and classroom winter parties throughout the week! For Monday’s assembly, Musical Theater students dazzled their peers during a performance of "Matilda" for the entire school. Students had a blast watching and performing!
On Wednesday, our 5th graders serenaded parents and upper grade peers at our annual Winter Band & Orchestra Concert. We are so proud of our 5th graders’ hard work; learning an instrument is such a fantastic opportunity and comes with a lot of required work and persistence! My favorite activities at school are those that bring families together to share in these joyful experiences. Welcoming parents, grandparents, and siblings into our MPR and classrooms was the perfect way to conclude our 2024 calendar year.
When we return from Winter Break, we will seamlessly continue our learning journey and dive right back into our school routines. I will start the week by visiting classrooms to review schoolwide and classroom expectations. We eagerly anticipate all the fun January has in store!
As we look ahead to January: **Save the Dates!**
Monday, January 20 (NO SCHOOL) - PUSD will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Monday, January 27 (NON-STUDENT DAY) - PUSD Professional Growth Day
Looking toward spring, please mark your calendars: Deer Canyon will host a site-based Professional Growth Day for all staff on Tuesday, March 11. This will be a non-student day for Deer Canyon.
Supporting Your Student During Winter Break
During the winter break from school (12/23-1/3), we are grateful to our families for helping your student(s) maintain a schedule, structure, and routine in their day. This will ease the natural challenges of transitioning back to school on January 6.
Thank you for partnering with us! We appreciate each of you. May the upcoming Winter Break be restful and healing.
E-Bike Safety Class for Students & Parents
We are excited to announce an upcoming E-Bike Class for students and their parent(s)/guardian(s), aimed at promoting safe and responsible e-bike usage. The class will take place in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) at Mt. Carmel High School on Wednesday, January 8, at 6 pm. Attendees are highly encouraged to arrive at 5:30 pm so they have enough time to find parking and the PAC.
Please be sure to bookmark the Deer Canyon school calendar and follow us on Instagram (@DeerCanyonPUSD) for event information, reminders, and celebrations!
Here’s to a wonderful Winter Break! See you in 2025!
Katie Bendix
Principal
This week at Deer Canyon, our 4th grade Second Step SEL classes continued to review the importance of being assertive and how to disagree respectfully with peers and family. We discussed how speaking in a respectful tone and avoiding “blaming language” create opportunities for productive conversation, instead of causing more conflict. We also talked about compassion as our “empathy in action” and how it can be expressed with kind words or supportive actions.
Meanwhile, our 5th graders began the Emotion Management Unit. We started with a video about how the amygdala can hijack our cortex when we’re in a perceived crisis. In the weeks ahead we’ll be focusing on important life skills, like how to identify their own feelings, dealing with strong emotions, calming strategies, and coping with worry. In our TK-3rg grade classes, Mrs W. and Puppy & Snail, wrapped up the Empathy Unit. Like their older cohorts, they will start learning how to recognize their own feelings and how to cope with strong emotions.
I’m currently distributing our beautiful new DC Leader uniforms. Parents, if your student is an active member on one of our wonderful teams, you should have received an email with payment instructions. If you did not get my email, please contact me at thiggins@powayusd.com. If your students already got his or hers, thank you for your prompt attention.
Remember, PUSD’s Caring Connections Parent Education website has new and exciting courses being offered this Fall. Each term they have different parenting education courses. We recommend periodically checking the website for the new courses offered to parents, families, and our school community. Click HERE to view the CCC Parent Education Fall Courses.
Happy Holidays, Deer Canyon! I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy Winter Break.
Get Your DCES Spirit Wear
Our Spirit Wear shop is open and taking orders. Choose from tie-dye (perfect for FUNky Fridays), cartoon (fun for lower grade students — and adults!), school logo, hoodies (perfect for cold weather), zip-up jackets and more. Orders are placed online and can be delivered to school for free or you can pick up at Big Frog (next to Stater Bros).
Place your Spirit Wear order here.
If you have any questions, please contact Razan Lin vpprograms@deercanyonpso.org
