Silverhawk families,

Happy April! As we head into the 4th quarter of school we have our annual AASA state testing taking place on campus. Much of April will be testing time for students in grades 3-6. Please encourage your child/ren to do their best of the AASA tests.

We also have our 4th, 5th and 6th grade students going on their field trip to Great Skate on April 24th!! We hope that they have fun learning about motion and gravity without any injuries. That evening we hope that the students and their families bring their appetite with them to our final Peter Piper Pizza family night for this school year. Let's make this one the best one yet!

Our Choir Concert will wrap up April events on and off campus on April 25th. I look forward to listening to our 6th grade students sign their last songs as Silverhawks.

Enrollment for perspective new students is now open!! Please help us increase our enrollment by telling your friends and neighbors about our wonderful school. We are especially looking to increase our student numbers in Kinder, 1st, 4th and 6th grade next school year. Thank you for your help and support with this.

As always, if you ever have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to email me at christine.fitzsimmons@dvusd.org or you can catch me in the front parking lot at drop-off and pick-up.

Have a amazing April!!

Sincerely,

Principal Fitzsimmons

3rd-8th Grade State Testing Dates:

4/1 & 4/2: 3rd-6th Writing Assessment

4/3 - 4/18: 3rd-6th Reading & Math Assessments (2 parts each)

ALL students MUST have headphones (wired, not bluetooth) and their fully charged device & charger each day for testing.

Parents, please make sure that your students are present and arrive at school on time. If at all possible, please schedule doctor's appointments and the like on days that your student's grade level is not testing. Once a student has stated testing they can not make up any portion of that test if they are pulled out of school for appointments or illness before they finish. The state requires that all schools have 95% attendance for testing. Thank you for doing your part to ensure that this happens.

Silverhawk families,

If you are interested in donating Tax Credit money we would appreciate you donating it to our campus. We are in need of replenishing our recess and gym equipment. If you donate please make sure to mark GENERAL TAX CREDIT so we can use it for more than field trips. Thank you in advance for your help and support.

The Arizona tax credit program (A.R.S. 43-1089.01) allows a tax credit of up to $200 for individuals and up to $400 for married couples, filing jointly, in support of extracurricular activities.

The tax credit reduces your tax burden to the state of Arizona, dollar for dollar.

2 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR TAX CREDIT DONATION:
ONLINE at: K-8 & High School Online Donations

MAIL or DROP OFF to the School of Your Choice: DVUSD 2023-24 School Address List

Forms can be downloaded here, and checks can be mailed to the school of your choice. Your tax credit receipt will be mailed back to you. Your tax credit goes directly to the school you choose, not to the state or district.

• Read with your child every night
• Help your child with their reading/writing/spelling homework
• Ask your child's teacher how you can help

April 1st-18th - AASA testing

April 24th - 4th/5th/6th grade field trip to Great Skate

April 25th - Choir Concert @4:30

Students in 1st-4th grade have started and are finishing the first challenge for the "Stone Age" unit: Designing a digging tool. We are working in teams to complete this STEM challenge. We will start challenge #2 in April, which will be to plan, design, and "weave" a basket. Once we are finished with that challenge, we will start some math projects and then play with creating Lego robots among other hands-on end of year fun in Spark depending on grade level!

Students in 5th & 6th grade have been introduced and will start their Passion Projects for the quarter. I've given all students a folder with information for what we'll call "genius hour" when they're with me once or twice per week. The great thing is that they will get to work on anything they'd like to answer any burning questions they may have. I've given a rubric to students to review so they know and understand what is expected for this independent discovery of their passions. Hopefully our 5th/6th Spark students are excited about this opportunity!

I'd like to ask for donations of empty soda cans if you have any. Otherwise, we should be set as far as supplies go! As always, I'm open to donations of tissue, Clorox wipes, etc. :-)

Thank you for your continued support in helping me challenge our Spark students!

Sincerely,

Brittany Balog, M.Ed.

Gifted Specialist

Traditional Academy at Bellair

Email: GiftedServices@dvusd.org

Website: https://www.dvusd.org/gifted

Follow Us On Instagram at dvgifted & Facebook at DVUSD Gifted Services!

"It is our mission to provide extraordinary educational opportunities to every learner."

Hello April, only 1 month left of this year! Wow, it has flown by!

March was a short month, but we packed it with 2 weeks of Apex fun! The kids had so much excitement over the daily visits from Rockstar Rick and Dazzling Denali, with their leadership messages, and positive skills. Not to mention, the cool music they blasted at recess! We are so thankful for the pledges and donations received. We will be using these funds to support our school with items needed (safety and tech updates, etc.) to support our students’ learning, and the needs of the teachers.

The April meeting is a BIG one! Our PTO meeting will be Thursday, April 11th at 5pm. This meeting will also be our elections for board positions for 2024-25 school year. Watch for a flyer coming home for nominations for our 4 board positions, President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. These positions are for 1 year terms. If you enjoy the activities and promotions provided this year, consider donating some of your time to volunteer as a board member. We are happy to facilitate annual spirit wear and customized water bottles, Holiday Shop purchasing, regularly rotated sticker machine options, and organizing events like the Trunk or Treat (Fall Festival), Family Dance, Apex Obstacle fun-run, and coming soon, Bingo night.

These events would not be possible without the great volunteers and parents, like yourself, donating as much or as little of their time to schedule and coordinate. Please consider joining the team. No experience needed, we will teach you.

Not only should you come and be part of this fun group, but you will also be a part of selecting the activities your children get to participate in and fundraisers YOU want to see offered!

Email us today if you would like more info, we are happy to talk to you! bellairpto@gmail.com

Gratefully, your PTO

Traditional Academy at Bellair PTO

Melissa Careaga, President

Ashley Baron, Vice President

Tina Halvorsen, Treasurer

Ginny Mullins, Secretary

BellairPTO@gmail.com

Upcoming PTO meeting date

Apr 11 ‘24

May 9 ‘24

All Things E.Q. Program for all students - A social-emotional program that transforms school culture and prepares students to “show up” positively for themselves and one another to achieve academic success and social-emotional well-being. The Fourth Quarter we will be working on the following:

• Week 1 - I adapt and make the most of change
• Week 2 - I look for solutions, not blame.
• Week 3 - I am willing to make things better.
• Week 4 - Tough times happen, but I'm tougher
• Week 5 - I don't complain about what I can't change
• Week 6 - I can see things from many different points of view.
• Week 7 - I seek solutions.
• Week 8 - I am someone people can count on.
• Week 9 - I learn more by truly listening to others.

During our Early Release/PD Dates teachers will be reviewing student data and collaboratively working together to plan how to best support students throughout the school year.

• January 12th, 19th and 26th
• February 2nd, 16th and 23rd
• March 1st, 8th and 22nd
• April 26th
• May 3rd and 10th

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives. We use ‘students’ to refer to all children and youth in any educational or therapeutic setting (e.g., K-12 school, early childhood program, treatment program, juvenile justice program). Learn more about PBIS in schools, classrooms, early childhood programs and juvenile justice programs on those topic pages.

Our new PBIS Acronym is S.O.A.R. Silverhawks show Safety, Ownership, Achievement and Respect. Please help us to instill these behaviors at home, so we can all "S.O.A.R. to #Extraordinary Heights Together!"

Email: christine.fitzsimmons@dvusd.org
Website: https://www.dvusd.org/traditional
Location: 4701 West Grovers Avenue, Glendale, AZ, USA
Phone: 602-467-5700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Traditional-Academy-at-Bellair-109175091218455
Twitter: @Trad_Bellair