Deer Canyon Echoes

Good evening, Deer Canyon Families:

Happy Valentine’s Day! All of this week, kindness and love radiated across our campus as we recognized Kindness Week at Deer Canyon. We kicked off every morning with videos of DC students sharing what kindness means to them, followed by teacher-led classroom discussions on various topics. At each recess, Mr. Higgins and our DC Leaders organized thoughtful kindness activities for all students, such as compliment cards and thank you notes. We wrapped up our week with Valentine’s activities today and a VAPA Day that was full of music and Global Languages.

When we return from our District Recess, Deer Canyon will enjoy Disney Day and Family Heritage Night on Friday, 2/28, and continue our recognition of Black History Month. As we observe Black History Month, we honor the powerful stories, achievements, and contributions of Black individuals throughout history and in our world today. This month is more than a reflection on the past—it’s an opportunity to learn, grow, and continue our commitment to inclusivity, empathy, and innovation.

At Deer Canyon, we believe in fostering an environment where every voice is heard, valued, and celebrated. Through engaging discussions, storytelling, and activities, we will continue to highlight the impact of Black leaders, scientists, artists, writers, activists, and innovators who have shaped our society. Their courage, creativity, and resilience continue to inspire us to build a more just and inclusive future.

We encourage our community to join us in this celebration, whether by exploring literature, engaging in meaningful conversations, or learning about the trailblazers who have paved the way for progress. Together, we can honor Black history not just this month, but every day, by fostering a culture of respect, equity, and understanding. Let’s celebrate, learn, and grow together.

Coach A.: Deer Canyon Impact PE Teacher

This week, each Kindergarten-5th grade class participated in their first PE lesson with Coach A.! Be sure to ask your student about their opportunity to engage in high-quality physical education instruction with Coach A. this week — it sure was exciting! As a reminder, Coach A's position is entirely funded by the community. Thank you for your generous donations and the Deer Canyon Parent Staff Organization's (DCPSO) fundraising efforts!

2025-26 Enrollment Timelines

• Continuing Student Registration - from February 28 - March 31. All parents whose current students will continue in Poway Unified for the 2025-26 school year need to complete online continuing registration. Look for more information coming soon.

• Transfer Requests - Transfer requests are still available for students who live in the Poway Unified boundaries and would like to attend a different Poway school. This includes incoming siblings of current students, as well as students who have not yet enrolled. Transfer requests can be made on the Poway Unified website by clicking THIS link. The transfer window closes on March 31 at 5 pm.

• New Student Enrollment - beginning on April 1st at 8:00 am. New student enrollment opens on the Poway Unified website. We are excited to welcome our new students!

More details can be found on the Poway Unified website at www.powayusd.com.

Share your Feedback to Drive Planning: LCAP Family Survey!

Our LCAP Family Survey is well underway and many thoughts have been shared! If you haven’t had a chance yet, click here to participate by Friday, February 21: bit.ly/2025pusd-parent-lcap

If you have already shared your thoughts, please return and add stars to the new thoughts that have been added since you participated. That will help us understand what’s most important to our school community.

Your input is vital so we can set school and District goals and budget priorities to support our mission in providing college, career, and life readiness to all students. Take the survey today and help us create a bright future for our students. We are happy to provide you access to a device in our school office, should you need it. Come by anytime!

Attendance Reminders

Deer Canyon staff are committed to supporting our students' consistent attendance, as we know that positive attendance directly correlates to improved learning outcomes and successes later in life. To support our students and families, we are implementing a new attendance initiative. Families of students who are on track for chronic absenteeism will receive a notification letter, followed by a personal phone call from Mr. Higgins. This outreach is not punitive, but rather an opportunity for us to check in, answer any questions you may have, and discuss any barriers to your child's attendance. We view this as a partnership to ensure every child has the best possible chance for success. Together, we can make a significant positive impact on your child's educational and life journey. Please reach out to me or Mr. Higgins with any questions.

Wellness Week: April 28 to May 2

Deer Canyon will be participating in a Wellness Week, a 5-day focus on Environmental, Intellectual, Social, Physical, and Emotional Wellness. We are looking to engage our community, including anyone with passion for wellness, including environmental activists, chefs, medical providers, scientists, first responders, and more.

Please email Ms. Bendix at kbendix@powayusd.com if you have community connections, bright ideas, or are interested in partnering in the planning of Wellness Week at DCES!

English Learner Family Engagement Survey

Parents of English Learners — today through Friday, February 28, Poway Unified will be conducting our Family Engagement and Accountability survey to gather input from all families of English Learner students. This survey helps shape the District’s goals and guide priorities for the 2025-2026 school year. Your feedback is extremely helpful as we continue to seek ways to better our English Learner program. Please click HERE to complete the survey.

New Instructional Materials For Adoption

Learning Support Services is pleased to announce that our Middle and High School teams have recommended new instructional materials for adoption.

Our Middle Schools are recommending Amplify for English Language Arts in grades 6-8, and our High School team is recommending McGraw Hill’s Economics for economics courses. Both teams conducted thorough reviews to ensure alignment with state standards. ELA materials were evaluated using the CA ELA/ELD Framework and CA Common Core Standards, and the Economics materials were assessed based on the CA History-Social Science Content Standards and Framework.

Poway Unified School District invites you to review these materials and provide feedback. The links below will take you to the pages where you can log in, review materials, and provide input (through March 10).

• Middle School English Language Arts, Amplify

• High School Economics, McGraw Hill

Have a wonderful week, Deer Canyon. We’ll see you Monday, February 24!

Katie Bendix

Principal

Through our Caught Being Kind program, students are recognized by a staff member for exemplifying respect for themself, others, or the environment. Each week, students that were “caught being kind” the week before are announced over the loudspeaker. These students then come to the office for an in-person message from me, an opportunity to “Feed the Herd” and make progress toward our whole-school prize, and we take a group photo together! First-time Caught Being Kind students receive a small prize, which is distributed by their teacher.

I am excited to share with you the names of students who were Caught Being Kind last week! Be sure to swing by the office to check out the Caught Being Kind board and our new Feed the Herd bucket!

*Due to me being off campus on Monday morning and the rainy week that ensued, we do not have a photo YET! Please check the next edition of Echoes for a photo.

TK

Leo W., Daniella G.

Davie G, Ella J., Kase D., Luciana C., Sasha S.

Mika, Carmelo A, Grayson

Elle D, Sammy H

Jay P., Ethan H., Calvin B., Theodore S,. Hamza S., Yazhini R., Aribella C,. Jibreel N., Braddock S.

Evelyn S., Ed P., Alekhya M.

Happy Kindness Week, Deer Canyon families!

This week was all about being kind:

• Monday we talked about the importance of spreading kindness. The kids had an opportunity to get their photos taken as the “I” in the word KIND.
• Tuesday’s theme was the value of compliments, and students got to make cards to share with their classmates and staff.
• Wednesday’s focus was on being grateful and saying thank you. Students made thank you cards for staff and their friends.
• Thursday, students learned the importance of self-care, and being kind to their own mind.
• We celebrated our kindness with games in the MPR on Friday, as the rainy day schedule left little option. Thank you to all our staff and students for their participation in the week’s activities.

The highlight of the week for me was making daily video montages, asking kids and staff, “What does kindness mean to you?” I was so impressed by their thoughtful responses, as well as their eagerness to contribute. I definitely look forward to doing more activities like that, where our student voices are shared.

Our DC Leaders Teams finished up with their individual team orientation meetings, highlighting each team's responsibilities and meeting times. If you are the parent of a fourth grade DC Leader, please be on the lookout for a Code of Conduct document that needs to be signed by both you and your child. Their expected time commitments will be on the back. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns.

In our Second Step lessons, we continued with our Emotional Management Unit, with an emphasis on coping with anxiety — something we see increasing in our youth on a national level, as a result of social media, academic stress, and lasting effects of Covid-19. If students can recognize the onset of strong feelings in their bodies, they can employ strategies for maintaining control, before they lose their cool. We teach three steps: “Stop, Name your feeling, Calm down.” Ask your child to explain how it works, and remind them that those same three simple steps can be used for any strong emotions they may be struggling with, be it anger, anxiety, fear, etc. We will be wrapping up the current unit shortly and will be diving into ‘Problem Solving” next.

If you haven’t yet, please check out the brand new DC Counseling & SEL website. On it, you will find information about myself, our counseling vision, and a number of helpful resources for parents and students alike. It is accessible via the “Academics” tab of the Deer Canyon website, as well as right HERE.

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.

Have a great week!

- Mr. Higgins