Gecko Gazette

Thank you parents and guardians for attending our Fall parent teacher conferences. Our teachers enjoyed sharing the growth your child has made during first quarter, answering questions, and getting to know you. Your participation in these important discussions strengthens the bond between home and school, in turn creating a more stable path for your child's successful educational career.

Remember to stay in contact with your child's teachers outside of conference time. You can always reach out via email or request additional conferences with teachers as needed. Teacher contact information is available on our school website here.

Halloween is Tuesday, 10/31 and with that comes fun Fall/Autumn class parties. Teachers and students are looking forward to the day. As a reminder, students are not allowed to wear costumes to school. We encourage students to wear Fall/Autumn colors and other seasonal shirts to show their holiday spirit.

If you are a parent/guardian that will be joining your child's class party, please check in at the front office when you arrive. You will need to show identification and while on campus wear a "visitors" badge. When leaving you will sign out and return the badge to the office.

We look forward to a fun Fall day and having visitors on campus!

Come join us for our monthly Desert Sage Gecko Gathering! It will be a quick fun way to start your Friday with your child.

Special appearances by our 2nd & 6th grade students and in honor of our Veterans and the upcoming Veterans Day holiday, our spirit wear will be red, white & blue.

This year as part of Desert Sage’s efforts to build our student’s social-emotional skills we are highlighting a specific Life Skill each week. Throughout the week, students participate in class meetings that we call “Fireside Chats” as we are doing a camp theme this year. During these Fireside Chats the Life Skill of the week is defined and discussed to learn how to recognize and build this skill. Additionally, students hear information that supports the Life Skill of the week on the morning announcements and other instructional moments with their teachers.

We are taking the time each week to also recognize one student from each class, who has best exemplified the Life Skill of the week. This student will receive a certificate and a Gecko Pride Culture Camp sticker when they are recognized by Principal Gill and Assistant Principal Race.

Desert Sage welcomes our community to volunteer to support our students and staff. There are a variety of opportunities for volunteerism at Desert Sage. This includes chaperoning field trips, classroom activities support, teacher copy assistant/project prepper, office support, school events support (picture days, field days, etc.).

If you decide to volunteer, you will need to attend a mandatory district volunteer training before you are able to volunteer in any capacity for the school. Desert Sage offers in-person training in our media center throughout the year (usually one time a month). All of Desert Sage's volunteer training dates are on the school calendar and begin at 8:00 a.m. If you cannot attend these dates or are in need of another training date, you can attend any volunteer training provided at a DVUSD school campus or you can reach out to our Desert Sage Secretary Elisa Anderson at elisa.anderson@dvusd.org.

District Volunteer Information with Training Dates

Thank you for considering volunteering at Desert Sage!

PLCs are busy this month. Grade level teams are taking a close look at their students' end of quarter grades to determine possible whole group and small group reteaching needs. Every two weeks, DIBELS progress monitoring scores are being analyzed in order to revise intervention (RTI) services by grade level teachers and the reading specialist. Intermediate grades are analyzing ELA interim scores from the district assessment. Additionally, teachers are routinely reviewing your student's DreamBox Math and Amplify Reading online program data. This assists them with assigning future online lesson work and identify additional standards in need of support. Wondering how your student is doing on DreamBox or Amplify? Simply email your student's teacher and they can provide you a report with their progress at any time.

If you would like more information about PLCs, please visit our DVUSD PLC website.

• October: National Principal Appreciation Month
• Friday, 10/27: Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
  
• Tuesday, 10/31: Battle of the Books Round 1
• Thursday, 11/2: Virtual PTO Meeting at 4:30 p.m.
• Thursday, 11/2: Kindergarten Preview Night 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
• Friday, 11/3: Gecko Gathering at 8:30 a.m., Fun Run Kickoff, Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
• 11/6-11/9: School Psychologist Week
• Friday, 11/10: Veterans Day, no school
• Wednesday, 11/15: Picture Retakes Day
• Thursday, 11/16: PTO Family Dinner Night Fundraiser at Rubios
• Friday, 11/17: Substitute Appreciation Day, Fun Run Event, Turkey Feast Day, Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
• 11/20-11/24: Thanksgiving Recess, no school
• Tuesday, 11/28: Volunteer Training at 8:00 a.m.
• Wednesday, 11/29: 3rd grade State Capitol field trip
• Friday, 12/1: Special Education Day, Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.

Your school tax credit donations can provide Desert Sage students with opportunities to after school and summer programs, field trips, music and athletic programs or any other extracurricular activity.

• 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.

Make your tax credit donation to Desert Sage at: https://az-deervalley.intouchreceipting.com/.

We are an A school in the Deer Valley Unified District. We educate children pre-k through grade 6 & offer Mandarin Language Immersion. We are the home of the geckos. Kristy M. Gill is the proud principal and Lindsay Race is the proud assistant principal.

Email: kristy.gill@dvusd.org
Website: dvusd.org/desertsage
Location: 4035 West Alameda Road, Glendale, AZ, USA
Phone: (623) 445-4700
Twitter: @DesertSageElem