Happy New Year, Hassayampa Families!

Our staff has been hard at work preparing meaningful and rigorous lessons for our incredible students. We’ve set high expectations and developed thoughtful plans to ensure every student’s success. After-school tutoring will again be available to provide additional support for those who need it, reinforcing our commitment to student academic achievement.

We believe that every child can learn to the highest level, and we’re ready to offer the time and support necessary for each student’s success. To help us in this mission, I ask for your continued support:

• Ensure your child arrives at school on time every day.
• Encourage your child to read for at least 30 minutes every evening or spend time reading together.
• Practice basic math facts with your child regularly.
• Monitor homework completion.
• Ask your child to share what they learned at school each day.

Your dedication to your child’s education today will have a lasting impact on their future.

Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for January and are open to all families wishing to meet with their child’s teacher. These conferences are an excellent opportunity to strengthen the partnership between home and school for your child’s benefit.

As a reminder, while student supervision begins at 7:45 a.m., the school day officially starts at 8:00 a.m. Students should be in their classrooms by that time, as tardiness is marked at 8:05. If your child is eating breakfast at school, please ensure they arrive at 7:45.

Exciting Events This Semester!
December brought us much joy, and we’re looking forward to many fantastic events in the months ahead, including:

• Our first-ever Apex Fun Run
• Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Principal’s Coffees
• HOWL Celebrations
• Art & Science Night
  …and much more!

For the latest updates, be sure to check the school website, Facebook page, Class Dojo, and your child’s teacher’s weekly newsletters. Mark these important events on your family calendar—I hope to see you there!

Thank you for your continued support of our school community. Together, we can ensure a successful and rewarding semester for every Hassayampa student.

Best wishes for a fantastic 2025!

Warm regards,

Carissa Hershkowitz, Hassayampa Principal

JANUARY

6 - School Resumes

6 Wickenburg PTA Sponsored Apex Fun Run Pep Rally

6 Parent Teacher Conferences -first 3 weeks

9 Site Council (date change)

16 Apex Fun Run & HOWL Assembly

20 MLK Holiday

21 WUSD Board Meeting

21 3rd Quarter After School Programs Begin

27 Galileo Benchmark #3

27 District Spelling Bee at VPMS

FEBRUARY

3 Scholastic Book Fair Begins

5 Principal’s Coffee

6 Art & Science Night

10 Western Spirit Week

15 Gold Rush Parade

18 AZELLA Testing Begins

18 WUSD Board Meeting

20 PTA Sweetheart Dance

24 Read Across America Week

27 PTA Read Across America Event

MARCH

5 Principal’s Coffee & Site Council

6 End of 3rd Quarter

10-14 Spring Break

Hopefully you and your family found time to relax, unwind, and enjoy the winter break.

The holiday season is a time for togetherness and joy, but it can sometimes bring unwelcome guests, like stress and grief. Some of us may have experienced the holidays without a loved one. Some of us may have had to balance endless to-do lists from shopping to entertaining. While we each celebrate the season’s joys, it’s important to stay mindful, acknowledge our feelings, and reach out for help if needed.

To help, below are helpful resources. We encourage you to save these resources so you can easily reference them should you or a family member need help.

https://www.wickenburgschools.org/domain/2321

Wickenburg Unified School District 9 partnered with Care Solace to support the well-being of our community. If you or a family member are looking for help with mental health or substance use, Care Solace can help you quickly find treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of the circumstance. This is a complimentary and confidential care coordination service provided by Wickenburg Unified School District 9. If you would like to use Care Solace to help you find a mental health care provider:

• Call 888-515-0595. Multilingual support is available 24/7/365.
• Visit www.caresolace.com/wickenburg and either search on your own or click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.

May you enjoy your break and return rested and reinvigorated for a fantastic new year!

🎉 Exciting News Alert! 🎉 Our Wickenburg PTA has partnered with Apex Leadership Co to host a special fundraiser! 🚀 We're gearing up to raise funds for classroom enhancements and playground equipment, and we need your support!

🌟 Get ready to ignite the future! 🚀 Our @ApexLeadershipCompany Fundraiser kicks off on January 6th, and this year's theme is "Apex Future"! 💫 Not only are we raising funds for our school, but our students will also be diving into leadership habits essential for becoming Future Leaders! Stay tuned for updates on how you can support our cause and empower the next generation of leaders! 👩‍🎓👨‍🏫

The Hassayampa Family would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the Wickenburg community for your incredible generosity this holiday season. Your support through Wrangler Wishes, donated bikes, and food boxes has made a meaningful impact on the lives of our Hassayampa Elementary students and those across the district. Your care and kindness truly make a difference!

We also want to express our gratitude to the Peoria Rangers for their annual visit, bringing gifts and joy to the students in Mrs. Gonzalez, Ms. Santee’s, and Mrs. Hadley’s classrooms. Your thoughtfulness added an extra touch of magic to the season.

Thank you all for making the holidays brighter for our students and their families!

Congratulations to our school spellers! It was wonderful to come together to watch our students compete. A special congratulations to Christian Perez from Mrs. Cole's class. Finalists will be moving forward to the district spelling bee on January 27 at 6:00 p.m. It would be great to have a Hassayampa representative for the Regional bee! Mark your calendars to come to the District Spelling Bee to cheer on our students.

School finalists: Third Grade: Nathan Amaral, Tucker Fisher, Leland Johnson, Viviana Limon. Fourth Grade: Dante Lopez Garcia, Christian Perez (SCHOOL WINNER. Fifth Grade: Rosaleigh Riggs and Emiliano Rodriguez.

We closed out the quarter just as energetically as we began! Our annual holiday concert was a huge success, with a packed house enjoying a spectacular performance. We are so fortunate to have the incredible Mrs. Boyle leading our music program—Hassayampa is truly blessed!

Santa made a grand entrance by helicopter, delighting students and staff alike. And to top it all off, we ended with the ever-popular PJ Day—because who doesn’t love a cozy day in pajamas?

What a wonderful way to close out the year!

Students were delighted by an extra special treat when Santa made a grand entrance by helicopter! He spent some time spreading holiday cheer with the students before heading back to his busy schedule. Thank you, Santa, for making our day magical!

Earlier in December, students completed their math fluency benchmarks. These are short assessments in the areas of basic math computation - addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The assessment given is based upon the grade level focus. Teachers have your child's individual results. At this time, we have identified math fluency as an area of instructional focus for the new year. We would love your partnership in ensuring that your child is practicing math facts on a daily basis. It should take no more than 10 minutes a day!

Click here for ideas: Math Fact Fluency Activities

Families play a pivotal role in nurturing academic success, and there are numerous ways you can support your child's during break and all year long:

• Daily Practice: Encourage your child to practice math and reading regularly.
• Reading Encouragement: Foster a daily reading habit in your child.
• Involvement in Games: Let your child read game instructions, involving them in family activities.
• Engagement in Holiday Activities: Encourage your child to read holiday cards to the family.
• Winter Break Reading: Utilize the winter break to explore and discuss new books together.
• Family Traditions: Initiate a new family tradition involving books as a valuable resource.
• Regular Communication: Stay in touch with your child's teacher and communicate frequently.
• Open Communication: If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.

As we return from winter break, we’ll take time to revisit our school expectations to ensure we start the new year on the right foot. Our vision is to decrease disruptive behaviors and increase instructional time by providing clear, consistent expectations for all students in every area of the school.

Through our PBIS framework, we teach, practice, enforce, reteach, and celebrate these expectations to help every student succeed. Our acronym HOWL—Honor, Ownership, Work, and Leadership—guides our actions and reflects the Coyote Way!

We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in implementing HOWL Please mark your calendar for January 16 as we celebrate the great progress we've made. Let’s keep up the great work!

Communication is important! Please save our links and stay in touch!

Email: cahershkowitz@wusd9.org
Website: wickenburgschools.org/Domain/9
Location: 195 East Coconino Street, Wickenburg, AZ, USA
Phone: 928-684-6750
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HassayampaElementary

Instagram: hassayampaelementary