Gecko Gazette

Friday, October 4, 2024 marks the end of the first quarter grading period. Students have until Wednesday, October 2, 2024 to turn in any absent or missing assignments or redo assignments for a better grade. Please take a moment to review your Parent PowerSchool account for the most accurate and up to date grade information. If your student has work to be turned in or redone, it is the responsibility of the student to communicate with the teacher about how to do this. Any absent or missing assignments for all subject areas (this includes Specials) not turned in by the deadline will negatively affect your student’s overall grade in that subject.

Teachers will begin having conversations with students about getting missing assignments turned in as soon as possible and how to go about turning in the assignments. If you have specific questions regarding work that your student may still need to complete, please email the teacher of that subject area with your specific questions and they will work diligently to reply quickly and or directly discuss the work with your student. Teacher email addresses are available on his/her staff site on the Desert Sage website.

Thank you for the support you provide your student and his/her teachers.

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

The Kroger Family of Companies is committed to community engagement, positive social impact and charitable giving at the national and local levels. Every community is unique, but our common goal is to partner with the neighborhoods we serve and help the people there live healthier lives.

One of the ways in which we do this is through our Fry’s Community Rewards program. This program makes fundraising easy by donating to local organizations based on the shopping you do every day. Once you link your Card to an organization, all you have to do is shop at Fry’s and swipe your Shopper’s Card. Here’s how it works:

1. Create a digital account.

• A digital account is needed to participate in Fry’s Community Rewards. If you already have a digital account, simply link your Shopper’s Card to your account so that all transactions apply toward the organization you choose

2. Link your Card to an organization. Selecting the organization that you wish to support is as simple as updating the Fry’s Community Rewards selection on your digital account.

• Sign in to your digital account.
• Search for your organization here. (Organization: Desert Sage Elementary School, Organization #: WL124)
• Enter the name or NPO number of the organization you wish to support.
• Select the appropriate organization from the list and click “Save”. Your selected organization will also display in the Fry’s Community Rewards section of your account. If you need to review or revisit your organization, you can always do so under your Account details.
  

3. Your organization earns.

• Any transactions moving forward using the Shopper’s Card number associated with your digital account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Fry’s donates $2 Million annually, paid out quarterly, to participating organizations based on your percentage of spending as it relates to the total spending associated with all participating Fry’s Community Rewards organizations.

• Last date to register to vote - October 7, 2024

• First date to vote by early ballot - October 9, 2024

• Last date to request early ballot - October 25, 2024

• Deadline to Vote Early In-Person - November 1, 2024

• Election day - November 5, 2024

Education is a field that continues to change rapidly, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our staff are able to fulfill their commitment of meeting the challenges of today’s educational environment. Supporting this commitment includes providing the time for staff to work in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) each week, at a regularly scheduled time, to collect, review and utilize student data to more effectively serve our students’ academic and behavioral needs.

The PLC work for teachers at Desert Sage includes working with their grade level, Special Education, Reading Specialist (K-3), and Gifted Sage teacher (3-6) colleagues to analyze ELA and Math data. They plan the intervention groups (Tier II and Tier III) that students will participate in daily for additional instruction on the learning standards. These intervention groups are fluid, meaning they change frequently based on students' progress toward meeting the standard they are working on. Additionally, during this time the teachers work to create Common Formative Assessments, aka mini quizzes on the standard that will be used to determine student's growth. Finally, throughout all of this collaborative work, the teacher determines the most efficient and effective instructional planning for the whole group.

If you're eager to learn more about PLCs and their role in our educational process, we encourage you to visit our DVUSD PLC website. It's a valuable resource that can enhance your understanding and support our collective efforts.

This year we are continuing to highlight a specific Life Skill each week. This instruction is designed to strengthen our students' academic and social behavior skills. Throughout the week, students participate in class meetings that we call “Fireside Chats”. 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 recognize one student from each class, who has best exemplified the Life Skill of the week. This student will receive a certificate and this year's Desert Sage sticker when they are recognized by Principal Gill and Assistant Principal Race.

• Wednesday, 9/25: Field Trip, 1st grade Arizona Science Center
• Friday, 9/27: Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
  
• Monday, 9/30: Confucius Day (observed)
• October: National Principal Appreciation Month
• Wednesday, 10/2: School Custodian Appreciation Day
• Wednesday, 10/2: Last day for Quarter 1 work turn-in
• Wednesday, 10/2: Kona Ice Fundraiser 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• Thursday, 10/3: Fall Picture Day
• Thursday, 10/3: PTO Zoom meeting at 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, 10/4: Gecko Gathering at 8:30 a.m.
• Friday, 10/4: 1st Quarter Ends
• Friday, 10/4: Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
  
• 10/7-10/11: No school, Fall Break
• 10/14-10/18: Parent Teacher Conference Week & Scholastic Book Fair Week
  
• Thursday, 10/17 & Friday, 10/18: Dismissal at 12:05 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.

• Website: dvusd.org/desertsage
• Location: 4035 West Alameda Road, Glendale, AZ, USA
• Phone: (623) 445-4700
• Twitter: @DesertSageElem
• Instagram: dvusd_desertsage
• Facebook: DVUSD Desert Sage