Dear Doolen Families,
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! We are thrilled to welcome our students and staff back to school. We hope that you were able to relax and make special memories with your friends and families. Now, it is time to look forward to a wonderful new school year as we are moving forward as a UNITED Doolen Middle School – GATE, ELD, ExEd, General Ed – We are…DOOLEN THUNDERBIRDS!
Our incredible staff of educators have been working hard throughout the summer to prepare classrooms for the new school year. We are grateful to our amazing custodial staff as they worked all summer getting our school in pristine shape. Our office staff, Ms. Juanita Felix, Office Manager and Ms. Veronica Moreno, Registrar/Attendance Clerk, are working hard to ensure a smooth start for staff, students, and families.
Doolen Middle School is such a special place to learn and grow. We are proud of our beautiful school and have high expectations for every student. We strive to make connections with students to help them feel valued, accepted, and safe. Our school is committed to fostering passions, developing responsible citizens, and preparing for tomorrow’s opportunities which will continue to guide our mission to provide a rigorous and joyful inclusive school environment. Our overarching goal is to encourage active student engagement to foster a lifetime love for learning using best instructional practices.
Our academic instruction will be prepared through effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) of content teams following state standards, utilizing AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) practices in all classes through strong student to student engagement/learning. In addition to instructional practices, we will be holding ourselves accountable via Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), 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.
Partnering with families is crucial to promote a healthy transition to school. We encourage families to stay connected and informed by following our district website, announcements, and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) and to participate in our Monthly Site Council and PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization) meetings. In addition, GATE families hold GATE Booster meetings each month. Embedded into our family engagement is our on-site Higher Ground Team that engages the students, families, and community to our school.
Please look for procedural updates communicated to you from Doolen Middle School and Tucson Unified School District for more up to date information.
With great enthusiasm,
Nathaly Santin
Principal
