Gecko Gazette

Visitors welcome for lunch in our cafe beginning Tuesday, September 5, 2023!

Grade level lunch times, menu, and lunch prices are available on our Cafeteria/Food & Nutrition webpage.

All visitors must:

• Sign in at the office.
• Present photo I.D. when signing in.
• Wear a visitors badge while at school.
• Sign out & return the visitors badge to the office.

Visitors are welcome during lunch in the cafeteria, but are not allowed during recess.

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!

Have you ever wondered if it's a 2:00 p.m. release day or when we have a school event like picture day happening? If your response is yes, then make sure to bookmark our Desert Sage School Calendar on your devices. It is the "go-to" location for all things happening at Desert Sage.

Desert Sage School Calendar

Click on the item listed for the day for more information about the event.

With an average high temperature of 105 degrees in August, and 100 degrees in September, we'll be dealing with extreme heat for several weeks. Learn about DVUSD student and athlete safety precautions, and get tips to beat the heat from Arizona Department of Health Services. Click HERE for DVUSD heat advisory guidelines.

Desert Sage has implemented a NEW indoor recess design for all students. On the days that indoor recess is required due to heat advisory restrictions or rain, students have a choice of 2 zones for their recess. There is the "Active Zone" where students play organized games such as Trashketball, Chain Reaction, Tic-Tac-Toe Relay and more. The games change weekly for the students. The other option is the "Relax Zone" where students can read, play board games, do puzzles, draw, or just sit and chat with friends.

Indoor recess has never had more options or fun!

Ensuring fair and credible evaluation of student learning from classroom to classroom and school to school will directly impact and improve student learning. Students should be held accountable for their learning. DVUSD also recognizes that grading practices can contribute to long-term student success. An emphasis on the evaluation of content standards and timely, constructive feedback are cornerstones to grading that reflect student growth and development.

See DVUSD Grading Practices for more details about grading procedures in Deer Valley Unified School District.

For more information about Desert Sage's grading practices for each grade level, click on the "Grading Practices'" picture or click here. The link will open the Desert Sage Curriculum Night Grading Practices presentation.

Students’ personal electronic devices are to be turned off and stored within their backpack as they enter class, UNLESS permission is given directly from the teacher to utilize apps, calculator or internet functions as it relates to the curriculum or class lessons. If it falls out of a student pocket or backpack, he/she will be asked to put it away. The first time the phone rings or alerts, a student will be asked to turn it off. Repeated violations will result in confiscation by the teacher and further violations will be reported to the office, requiring parents to pick the device up directly and discipline may be assigned accordingly. Unapproved use includes: AM Bell to PM Bell between normal school hours, recess and lunch, between classes, in the bathroom, and photos or videos of anyone at school. There is no texting, phone calls, or social media use allowed during school hours. If a student needs to contact family, they will need to use a school phone with permission from their teacher.

All electronic devices (cell phones, smartwatches, etc.) need to be turned off and in backpacks throughout the school day. Consequences will be given accordingly and phone procedures may need to be implemented if repeated offenses occur.

Desert Sage strongly recommends a “no food birthday treats” practice. The reason for this is to protect the health and safety of students. Due to the increasing number of students with food allergies; peanuts, tree nuts, fruits, dairy, etc. care has to be taken with food that enters the school. It is difficult to screen foods to make sure they are safe for all the students in the classroom.

• It is recommended that items such as pencils, stickers, erasers, etc. be provided for birthday treats if the parent chooses.
  
• The ONLY food birthday treats that can be given at Desert Sage is the DVUSD Birthday Buckets ordered from the DVUSD Food and Nutrition Department. Food and Nutrition ensures that all dietary restrictions and allergies are accounted for within the classroom. For more information or to order contact our school Cafeteria Manager at 623-445-4714 or click here. Please be sure to place orders at least 2 weeks in advance of your child’s birthday.
  
• If food items are brought in for a birthday treat they will not be given out to the students. The food will be sent home with the student at the end of the school day.

Social Emotional Learning is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions (Casel.org). Desert Sage continues to teach these necessary skills in our classrooms, and through our interactions with students.

We are happy to continue to bring All Things E.Q. to all of our Geckos. All Things E.Q. (ATEQ) provides students with daily lessons focused on positive self talk, perseverance, empathy, and teaches necessary skills to deal with change and uncertainty. Click on the ATEQ picture for more parent information about ATEQ, including our motto for this week and an introductory video.

Click on the link for additional resources to help support your family's social emotional needs. DVUSD SEL Resources

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 towards 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, teacher determine the most efficient and effective instructional planning for whole group.

Each month we will include an "I Spy PLC" section to our Gecko Gazette. In this section, we will give a brief synopsis of the teachers' PLC work for that month.

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

Arrival:

• Students should not be on campus until 8:30 a.m. unless they are coming to school for breakfast (begins at 8:15 a.m.) Staff is not on duty throughout the campus prior to 8:30 a.m. and it is a safety concern if students are unattended.
• Please make sure to drop students off only in the designated "Drop-Off" area.
• Be patient and drive slowly throughout the parking lot.

Dismissal:

• If your child's dismissal procedure has changed, make sure to notify the teacher as soon as possible.
• Be respectful of our neighborhood. Do NOT block driveways while waiting for your student to reach you. Do NOT park your vehicle on the sidewalk, forcing students to walk into the street.
• Be patient and drive slowly throughout the parking lot.
  

If you have not completed your student's back to school online forms, please do so as soon as possible. This is to ensure we have the most up to date contact information for parents, health/medical information for your student, and correct emergency contacts.

If you need assistance call Mrs. Rodeman, school registrar at 623-445-4706.

• Tuesday, 8/29: Volunteer Training at 8:00 a.m.
• Tuesday, 8/29: Curriculum Night 1st, 3rd & 5th at 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, 9/1: Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
  
• Monday, 9/4: No school, Labor Day
• Thursday, 9/7: PTO Zoom meeting at 4:30 p.m.
• Friday, 9/8: Gecko Gathering at 8:30 a.m.
• Friday, 9/8: Dismissal at 3:30 p.m.
• Friday, 9/15: 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