Parents,

We had a wonderful first week of school at Pioneer. Our year started off with a great turnout for Meet the Teacher prior to our official first day of school. The teachers and staff did a wonderful job preparing their classrooms and the campus for students. This week our teachers have been busy building positive relationships with all students and teaching school and classroom procedures and expectations. Please mark your calendars for our next parent event which will be our Curriculum Night(s). These will be held from 5:00pm-6:00pm on August 15th for grades PreK thru 3rd grade and August 17th for 4th-6th grade students. Teachers will hold one session at 5:00pm and then another at 5:30pm so that parents with students in more than one grade level can attend two sessions. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of our outstanding young Prospectors and I believe that we are going to have a fantastic school year. Please review all of the information provided below. A new edition of the Gold Mine with updates and other school information will come out at the beginning of each month.

Sincerely,

Mr. Ames Singley

Principal-Pioneer Elementary

Proud to be a Prospector!

Tuesday, August 1st-Picture Day, New Parent Walk-up/Pick-up Process begins

Wednesday, August 2nd-Early Release (1:55pm)

Friday, August 4th-Pioneer Spirit Day

Wednesday, August 9th-Early Release (1:55pm)

Friday, August 11th-Pioneer Spirit Day

Tuesday, August 15th-Curriculum Night (PreK thru 3rd Grade) 5:00pm-6:00pm

Wednesday, August 16th-Early Release (1:55pm)

Thursday, August 17th-Curriculum Night (4th Grade thru 6th Grade) 5:00pm-6:00pm

Friday, August 18th-Pioneer Spirit Day

Wednesday, August 23rd-Early Release (1:55pm)

Friday, August 25th-Pioneer Spirit Day

Wednesday, August 30th-Half Day (11:55am)

Last week we introduced "Homesteads", one of our schoolwide character building programs, by holding short multi-grade "cabin" meetings followed by a school assembly. Our students were fully engaged and excited as they learned which Homestead their cabin would be linked to along with their Homestead's name, the color of their Homestead's flag, and the Arizona animal that represents their Homestead. Each of our five Homesteads represents one of the key character traits that make up our theme of We SHINE like Gold: Always Show Respect; Be Helpful; Show Integrity; Never Give Up; Exemplify Excellence.

Below are two buttons (English/Spanish) with information on Arizona's Move on When Reading legislation and the impact it has on third grade promotion and retention.

Parents-We have had an outstanding response to our requests for all families to complete the Free and Reduced Meal form. Having all families complete this form (regardless of whether or not your family will qualify) is critical to Pioneer's Title 1 funding which allows us to valuable math and reading supports intervention services for our students. The information is confidential and it only takes a few minutes to complete. It appears that over one hundred families have completed the form for this year but our goal is to have every family at Pioneer complete it to help us secure our Title 1 funding. If you have not submitted a form for this year please click on the App below, fill out the form, and submit. Thank you in advance for your support.

Please click on the buttons below to access a letter regarding our district's and school's Second Step SEL program. If you are choosing to submit return the opt-out form please complete and return it to the school by Friday, August 4th if you are choosing that option for your child.

Thank you to everyone helping to make our student drop-off and pick-up process go smoothly. I would like to remind everyone to please be mindful of our safety procedures and to use the crosswalks when moving from the parking lot to the sidewalk to pick up students. As adults it is is important for us to model safe behaviors and actions for our students. Beginning on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 we will move our "walk up" parent pick-up location to the west side of the parking lot where there are benches right next to the school. The benches are in the shade and there is a crosswalk right there for easy access to the parking lot. Even though this option is available for parents I would like to encourage as many parents as possible to use our drive-thru pick up process as I believe it it is safe and extremely efficient. After day one we seemed to be able to complete dismissal in under ten minutes.

Please view the picture for a visual of this new parent walk-up location.

Tomorrow, August 1, 2023 will be Picture Day. Please remind your student to come dressed in an outfit they want to be photographed in and to bring their million dollar smiles!

Pioneer's PTSO is always looking for new volunteers to help with this very important organization. If you are interested in volunteering please contact the school office for more information. One way that the PTSO raises money for the school is through the sale of Pioneer Prospectors' Spirit Wear. Every Friday at Pioneer is designated as Spirit Day and we encourage students to wear either Pioneer colors, maroon or gray, or some type of spirit wear purchased through the PTSO. Click on the buttons below to view our Pioneer Spirit Wear products.

New PTSO Spirit Wear has to be ordered by this Friday, August 4, 2023.

Discounted Spirit Wear orders will be ongoing while supplies last.