Gecko Gazette

After some outstanding auditions, the following 6th grade students have been selected to participate in the DVUSD Honor Band this school year.

• Hayden S. (flute)
• Lilly M. (clarinet)
• Mason G. (euphonium)
• Max R. (baritone saxophone)
• Parker Y. (tuba)
• Sophie L. (clarinet)
• Lily W. (trombone/1st alternate)

Students have until Wednesday, December 14th to turn in any absent or missing assignments or redo assignments for a better grade for the current grading quarter. 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 have 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.

Our Student Council is hosting a Holiday Spirit week this Monday, December 12th through December 16th. Students and staff are invited to show their holiday spirit all week long!

• Monday, 12/12 - Candy Cane Day (Red/White)
• Tuesday, 12/13 - Winter White Day (White/Blue)
• Wednesday, 12/14 - Ugly Sweater Day
• Thursday, 12/15 - Grinchy Green & Whoville Hair Day
• Friday, 12/16 - Holiday PJ Day

Starting 2nd quarter, Desert Sage will be going paperless with report cards. Report cards will no longer be printed for grades 1-6, but instead will be viewed online using your Parent PowerSchool account. If you need access to PowerSchool, please contact our front office. Kindergarten report cards will continue to be printed. Special Education Progress Reports will be emailed to the student's parents/guardians.

Friday, December 16th will be 12:05 p.m. dismissal for all students. Please be sure to make appropriate arrangements for your child's early pickup on these days.

December 2nd was Special Education Day & we celebrated our EXTRAORDINARY Special Education teachers. We are beyond thankful for Mrs. Anderson, Ms. Branson, Mrs. Flores, Ms. Fridley, Mrs. Kasher, Mrs. Thorton, and Ms. Waterman. They are truly extraordinary educators with hearts of gold for their students.

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. Upcoming training dates include: January 24, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. and March 23, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. If you cannot attend these dates or are in need of an earlier training date, you can attend any volunteer training provided at a DVUSD school campus.

District Volunteer Information with Training Dates

Thank you for considering volunteering at Desert Sage!

Grade level teams are taking a close look at their students' mid-year assessments for possible whole group and small group reteaching needs. These assessments include DIBELS Benchmark for kindergarten through 3rd grade, Math Growth Measure for 1st through 6th grade, and Reading Inventory for 1st through 6th grade.

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

The K-12 Social Studies Resource Adoption Public Review is now available for all stakeholders to assist in reviewing materials that have been selected by our district committee members for possible adoption. Public review will be open until January 2nd, 2023. Materials and information can be found at dvusd.org/ssadoption22. We look forward to hearing from our community!

DVUSD is currently in the process of reviewing materials for a Music Curriculum Materials Adoption for grades K-12. The curriculum adoption team has selected three potential resources for our K-12 Music students and teachers. Materials are now available for public review and will remain available until January 2, 2023. Please visit the K-12 Music Curriculum Materials Adoption page dvusd.org/musicadoption22 for additional information and to provide feedback. We look forward to hearing from our community!

• Thursday, 12/8: In-Person PTO Meeting at 4:15 p.m.
  
• Friday, 12/9: PTO Donuts with Grown Ups at 7:30 a.m.
• Friday, 12/9: Dismissal at 2:00 p.m.
  
• 12/12-12/13: Gecko Gold Store & PTO Holiday Shop
• Wednesday, 12/14: Last day to turn in 2nd quarter work
• Friday, 12/16: Half-day 12:05 p.m. Dismissal
• 12/19-1/2: No School, Winter Break
• Tuesday, 1/3: School resumes for 3rd quarter
• Friday, 1/6: Regular 3:30 p.m. Dismissal

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