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Superintendent's Message                              April 7, 2017
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Merging Four Peaks Elementary and the Middle School (Revisited)

In the February 17th edition of the Falcon Focus, I shared information regarding the merging of Four Peaks Elementary and Fountain Hills Middle School, and provided a link for parents to share their concerns and recommendations. I want to revisit the topic today, reviewing some of the benefits of merging, the proposed bell schedules including start and end times, and some changes in busing.  I also want to provide another opportunity for input as I will be discussing the plan for the merge with the governing board at its next meeting on Wednesday, April 12th. Of note, after the February 17th request for input, I received responses from five parents.  Of those, one didn't like the later start time for middle school, one thought it was a "fantastic" plan, one expressed concerns about drop-off and pick-up logistics, and two had concerns about combining the K through 8 students on the buses. Please read further and share your thoughts by using the link at the end of this article. 

Benefits of Merging

I believe there are benefits for students, parents, and overall school operations in having common start and end times for grades 4 through 8.
The benefits students can experience with the alignment of the school hours include a consolidated bus run. Students in grades kindergarten to eight will ride together, many with siblings, which may be helpful to many families. Our club offerings will expand to include grades four to eight both before and after school. Buddy classrooms (the pairing of fourth and fifth grade homerooms with middle school classes) will promote school spirit and academic supports, expanding our cross-grade level tutoring during the school day. School spirit events will include all students in the same place at the same time.

Aligned school hours will allow for variety in scheduling for all grades. Professional development will consolidate all five grade levels and allow articulation meetings and planning by department and grade levels so that teachers can improve lesson planning and collaboration. A new bell schedule will allow parents to plan for nine years of consistent school hours. 

The Schedules

  For Grades 4 and 5


  For grades 6 through 8


 
For McDowell Mountain Elementary, grades K-3, the schedule remains essentially unchanged:

          Regular School Day - 8:45 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
          One-Hour Early Release Wednesdays - 8:45 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.
          Half-Day Early Release* - 8:45 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. 
          (this is 5 minutes earlier than  current practice)

Changes in Busing

Currently, we bus students in grades 6-12 together on one run, picking up and dropping off students at the high school and middle school. We have a separate run for students in grades K-5, picking up and dropping off students at Four Peaks and McDowell Mountain. With the new schedule, high school students will be bused separately and we will combine students in grades K-8 on the second run.

To accommodate this new configuration, director of transportation John Flynn has completed a draft of proposed new bus routes, which I expect to be able to share electronically by the end of next week. He has taken into consideration the number of students from each grade level at each designated stop in order to have relative balance in our passenger loads and to maintain safety on the buses. When we share the draft of these new routes,  we want your feedback so we can make appropriate adjustments as needed.  

Eleven districts in the Phoenix metropolitan area successfully and safely transport K-8 students on consolidated bus routes. We plan on having seating arrangements on those buses to have the youngest children nearest the front and are considering ways to develop a program for recruiting some of our StuGo, Falcon Leaders, and NJHS students to act in leadership roles at bus stops and on the buses to promote a system-wide culture of kindness, responsibility, consistency and adherence to the bus rules. 

Here's another chance to share any concerns and/or recommendations you have with aligning the start times for students in grades 4-8 beginning in August. One goal in making this change is to make life easier for parents and we are still able to adjust for improvements based on your concerns and recommendations.   

Use this link to share concerns and recommendations.

Kind Regards,

Patrick Sweeney, Ed.D.
Superintendent 

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04/08/2017
FHHS Prom 7 PM - 11 PM Phoenix Marriott Tempe at the Buttes
04/12/2017
Regular Meeting of the Governing Board Meeting 6:30 PM @ the Learning Center
04/14/2017
No School--District Recess
04/17/2017 National Honor Society Induction Ceremony 6:30 PM @ the Lecture Hall on the high school campus

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16000 E. Palisades Blvd., Fountain Hills, AZ 85268 480.664.5000