 
SUSD Update:
-
At a March 7 special meeting, the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board unanimously approved a five-percent pay raise for all SUSD employees for the 2019-2020 school year.
The Board also voted to approve a plan calling for the district to absorb an anticipated six-percent increase in employee medical insurance premiums and to offer a more robust benefits package with expanded insurance options.
- AzMERIT testing for students in grades 3 - 11 begins April 1 and runs through April 24. The testing will cover English Language Arts (Reading, Writing) and Mathematics.
- The SUSD Governing Board approved the purchase of more than 7,500 Lenovo Chromebooks for use by middle and high school science students. The new tech tools will be necessary for the district's implementation of updated Arizona science standards. Their purchase is part of a five-year plan to get to a 1:1 student to computer ratio in all core classes.
- The Governing Board hired CORE Construction, Inc., Phoenix to handle pre-construction services for the Cherokee Elementary School. It will work with Orcutt Winslow's architects to conduct a feasibility study that will lead to a recommendation to the Board on whether Cherokee should be renovated or rebuilt. The Board will receive the recommendation at its April 11 study session at the Mohave District Annex. The 3 p.m. meeting is open to the public and can also be viewed live or afterwards on the SUSD YouTube channel.
|
New Step for SUSD's Best Speller 
What do you do when you've won your district Spelling Bee four years in a row and won this year's Region 2 Bee? Why you win the Arizona Spelling Bee, of course!
That's exactly what Desert Canyon Middle School student Omkar Bharath did last week, besting 26 other spellers at the Arizona Educational Foundation-sponsored state Bee. Sixth grader Omkar correctly spelled the word breviary to take the title in the 24th round. Arizona PBS Channel 8 will air the State Bee on May 5 at 1 p.m.
Next up? Omkar will represent Arizona (and SUSD!) in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in suburban Washington, D.C. May 27 - 30 and will get to spell against the country's best spellers. Last year's winning word in the national Bee was koinonia.
To earn a place in the finals, spellers will have to tackle a spelling and vocabulary test and two rounds of onstage spelling.
Check ESPN's schedule for live coverage of the National Spelling Bee the last week of May.
Omkar reports he'll be studying hard for the big event. "I'm really excited. It's going to be a really cool experience just being there."
|
 We Study Geography, Too!
Five SUSD students were in Tucson on Friday for the 2019 Arizona GeoBee. There's no word at press time on how they fared, but we're really proud of:
- Cherokee Elementary School fifth grader Dhruva Ganjam
-
Cocopah Middle School seventh grader Matteo Barone
-
Copper Ridge School seventh grader Nathan Dryden
-
Desert Canyon Middle School seventh grader Leo Weber and
-
Mountainside Middle School eighth grader Ryder Schwartz.
We know these students have been working hard to master everything from Mesopotamia to Mississippi in preparation for the annual competition sponsored by the Arizona Geographic Alliance.
To qualify for the state competition,
they had to win their school bees and pass an online test. The winner of the state GeoBee will head to Washington, D. C., to take part in the National Geographic GeoBee and its associated festivities May 19 - 22.
|
|
|
Cocopah Welcomes New Citizens
In a stirring ceremony at Cocopah Middle School, 20 people born in 20 different countries became U.S citizens at a naturalization ceremony held March 5 in the school's cafeteria. Candidates from Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, Germany, Haiti, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Thailand and Togo took the U.S Oath of Allegiance, as administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Phoenix Section Chief Charles Harrell and, for the first time as U.S. citizens, recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
It was a fitting event to take place at Cocopah, which the Arizona Department of Education recently named a 2017-2018 Arizona Civic Engagement Program School of Excellence
for its commitment to preparing its students to be active and responsible citizens, one of only eight such schools in the state. In preparation to witness the ceremony, Cocopah's eighth grade class studied the naturalization process, the history of immigration to the U.S. and the significance of being a U.S. citizen.
|
Making History
The Grand Canyon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) recently recognized Saguaro High School's lead Social Studies Department teacher Ashley Crose with its Outstanding American History Teacher Award. It's no secret to us that he is one of SUSD's best teachers! Crose consistently engages his Arizona/American Government, Advanced Placement Government and World History students in the highest quality instruction. He is one of the district's 80+ National Board Certified teachers and is in his 17th year at Saguaro.
The local DAR chapter also recognized several SUSD students for their entries in its annual challenges:
|
Maeve Lomax
Fiona Geraghty
Jose Herrera
Brooke Jones
Ethan Rohas
|
Chaparral High School
Cocopah Middle School
Coronado High School
Mountainside Middle School
Mountainside Middle School
|
Christopher Columbus Essay Award
American History Essay Award
DAR Good Citizen Award
Junior American Citizen Award
Junior American Citizen Award
|
Congratulations, one and all!
|
All school-year long, Desert Canyon Elementary School (DCES) has been celebrating its 20th anniversary. Events so far have included a family game night, a family fun run and a spring carnival. Still to come: a school dance and a time capsule ceremony.
It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since the first Mountain Lion Cubs skipped on to the McDowell Mountain Ranch campus. A lot of things have changed in that time: the amphitheater now has turf, the coves have names, kindergartners learn Mandarin, vegetables and flowers grow in a garden, a beautiful butterfly mural graces an exterior wall, and the fields are fenced. What hasn't changed is the commitment of the school's teachers, staff and administration to provide students with relatable, rigorous learning opportunities. As they say at DCES, "Let's Roar for 20 More!"
|
|
2018 Tax Credit Deadline Approaching
April 15, Tax Day, is only a few weeks away! Support your SUSD school by making a 2018 tax credit contribution by April 15 2019. Anyone who pays Arizona state income tax may make a contribution.
Click HERE
to learn more! Students and school programs depend on
you to be able to offer learning opportunities beyond those made possible by state funding. Thank you for supporting SUSD in this way!
|
|
|
| Tax Credit Contributions Benefit SUSD Students |
|
|
Upcoming Events
| April 2: |
High School Jazz Bands Concert, 6 p.m., Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale |
|
April 4 - 6:
|
SUSD Fine Arts Festival, 5 p.m. (April 4 & 5); 2 p.m. (April 6), FBC Scottsdale, 7025 E. Osborn Rd., Scottsdale
|
| April 11: |
SUSD Governing Board Study Session, 3 p.m., Mohave District Annex, 8500 E. Jackrabbit Rd., Scottsdale
|
| April 16: |
SUSD Governing Board Regular Meeting, 5 p.m., Board Room, Coronado High School, 7501 E. Virginia Ave., Scottsdale
|
|
April 17:
|
District High School Track & Field Meet, 3:30 p.m., Stadium, Chaparral High School, 6935 E. Gold Dust Ave., Scottsdale
|
| April 17: |
Parent Institute for Gifted & Talented Students:
Roadmap to Success,
5:30 p.m., Mohave District Annex, 8500 E. Jackrabbit Rd., Scottsdale
|
| April 19: |
District Recess - No school |
| April 26: |
Scottsdale Charros Outstanding Students and Educators Annual Awards Banquet, 6 p.m., The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch, 7700 E. McCormick Pkwy, Scottsdale |
|
|
|
|
