McDowell Mountain Elementary School
Dear MMES Falcon Families:
Happy Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day! We’re celebrating that and more at MMES:
Presidents’ Day & Responsibility Virtual Assembly
On February 11 ahead of the February 15 holiday when we have no school, MMES celebrated Presidents’ Day and the Character Counts trait of Responsibility at school with a virtual assembly video. It started with Mrs. Bovinette’s K1 class reciting the Preamble to the Constitution and singing the Presidents Song. These kindergarteners did an amazing job of learning all those important words and memorizing the 46 presidents! Thank you for teaching them this, Mrs. Bovinette!
Also in the video, Ms. Smart and her dog, Boo told everyone about some students and staff who did some very specific caring and kind things and were chosen for the Bobby’s Best Buddy award. Thank you so much to the following students and staff who have been showing caring and kindness in such special ways:
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1 student for 1st grade: Bailey Ruiz
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2 students from 2nd grade: Masen Doka and Lincoln Hagerty
- 2 staff members: Mrs. Tracy Perry, Art Teacher and Mr. Rob Perkins, Custodian
Next, we awarded Responsibility awards for one student from each class. These students do what they’re supposed to do; persevere; always do their best; use self-control and are self-disciplined; think before they act; and are accountable for their choices. Congratulations to the following students for the top Responsibility award for each class:
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3rd Grade: Maegan Byrd, Jade DuFour, Dmitri Hunter, and Matthew Walters
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2nd Grade: Carson Adams, Natalie Guerrette, Jacob Langner, and Quinton Olson
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1st Grade: Henry Good, Sydney Hagerman, Mady Hitt, and Aubriana Hrisho
- Kindergarten: Charlie Brewer, Reagan Bultrowicz, Hadley Greenman, and Colton Shattuck Cerrano
- Preschool: Nathan Ontiveros and Mason Paulsen
Finally, we ended our virtual assembly with a video from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Larry Kratzer. They always present a Character Counts trait award to only one student for our entire school. This student is known as the Champion of Character. Captain Larry announced that the Champion of Character for Responsibility was 2nd grader, Carson Adams!
ATI Galileo Mid-Year Benchmark Assessments
Starting February 16, kindergarten through third grade will administer mid-year benchmark assessments using our standards-based assessment system, ATI Galileo. Kindergarten assessments will be administered one-on-one verbally and with students performing tasks. First grade assessments will be on paper with teachers reading aloud all stories and questions. All of second and third grade assessments will be online through the students’ ATI logins and they will have the universal accommodation of text-to-speech (questions read aloud) for Math. Third grade’s assessments will not only measure students’ progress on priority standards learned so far, but also provide teachers with relevant data in preparation for the state AzM2 assessment that third graders will take in April.
American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge
Kids Heart Challenge from the American Heart Association has been underway at MMES! Students have been learning how to take care of their hearts while helping others. They have been taking pledges to Move More, Be Kind, or Choose Water through February 12. Our goal was to raise at least $2,500 for the American Heart Association and that happened very quickly, so we made a new goal of $5,000 which we reached very quickly after that! So both Mrs. D and Mrs. Latona are going to be slimed on February 19! What we don’t know yet as of this writing is who the top two classes will be. They will get to be outside with front row seats as Mrs. D and Mrs. Latona get slimed by their teachers! We will announce the final results on February 16.
Falcon Leaders’ & Student Council’s Fearless Kitty Rescue Cat Food Drive
MMES Falcon Leaders and Student Council and their sponsors, Ms. Smart and Ms. Elder have been teaming together once again for another community service project, collecting dry and/or canned cat food for Fearless Kitty Rescue in Fountain Hills. Please bring in cat food up to February 26! Find out more about this local charity at https://fearlesskittyrescue.org/
We love our MMES A+ Falcon Family and Community!
Valerie Dehombreux
Principal
McDowell Mountain Elementary School
Fountain Hills Middle School
Hello Falcon Families,
We here at Fountain Hills Middle School are wishing you a happy Friday and want to thank you for your partnership with our school as we begin to turn the corner and head into what I like to call the busiest time of year. It is around this time that we continue to keep the pedal down on our learning for the 2020-2021 school year and begin to look at the horizon for what we need to get done to be ready for the 2021-2022 school year. As you can imagine, there are and will be many moving parts over the next 12 weeks.
Before we get to far down the road, I do want to take a moment and congratulate those students who made the Principal’s List and Honor Roll here at FHMS for Quarter 2. If you have not had a chance to see the list, you can click the link below.
The great news is we have 3+ weeks left in Quarter 3 to shoot for Honor Roll for this quarter. I have been reminding students to write down what they did in class and what they need to do for class to help build those strong study habits. These are great conversation pieces in the car or at home to keep them on track and accountable for their work.
8th Graders will be heading to the high school on February 19th as part of the kick off to their registration for next school year. Please ask your 8th grader about this trip and stay tuned for final details.
Calling all basketball players. Middle School basketball will get up and running after we return from spring break. Please visit our website under athletics to get signed up for our next sports season.
To wrap things up, I want to remind all students we have 13 weeks of school left. I know that our students are doing the best they can to navigate what has been less than a normal school existence, for far longer than any of us could have imagined. We will all benefit from showing each other grace, respect and taking care of our own actions. We still have a few things to learn and students to understand we have high expectations for them behaviorally and academically.
- Responsible
- Respectful
- Safe
- Kind
Thank you for sharing your students with us and allowing us to continue their education. We cannot accomplish many of our goals without you as a partner.
Jeff Markle
Principal
Fountain Hills Middle School
Fountain Hills High School
Hello Falcon Families!
It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the month of February! The staff here at the high school is hard at work preparing for the upcoming testing season which is quickly approaching for both state level testing as well as for the AP exams coming later in the spring. It’s wonderful seeing students on campus each and every day! We want to thank everyone, students, staff, parents, and community members, for making it possible for us to continue to remain open and providing a top notch education for our students! We feel fortunate to have your support.
8th Grade Visitation Day at FHHS
We at the high school are excited to partner with our colleagues at the middle school to host our current 8th graders here at the high school on Friday, February 19th. We will be hosting the current 8th grade class for lunch as well as a school tour that will include some classroom visits as well. The goal of this event is to introduce our soon to be 9th graders to the high school campus, meet our administrative team and counselors, and to share the expectations of what if means to be a Falcon. Students will be placed into groups and assigned a campus ambassador to guide through campus and showcase all the wonderful programs we offer at the high school. Below is the schedule for the afternoon.
- 12:00 - 8th grade students dismissed to board busses to the high school
- 12:30 - Lunch
- 1:00 - The Falcon Way presentation & awarding of their class color
- 1:30 - Tour of the campus & visit classrooms w/ campus ambassadors
- 2:30 - Depart HS to head home
Attention National Honor Society Hopefuls:
Letters were mailed on Friday, January 29th to students in 10th and 11th grade with a Cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. If you receive a letter, you may fill out an application to join NHS for the next school year. If you did not receive a letter and feel this is an error please contact Cristine Barsema at 480-664-5551 or cbarsema@fhacademics.org. You may pick up the application in the high school front office or print it out online. There is a link on the FHHS website in the Latest News feed. Applications are due Friday March 12, 2021.
Key Club Car Wash - Saturday, February 13th
The KEY Club will be hosting their annual car wash this Saturday, February 13th from 8:00am-12:00pm in the front parking lot of the school. Tickets are $5.00 per car and all proceeds will go to the FHHS KEY Club. Cash or checks made payable to the FHHS Key Club will be accepted as payment. The KEY Club will also be selling water, snacks, and air fresheners for additional purchase. We hope to see you this weekend!
Attention Tennis & Boys Volleyball Athletes:
If you are interested in participating in boys or girls tennis or boys volleyball this spring, please contact Ms. Langworthy in the front office by email at jlangworthy@fhacademics.org. Official practices begin on March 1st. Any students interested must complete the registration process within Register My Athlete prior to participating in tryouts.
Reminder: NHS Virtual Homework Hub
Our wonderful NHS students will continue to host a virtual homework hub for any students needing academic tutoring.
- Tutors are available Mondays and Thursdays from 2:30-3:15 and Wednesdays from 11:00-11:40.
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This is the link to access the homework hub virtually: https://meet.google.com/kqe-gukq-enm
Kris Alexander
Principal
Fountain Hills High School
