Home of the Falcons!
"We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence"
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Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 |
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McDowell Mountain Elementary School
Hello McDowell Mountain Families!
I cannot believe that we have been in school for one quarter already. I hope that everyone had a wonderful fall break and are ready to tackle quarter two.
Parent-Conferences
McDowell Mountain Elementary School hosted Parent Teacher Conferences October 7 & 8. Teachers mentioned that they had a nice turn out at conferences, although our goal every year is to get 100% in attendance. We do realize and understand that Conferences were scheduled up against fall break and some may have been out of town.
I had the pleasure of sitting in on several of the conferences and I found them to be very meaningful. The teachers went over IXL and STAR reading assessments and they summarized the 45-day screening results to parents. All of these are used as baseline data for our staff to academically group students and to measure growth throughout the school year. This information is very important; therefore, if you were unable to attend conferences, please contact your child’s teacher to make arrangements to obtain the information that was provided at conferences.
45-Day Screener
Parents were given letters at Conferences which included information regarding the screening process that all McDowell Mountain Students participate in. This screener looks at many areas of development: vision, hearing, communication, academic/cognitive, motor, social/behavioral, and adaptive. Teachers observe students for 45 days and determine whether there is no concern -or- if there is a reason for concern. If there was a reason for concern, the 45-day screening letter will indicate steps the student’s team will take in order to successfully address the concern. One step may be to monitor the student’s progress or another step may be to refer the student to our student study team to implement strategies to assist the student at school. This does not mean that a student will be referred for further Special Education testing, this only means that a group of staff members are going to assist the classroom teacher by brainstorming accommodations that can be tried in the classroom that haven’t already be tried. Sometimes, a student just needs an accommodation in place to be successful. You do not need to be a student receiving services from Special Education to have an accommodation implemented in the classroom. Once accommodations have been tried for several weeks, the team will determine if further discussion is warranted or if the student is successful with the proposed accommodations and no further action is needed.
Sincerely,
Dr. Shelly Jensen
Principal
McDowell Mountain Elementary School
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Thank you PTO, Parents and Community Members! |
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Fountain Hills Middle School
Happy Friday FHMS Families,
It is hard to believe that we are getting ready to say goodbye to October, and when we return on Monday, we will have jumped into November. With this being the first Falcon Focus of Quarter 2, I did want to quickly say that we had a great quarter 1 at FHMS. It was great to have everyone on campus as much as possible and to have a rhythm and flow to our learning. Thank you to all of the stakeholders who have made this possible - teachers, students and parents all played major roles in our successes as a school.
Turning our attention to quarter 2, I wanted to talk not only from a principal point of view, but as a parent as well. Much of what I see on a daily basis here at school is mirrored in my own students as well. Having been in several classes now, I see a habit that has formed, and one that we all need to help our students break. I often hear students say “I can’t do this”, “This is hard”, “I am tired”, and “Can you just tell us the answer?” On the morning announcements, I talk about students doing the heavy lifting each day in school. They should go home tired because they have been asked to engage in a full day of learning. There are great things going on here at FHMS, and we will continue to raise our level of rigor and expectations as the year continues. We need to continue to build foundational skills and prepare our students for what lies ahead – high school or college/career.
One of the best ways to break this cycle is to attack each day with a Growth Mindset. Here are a few subtle changes we can make to help push us forward:
- Instead of, I made a mistake. Let’s try, mistakes help me learn.
- Instead of, I give up. Let’s try, how can I do this differently?
- Instead of, this is too hard. Let’s try, this may take some time to complete.
- Instead of, it’s good enough. Let’s try, is this really my best work?
As we continue to shift away from a Fixed Mindset and embrace a Growth Mindset, the possibilities will become endless for our students.
Quarter 2 Ways to get involved:
- Cross Country 5-8
- Softball 6-8
- Baseball 6-8
- Fashion Club
- Robotics Club
- Running Club
- K’Kids and Builders
Check out our Webpage for further information
We would also love to increase our Twitter followers:
Log on and give us a follow!
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Oh what fun they had! This week was spirit week at the middle school! |
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Have a wonderful weekend, rest, and recharge and we will see everyone in November.
In Partnership,
Jeff Markle
Principal
Fountain Hills Middle School
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Fountain Hills High School
Hello Falcons!
We commend our staff and students for making it through and thriving this first quarter! As we enter second quarter, we are focusing on all of the good work that students are doing both in and out of the classroom.
We continue to emphasize student safety both while on campus and before and after school. Please ensure your student arrives at school on time to get their temperature taken as they enter the gates.
Award Recipients
We congratulate our PBIS Students of the Quarter, Emerson Uphoff and Matt Milano! All students are eligible to receive Falcon Feathers for exhibiting kindness, respect, responsibility, and safety. Soon our Student Store will be opening and students will be able to trade their Feathers for prizes and Falcon swag.
Another congratulation to our Kiwanis Pacesetters of the month Audrey Alcorn and Casey Osborne!
Attendance
Reminder: parents should be able to check for teacher’s daily lessons if students are absent on PLP. If students are going to be absent, please contact our new Attendance Secretary, Kathie Cook, at 480-664-5512 or leave a message on the Attendance Line at 480-664-5513. Please be sure to keep students home if they are ill.
Winter Sports
Winter sports practices start Monday, November 1st. Students wishing to participate must be fully cleared and registered on RegisterMyAthlete.com to play. Please see Athletic Director Evelyn Wynn for assistance. Registration is due TODAY.
Pom try-outs are November 3rd-5th. Interested students must pick up a packet in the front office. Please contact Mrs. Wilson if you have any questions.
AP and ASU
Please note that November 10th is the deadline to register for the 2022 AP Exams. You can visit collegeboard.org for more information.
Arizona State University will hold an Information Session on Thursday, November 4th in the library from 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Thank you and I wish everyone a great start to November!
Sincerely,
Chris Hartmann
Principal
Fountain Hills High School
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