May 7, 2021
Home of the Falcons!
"We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence"
Falcon Focus
Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015
A Message From The Superintendent

Good afternoon Falcon Families,
 
This summer we are offering youth camps for a variety of ages of students in sports. We have a couple of offerings for K-4 students and many for 5-12th grades. The brochure and information can be found here or on our website under Summer School/Youth Camps. You can drop your forms and payment off at the District Office (16000 E. Palisades Blvd) or pay online. This is our first summer of camps for students. We will work toward having more opportunities for all our students over the next year. Hopefully, we will have a more robust schedule of fun events and camps for our children. 
 
Thank you to everyone who completed their students online registration for next school year. We appreciate being able to plan ahead for staffing and make sure that we have everything ready for your student. If you haven’t had the opportunity to register and need some assistance, you can make an appointment with the school site registrar, or you can call Carmen at 480-664-5083 for additional assistance. Once we get students registered, we’ll get them scheduled in classes so that your student has their class schedule before they leave for summer vacation. We’ll also do our best to assign teachers at the elementary school for you as well. 
 
We appreciate the feedback that we have received from families through the Panorama Surveys. We resent the link to everyone who has not completed the survey. We would be so grateful if you would take a few moments to complete the survey for your family. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete but will provide us with so much great information so that we can improve the work we do for our children, families, and community.
 
Have a wonderful weekend.

 Kelly Glass
Superintendent
Fountain Hills Unified School District
McDowell Mountain Elementary School

Dear MMES Falcon Families: 
 
It’s May, the last month of school! Here’s what’s been happening and what’s coming up at MMES:
 
End-of-Year Assessments 
May 3-21 is our test window for end-of-year assessments. MMES has been administering the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) end-of-year benchmark assessment to students in kindergarten through 3rd grade as well as an end-of-year benchmark assessment for kindergarten and post-tests in 1st-3rd grades similar to their September pre-tests using our current standards-based assessment system, ATI Galileo. 
 
Online Annual Registration 
As per previous communications, we are asking parents to complete the annual registration process online. This process has taken the place of all the handwritten forms that need to be completed at the beginning of the year, such as the pink health form and the emergency card and greatly assists us in the planning for next school year, including the continued employment of our school site staff. If you are experiencing challenges in completing the online process or do not have access to a computer, we are happy to help and make an appointment with you to come in. Please call the office at 480-664-5200.
 
Panorama Survey 
FHUSD families, if you have not already, please complete the Panorama survey as soon as possible. The Governing Board with a team of stakeholders will use your valuable survey input to develop a strategic plan for the district. The survey link and code are being emailed to you again, but if you do receive it, please email Krista Andreae at kandreae@fhacademics.org and indicate which school(s) your child(ren) attend and she will send you the appropriate survey information. Thank you so much!
 
Thank you, FHPTO! 
We love the Fountain Hills PTO! From their successful gala fundraising, they donated $3,000 to each FHUSD school. We are going to use it for supplies, materials, and other needs for our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program next school year. PTO also provided us with a delicious staff breakfast on May 3 for Educator Appreciation Week. PTO, we love how you appreciate us but we really appreciate you too!
 
Earth Day 
MMES celebrated Earth Day and the Character Counts trait of Fairness on April 22 with an assembly video that started with an introduction of what is Earth Day. Following this, our amazing resource teacher, Mrs. Bozzi told us about how trash affects the animals of our beautiful Earth with her “Trash Talk”. Next, we talked about how students have been figuring out good ways to recycle trash by creating artwork using recycled materials such as cups and cardboard pieces in Mrs. Perry’s art class. Students have been inspired by artists who as Mrs. Perry has explained, “use their imagination to see past the ‘trash’ and see art in it.”  
 
After a “race to recycle” brain break video, counselor Ms. Smart and her dog, Boo talked about some students 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 second grade students who have been showing caring and kindness in such special ways: Mia Wilczak, Eloise Robinson, Natalie Guerrette, Dane Goldapper, and Olivia Murchison.
 
Next in the assembly video, we talked about the Character Counts trait of Fairness and awarded Fairness awards for one student from each class. These students play by the rules, take turns and share, are open-minded and listen to others, and do not take advantage of others or blame others carelessly. Congratulations to the following students for the top Fairness award for each class:
  • 3rd Grade: Adeline Hanford, Jonathan Phillippi, Connor Rose, and Abigail Hermie
  • 2nd Grade: Sloan Kirby, Mia Wilczak, Kairi Moon, and Korra Austin
  • 1st Grade: Nahla Gamboa, Jaxon Broetsky-Scales, Dania Velasco-Ruiz, and Liliana DeRosa
  • Kindergarten: Rawlei Cruze-Wood, Reagan DuFour, James Good, and Piper Broetsky
  • Preschool: Santiago Valdez and Braden McWilliams

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 Fairness was third grader, Abigail Hermie!
3rd Grade Visit to Fountain Hills Middle School 
On April 23, MMES third graders started their near future as fourth graders by visiting Fountain Hills Middle School! The students and their teachers rode the bus there and were immediately greeted by their new principal, Mr. Jeff Markle; assistant principal, Mr. Rich Dellacona; and other staff. After a group photo in front of the school, everyone went inside to one of the big team rooms and the administrators gave an excellent and enjoyable overview of the school and what to expect next year in fourth grade. Then the students were divided into groups and got to visit each of the fourth grade teachers’ classrooms for information and activities. Next back in the team room, several fourth graders presented their insights and answered third graders’ questions. Last, the groups of third graders received a full tour of the school. Thank you, FHMS administrators and staff! It’s going to be an exciting 2021-2022 school year!
Kiwanis Terrific Kids Awards 
We awarded two more sets of Kiwanis Terrific Kids awards in April. Terrific Kids is a weekly award with one student from each grade K-3 earning a certificate and prizes sponsored by the Fountain Hills Noon Kiwanis Club. TERRIFIC stands for Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive, and Capable. Congratulations to the following Terrific Kids:
  • Week of April 19-23: Bleron Zejneli, Kindergarten; Reed Keating, 1st Grade; Gracie Nagela, 2nd Grade; Tyler Robinson, 3rd Grade
  • Week of April 26-30: Ellis Huber, Kindergarten; Bailey Ruiz, 1st Grade; Hannah Daniels, 2nd Grade; Sandra Curtis, 3rd Grade

In addition to our weekly Terrific Kids awards, the Noon Kiwanis Club of Fountain Hills sponsors two very special Terrific Kids awards for our school each year. MMES staff usually choose two second graders, a boy and a girl; but since this special award did not get to take place last year, we chose two third graders instead. Congratulations to Bryson Schoenthaler and Sadi Talahaftewa who received bikes, helmets, and certificates from the Noon Kiwanis Club on April 29. The Kiwanians came to us and we had a wonderful ceremony outside in front of the school. We are proud of our top “Thoughtful, Enthusiastic, Respectful, Responsible, Inclusive, Friendly, Inquisitive, and Capable” students and are thankful to Noon Kiwanis for all that they do!

Fountain Hills Library Summer Reading Art Contest 
Each year, the Fountain Hills Library holds a summer reading art contest to feature talented winners’ artwork on bookmarks that they produce and distribute. This year, one of our MMES students won the 2nd/3rd grade division: Mila Valdez. Congratulations, Mila! She designed a superb elephant under the contest theme, “Tails and Tales”.
We love our MMES A+ Falcon Family and Community!

Valerie Dehombreux
Principal
McDowell Mountain Elementary School
Fountain Hills Middle School

Happy Falcon Focus Day!
 
I hope this message finds you and your family doing well and seeing a small bit of light at the end of the tunnel. That being said, we do have a little over 3 weeks of school and great learning to get through, but it is important to see the end is near.

As we wrap up teacher appreciation week, I wanted to say one more time how blessed I am to be working at Fountain Hills Middle School and for such a wonderful group of professionals. Day in and day out they amaze me with their efforts for our students. Looking at the challenges we have navigated this year and the level at which they operate has been very excited for next year and to see what we can do.

FHMS Celebrations
A huge shout out to the Fountain Hills PTO. We received $3,000 from the PTO that will help us to continue to push our commitment to PBIS forward for the years to come. Also a huge thank you for the breakfast and snacks that were provided during Teacher Appreciation Week! You all make coming to work a joy every day with your kindness and dedication to our school and district.

AZM2 Testing 
I want to thank all of the staff and students for their efforts in getting our AZM2 testing done this year at FHMS. We had some very successful days and I feel good about our efforts.

Middle School Basketball
Both our Girls and Boys teams are in the playoffs. The Girls wrapped up an undefeated season and look to carry that momentum forward this weekend. The Boys team will also be in action over the weekend in the first round of their tournament.
3rd Grade Visit
It Rocked and 3rd Graders, You Rock. Can’t wait for August.
Junior Achievement
Fountain Hills Middle School was once again able to partner with Junior Achievement for a day of learning. Friday, May 7th we took a break from our classes and devoted ourselves to learning from our JA instructors and seeing what doors might open for us in the future.
Important Dates and Reminders:
May 13th: Duct Tape Mr. Markle to the Wall
May 14th: Cereal Box Domino effect
May 26th: Chromebook Check-in
May 27th: Last day of school and 8th-grade promotion
  
Registration
Please go online and complete the online registration process. This is no different than the paper forms you used to do, but we have automated and are getting a jumpstart on next year’s registrations. If you have questions, please call our main office and schedule a time for registration help.

Panorama Survey
You have received an email and will receive another one, please take a few minutes to go on and fill out our district survey. This will help have all stakeholder voices heard as we build our strategic plan for the future.

This is an awesome time of year, we get to look back at where we started and how far we have come. This time of year can also be stressful and cause anxiety, with some grace and love, we will all nail the landing on May 27th.

In Partnership,

Jeff Markle
Principal
Fountain Hills Middle School
Fountain Hills High School

Hello Falcon Families!
 
Online Registration for Next Year
We’re asking parents to complete the annual registration process online this year. This process will take the place of all the handwritten forms that need to be completed at the beginning of the year, such as the pink health form and the emergency card and greatly assists us in the planning for next school year, including the continued employment of our school site staff. If you are experiencing challenges in completing the online process or do not have access to a computer, we are happy to help! For your convenience we set up a Registration Lab in the Gym for Saturday, May 8th from 8 am to noon so that we can assist you in completing the online registration process. This is by appointment only so please call the registrar at 480-664-5515 to reserve your spot now. Students with incomplete registrations will not be issued a schedule until the registration process is complete. We look forward to working with you!
 
Please note that if you have children at multiple schools, we can help you handle all your registrations at one site.
 
Panorama Parent Survey
We just want to remind our families to please take a few minutes to complete the Panorama survey that went home a few weeks ago. Out of approximately 900 families, we have only received 140 responses. Because we value your feedback, the governing board with a team of stakeholders will be developing a strategic plan for the district with the information you provide. If you did not receive the survey information or you need it sent to you again, please email Krista Andreae and provide her with the school(s) your child(ren) attend and she will immediately respond with the information you will need to access the survey. Your efforts related to this are much appreciated!
 
Senior Recognition - Wednesday, May 12th @ 7:00pm - Fountain Hills Community Center
Next week on Wednesday, May 12th, the Golden Eagle Education Foundation will be hosting the annual Senior Recognition celebration to recognize and honor our graduating class and their accomplishments. Students will be recognized and awarded scholarships throughout the evening. Students invited to attend are limited to 2 guests as we will be limiting the number of patrons attending the event in order to properly social distance during the event. Additionally, masks will be required to be worn if attending. We look forward to celebrating the wonderful work of our graduating seniors on the 12th! Thank you to all for making this possible!
 
Spring Sports in the Playoffs!
Our spring sports season is coming to an end. The state playoffs are underway in some sports and will begin shortly for the others.
  • Beach Volleyball - Our girls beach volleyball team, led by Coach McGloin, are currently in the state playoffs as the #2 seed in the tournament. The Falcons won their opening round match in the tournament on Monday, May 3 over Trivium Prep. They match up against Chandler Prep, a team they defeated in the regular season, on Wednesday, May 5th. If victorious, the Falcons will play on May 11th at Casteel HS.
  • Baseball - The boys of summer have concluded their regular season on a 3 game winning streak and finishing with a record of 10-7. Currently, they rank #11 in the rankings and should make the playoffs. If so, they will play on Saturday, May 8th.
  • Softball - The softball team wrapped up their season on May 5th against AZ College Prep. Heading into that contest, they are winners of 2 straight. We wish them all the best in their final game of the season!
  • Track & Field - The track and field team is participating in a last chance meet this week in order to get some final attempts to qualify for the state meet next week. Several Falcons are in contention for the state championships being held at Desert Vista High School on May 14th and 15th. Best of luck to all our athletes competing this week!
 
HUGE Thank you to our PTO!
We’d like to thank our wonderful PTO for everything they do for our school! Recently, the PTO notified each school that we would be awarded $3,000 each! This is incredibly generous! The money will be utilized to purchase banners, posters, and materials to market our new PBIS initiative here at the high school.
 
Additionally, we’d like to thank our PTO for the lovely breakfast they provided for our staff on Wednesday, May 5th in recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week! Our staff arrived to find breakfast burritos from Senor Taco along with coffee from Starbucks, assorted juices, and a multitude of other goodies for us to enjoy! Thank you so much for thinking of us and providing such a lovely meal!
 
Thank You to our Teachers and Staff!
Lastly, I’d like to personally thank all of our wonderful teachers and staff for all the hard work and dedication! This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. However, please know that they are appreciated each and every day! Our teachers and staff are second to none and make the impossible possible. They are fantastic educators but more importantly, are wonderful people! Our community is fortunate to have such passionate and caring people leading our children. Thank you for all that you have done and will continue to do!

Sincerely,

Kris Alexander
Principal
Fountain Hills High School

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