Arcadia High School PTO Newsletter  

Feb. 12, 2014 
PTO News
PTO apple

PTO GENERAL MEETING

TOMORROW

Thursday Feb. 13

9:30 in Olympus

Join us to hear Dr. Andi Fourlis, SUSD Assistant Superintendent, make a presentation on the newest developments in the implementation of district's grading guidelines, and the specific changes to high school. 

We will also get an update from our Principal, Mr. Biera, and find out what's happening with all the PTO committees.

Light refreshements will be served. ALL ARE INVITED so bring a friend!

ARCADIA MARCH MADNESS AUCTION-
JOIN THE MADNESS!
March 22, 2014
Arizona Country Club
PROJECT GRAD FUNDRAISER: 
ARCADIA HIGH SCHOOL BOWLING NIGHT

Friday, February 28th

8 - 10:00 pm

AMF Scottsdale Lanes

7300 E. Thomas Rd.

Tickets: $15*

OPEN TO ALL GRADES!

Please view the flyer here

PROJECT GRAD 2015 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Yes, you read that right - we're already looking for energetic volunteers to head up Project Grad for the Class of 2015; it's coming sooner than you think.
So, Junior Moms and Dads, please step up and help make your Senior-to-be's graduation events as memorable as possible! If you are interested in chairing or at least being involved in Project Grad 2015, please contact Jennifer Bush 
ARCADIA HIKING CLUB: Next Hike Feb. 25
Did you know the largest municipal park in the world is right in our backyard?  Join us Tuesday, Feb 25th as we hike Fat Man's Pass at South Mountain Park.  The pass is only 9 inches wide so you have to either turn sideways to squeeze through it - or - you can always go around it.   Join the fun as we hike this natural wonder then lunch afterwards at The Farm.  Meet at 9am  Email Julie for more information or to get on the hiking email list.
DONATE YOUR RUMMAGE TO HELP MEDIA COMM.
The Media Comm. Booster Club will be collecting gently used rummage from Feb. 24-28. 
For full details and information about when and where to bring your rummage, please read this letter. Thanks in advance for your support!
Come on out and cheer for your
NEW Arcadia High School Lacrosse Team 
and join your community in a day of Carnival Fun -
Lacrosse-A-Palooza - March 1, 2014 at Arcadia!!!  

The Arcadia Titans Lacrosse Team is hosting their first game on March 1 at 10 am at the AHS Football Field and in celebration the team is hosting a fundraising carnival:  Lacrosse-A-Palooza. The carnival immediately follows the game from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm in the Arcadia Parking Lot. 
Lots of carnival games, prizes, live music from CMAS, a bounce house, face painting, BBQ from The Western, Chick-Fil-A, Rita's Ice & Custard, a raffle and a "Bring the MOST Spare Change Challenge" elementary school competition between ANLC, Hopi and Tavan.  The elementary school that brings the most spare change wins a popsicle party for their entire school. And MidFirst bank is matching the first $1000 raised in the Spare Change Challenge.
  • Arcadia Students - come to the game at 10 am,  bring your AHS school ID and receive 1 FREE carnival ticket!  We're proud to have the JV and Varsity Titan Cheerleaders and CMAS performing at the game too!  
  • Student and community volunteers needed for the carnival.  ALL volunteers receive a FREE Lacrosse-A-Palooza t-shirt!  
  • Visit www.arcadialax.com and click the VolunteerSpot button to select your volunteer postion.
  • If your business would like to participate as a community sponsor, click the link for the attached sponsorship invitation and sign-up form
  • Carnival Tickets will be pre-sold at a discount on Friday, Feb 28 - watch your email for dates and times for your school

If you have any questions, contact Kathy Sandler or 480-861-7511
Click here to download a flyer
Campus News

 

 

 CHECK THE CALENDAR!

Please be sure to check the Arcadia High School calendar for information on all upcoming events at Arcadia, away, and across the district.

 

WAY TO GO TITANS OF THE MONTH!

Students are recognized for their character, spirit, service, citizenship, commitment, honor, innovative accomplishments, improvement, exceptional kindness and caring or respect. Students are nominated by the teachers and staff of Arcadia High School. These students received a certificate and had a pizza lunch with Mr. Biera.

Zulkifi Assumani

Zatavia Bankston

John Foresythe

Tomas Halter

Robert Lozano

Lelani Maxwell

Elena Selthun

Kyle Zambie

Grace Zobel

Congratulations to the Titans of the Month!

AIMS TESTING INFORMATION
  • AIMS testing will take place on our campus, Writing February 24th and Reading February 25th 7:45 to 10:45 am, and then regular class time will being at 11:30 am.
  • Both days are late start for students not taking the tests.  Monday will be Periods 1, 2, and 3, and Tuesday will be the same schedule but classes will be periods 4, 5 and 6.  
  • This schedule will impact EVIT students.  Make sure EVIT knows you are taking the test. If you do not need to test, buses will run for EVIT on time.
  • Morning buses will be exactly 3 hours later than normal pick up times for non-testers. Students taking AIMS will be picked up at bus stops at regular time.
  • All sophomores will be testing, and only juniors and seniors who have not yet passed the AIMS will be testing. 
  • We will also have a sign-up sheet for juniors wanting to EXCEED in the 2 subject areas. Sign-up sheet will be in Mrs. McFarlin's office.  Deadline for Exceeds takers is February 14th at the close of the day.
  • Because the testing begins Monday morning February 24th it is our hope is that all students get plenty of rest the night before and a good breakfast so they can perform well on the tests. 

 

Thank you for your continuous support! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Assistant Principal Andrews

 

Future Testing Dates:

April 8th AIMS Math  10-12 grade

April 8th  Stanford 10   9th grade only

April 9th AIMS Science 9-10 grade

ARCADIA WRITING CENTER
Wednesdays at lunch*
English Computer Lab (Rm 6259)
FOR SENIORS ONLY: DEADLINE FOR GRADUATION SPEECH ENTRIES THIS FRIDAY
Seniors interested in auditioning to speak or perform at graduation must sign up in Mrs. Dukelow's room (6139) by Friday, February 14, 2014.  No late sign-ups will be accepted.  Don't miss this chance to be a part of your graduation ceremony!
COLLEGE & CAREER NEWS:
Scottsdale Community College Open House
FRIDAY FEB. 21, 2014 from 9:30am-1:00pm for Seniors 
Space is limited. Please sign up by February 8th.  
To sign up please visit your Career and/or Counseling offices. 
For more information you may contact SCC at 480-423-6450 or by email at outreach@scottsdalecc.edu

 

ATTENTION SOPHOMORES & JUNIORS, AND YOUR PARENTS:
Arcadia will be having a speaker from Princeton Review come and talk about 
Interpreting Your PSAT Scores
THIS Wednesday night:

 February 12th, from 7-8pm in Mt. Olympus.

 

Please feel free to come if you would like to learn more about the PSAT! What is a National Merit Scholar?  What is all the hype about?  What scores do you need to be a National Merit Semi-finalist?  And most importantly, learn how to interpret your scores.  What does this mean for you?  

*Sophomores, even if you didn't take the PSAT this past October, I encourage you to come and learn more about the PSAT and why it's not just a practice SAT test.

Download a flyer here

LET'S GET READY FOR COLLEGE!
Lead your students on their next steps toward college by introducing them to My College QuickStart available now. Free to PSAT/NMSQT� takers, it gives students a personalized college and career planning tool powered by their test results.
For more information, log onto quickstart.collegeboard.org

Also, please take a few minutes to check out important information on the College and Career Center page. Find a "Road to College" presentation, Frequently Asked Questions, Scholarships, and more. There's a plethora of information a mouse click away...
INCOMING FRESHMEN: MARK YOUR CALENDARS

FEBRUARY 19: 8th Grade Parent Night
All parents of prospective Titans are invited to join the Arcadia administration and PTO for an evening full of information about life and learning at Arcadia. Program starts promptly at 6 pm.

Every Thursday: Campus Tours
Join us any Thursday morning at 8:30 am for a tour of campus.  Learn about life and learning at Arcadia. Tours lastly approximately one hour, and are open to students, parents or guardians, and neighbors.  Please call the front office to reserve a space.
TAKE PIANO AT ARCADIA
A piano class will be offered for the 2014-15 school year. Learn how to:
  • Read music
  • Play your favorite pieces
  • Master an instrumnet
  • Get a fine arts credit
This course may be take for college credit through SCC.  For more information, please contact Ms. Blasi.
BALFOUR DELIVERIES FOR SENIORS
Balfour will be delivering your order on April 2nd during lunch in the auditorium lobby.  If you only ordered the cap and gown that will NOT be delivered until May.  Any questions please see Mrs. Cosgrove 480-484-6321
District News

TAKE THE SURVEY!
SUSD wants your opinion about your child's school.  Please take a few minutes to complete this online survey. Thank you!
 
SUPERINTENDENT'S FEBRUARY LETTER
Dear Scottsdale Unified School District Family,
The second semester is in full swing, and we have a lot to celebrate this month. Throughout the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), students and staff are achieving great things. Many of the exciting learning experiences happening in our schools are accomplished because of the support provided by our Community partners.
Read the entire letter here
LOOKING FOR WORK? DISTRICT POSITIONS AVAILABLE
Nutritional Services has several open positions and locations available for part- and full-time work. Work with great people in a division of the district that generates revenue for our classrooms! See the flyer for details.
 
Legislative News
EDUCATION BILLS TO FOLLOW

Requires school districts to sell or lease certain buildings to a charter or private schools, and modifies other underused and unused school building requirements.

This bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education committee on Feb. 13 at 8:30 am
 
This bill limits the number of times that a district can ask for an override renewal to once during the 7 year life of an override.
This bill passed out of the Senate Education committee on Jan. 30.

Stay up to date on legislative news and calls or action by subscribing to the Scottsdale Parent Council Legislative Alerts. Join their mailing list by signing up on the website

Have a billl you want to explore further? It's easy! Just go to the Arizona Legislature website, look for the "Bills" drop down, then search for your bill by the chamber of its origin and number.
Community News
YOU'RE INVITED!
Paradise Valley United Parent Council is hosting a special program on Wednesday February 19, with local author and researcher Brad Snyder as our featured speaker.  This will be during the program portion of our monthly UPC meeting; it will begin at 10:15 a.m. in the Governing Board Room, and it is open to the public. 
In addition to his many credentials, of particular relevance to our audience, Brad has worked extensively with schools, starting as a mental health counselor at an inner-city middle school back in 1995.  More recently, he has conducted  teacher, parent and community training on bullying. He has worked with the Flagstaff Unified School District, Washington Elementary School District, All Saints, International School of Arizona, and OLPH. 
For full details, please see the flyer.
ATTENTION TEACHERS- INFORMATION ON THE GEORGIA STEWART SCHOLARSHIP
 

 The scholarship is a $500 annual award to a teacher (or teachers) to support their further education.  
It is open to any public school teacher in the United States.
All applications are to be printed, filled out, and mailed to 
 7650 S. McClintock Dr., Ste 103-171  
Tempe, 85284-1672
and postmarked by the March 1 deadline.
Download an FAQ here
Download the application here
 If you have any questions, please email momaconda@gmail.com and put "Georgia Stewart" in the subject line.  Recipients will be notified around April 1st. 
TEEN VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY AT RYAN HOUSE

Ryan House is looking for some teen volunteers to be on their Ryan House Teen Board.
Ryan House is an organization that provides respite and palliative care to children with life-threatening conditions, and, as needed, end-of-life care. Ryan House is located in Central Phoenix, and is one of 2 organizations in the country to offer these services to children.

The Teen Board is comprised of high school students, who volunteer their time in the following ways:

- Attending monthly meetings.
- Assisting with Ryan House special events.
- Participate in the Speakers Bureau, telling their fellow students and community about Ryan House.
- Assist in managing the Kids for Ryan House program

If you are interested in applying, go here for the application.  (You only need page 18!!  The 2013 application is the same as 2014's).  Once filled out, you can either:

Email your application to: Karuna Narang at knarang@ryanhouse.org
Fax your application to: 602-200-0768
Drop your application off in person to the address below
or
Mail your application to:
Ryan House
110 West Merrell Street, 1st Floor
Phoenix, AZ 85302


TITAN ALUM WINS BIG!
Former Arcadia High School graduate, Ryan Anderson, recently won the Doritos Super Bowl "Crash the Super Bowl" ad contest. Ryan did not know that his ad was the winner until it aired during the Super Bowl. He won $1 million for his "Time Machine" commercial. Congratulations, Ryan!
View his commercial here.
SwAEBR HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST
Students Can Win a PAID Summer Internship! 
** Postmark Deadline: March 21, 2014
For more information visit: http://www.swaebr.org/Essay/index_start.html
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New Arcadia Location OPEN!
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