April Newsletter

Dear Families, Thank you for continuing to support reading fluency and comprehension each night for homework. Please communicate with your child’s teacher by completing weekly reading logs. Our school-wide parent goal is to have you read with your child(ren) each night for 20-30 minutes. Research shows that setting aside a consistent time to read at home in the evenings improves student achievement and success at school. Asking your child to make a prediction of what will happen next in a story, summarize what they have read, and/or connect something from the story to their life are all good strategies that may be used to get your child to be a better reader. The biggest district family event and fundraiser of the year, Festival Under the Stars, will take place on Friday, April 21st from 5-9pm at Flowing Wells High School. Thank you ahead of time to our PTO for organizing volunteers to support the Homer Davis booth in the commons area. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time in our front office at a discounted rate. A great percentage of the proceeds go directly to the Flowing Wells Education Foundation (FWEF). This organization uses this money each year to support students by funding mini-grants throughout the district. Please bring your family to this exciting event as there will be a lot fun activities, fine arts performances, and food for everyone to enjoy. Lastly, I would like to thank all of our families who attended a spring conference to discuss your child’s academic, socio-emotional, and behavior strengths and concerns. Please keep an open line of communication with our staff so your child receives the best support possible. Our goal is to always work together as a team! Continue to let me know if you have any questions or concerns as we want to provide the best support and quality customer service to all of our families. Chad Miller, Principal

We Believe!

We Achieve!

We Succeed!

April 2017 Newsletter Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Boys BB A

Team Laguna @ Davis 2:30 Choir 2:30

Boys BB B Team @ Laguna 2:30 Cub Scouts 6:00

Kinder to Desert Museum 9:00-1:30 Karate 6:00

6th Grade Track Meet Tucson Village Farms Presentation 4th Grade GAP Dinner 4:15

5th Grade Track Meet 4th Grade Fire Safety 10:45-1:45

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Choir 2:30 Boys BB A Team @ Richardson 2:30 Cub Scouts 6:00

5th Grade Tobacco Presentation Spring Musical Practice 2:30 ASIP Meeting 3:30 Karate 6:00

Tucson Village Farm Presentation 4th Gr. Boys BB B Team Richardson @ Davis 2:30 GAP Dinner 4:15

1st Grade to Reid Park Zoo 8:15-12:45 4th Grade Fire Safety 10:45-1:45 Dragons of Character Assembly 1:15 Spring Musical Practice 2:30 Festival Under the Stars 5-9

Spring Musical Tech Day12-4

23/30 24 25 26 27 28 29 Pizza Lunch

with Principal 11:30 4th Grade TAR Wars Presentation 12:30 Spring Musical Practice 2:30

Pizza Lunch with Principal 11:30 FIRE DRILL 9:30 Spring Musical Practice 2:30 Boys BB A Team @ Hendricks 2:30 Cub Scouts 6:00 School Board Meeting 6:00

Dragon Choir Spring Musical 1:00 & 6:00 Site Council 2:30 Karate 6:00

Tucson Village Farms Presentation 4th Gr. Boys BB B Team Hendricks @ Davis 2:30 Dragons in the Canyon Parent Meeting 5-6 GAP Dinner 4:15

Jump Rope for Heart Assembly 8:15 4th Grade Fire Safety 10:45

GRADE LEVEL NEWS

Kindergarten

The kids in our garden are blooming this spring. So many have done well on sounds, letters and numbers, so now and until the end of the year we will be working on sight words, nonsense words and addition and subtraction! All of our kindergarteners will participate in a Fire Truck Presentation on April 26th. Please plan to have your child here on time. The end of the school is fast approaching and end of the year assessments will be taking place over the next six weeks. Please work on reviewing past concepts with your student and continue to complete HW weekly. Our Mother's Day Show is scheduled for May 17th. Check your child’s backpack for more information in the coming weeks. Thank you!

The Kinder Teachers

First Grade

First Grade Families, Happy Spring! Here are some dates to remember in April:

April 7: Field trip permission slip and money is due! April 10 – April 14: Spring Break (NO SCHOOL!) April 17: Look for 4

th quarter progress reports coming home this week!

April 21: Zoo field trip (8:30 – 12:45) & Dragon of Character assembly – We present the life skill, ―Patience‖ at 1:15p.m. Hope to see you there! April 28: Jump Rope for Heart assembly – 8:15 - donations for Heart Association begin! We would like to share some ―Spring Healthy Habits‖ to help keep 1

st graders healthy and happy:

Have a consistent routine before and after school.

Eating breakfast before school or at school before going to play.

According to the American Academy of sleep medicine, children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health.

o Sleeping the number of recommended hours on a regular basis is associated with better health outcomes including: improved attention, behavior, learning, memory, emotional regulation, quality of life, and mental and physical health.

o Regularly sleeping fewer than the number of recommended hours is associated with attention, behavior, and learning problems.

―Wellness Wednesdays‖ reminder: Please have your child wear tennis shoes on Wednesdays in case he/she is participating in more exercise activities throughout the day.

Lastly, the sneezes are here! We are in need of Kleenex, Clorox wipes and snacks to keep 1st graders going strong.

Thank you,

Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. McClellan, and Mrs. Powers

Second Grade

Hello Second Grade Families, The Second Graders have been working hard so far this quarter. They have enjoyed learning about solids and liquids in our science kit as well as adding and subtracting double and triple digit numbers in Math. As spring break approaches please remember to continue working with your child on reading fluency and comprehension. Our final Dibels test will be in May and we want to prepare them as much as possible. We will also be taking our Math post test at the end of April, so please quiz your child on coin amounts, time, and problem solving strategies. Thank you so much for your support! Sincerely, Ms. Hochuli, Ms. Tease, and Mrs. Nichols

Third Grade

April is here and we are half-way through the fourth quarter. Although AzMERIT is over, there is still more learning ahead. Please continue to help your students at home with their reading comprehension and their math facts. We are working hard every day, learning new material and new concepts. Spring break is coming up, April 10

th to April 14

th. When we return from

spring break students will be responsible for staying in during recess to finish any incomplete work—we will no longer be requiring them to do this. There was a letter sent home with the details of this change. If you have any questions about this please let us know. Continue to check Friday Folders for D’s and F’s as well as checking homework folders and binders nightly. Third graders will have two projects coming up during the second half of 4

th quarter. One will be a reading project

due May 3rd

and the other will be a social studies project due May 17th. Please be sure to check your child’s folder for more

information. As we near the end of the year we are already gearing up for the 2017-2018 school year and registration packets

have been sent home. Please return this before spring break if at all possible. This will be your student’s ticket to the end of the year festivities and we don’t want anyone to miss out. Please continue to call or visit any of the teachers if you have any problems. Thank you,

The Third Grade Teachers

Fourth Grade Thank you, parents, for your continued support checking your student’s agendas and homework folders nightly. Please check the parent portal for missing work and updated grades as we start our fourth quarter. Please continue to read with your students every night and check weekly for Tuesday folders. There will no longer be word study (spelling) or math facts homework for quarter four. Please continue to help your child with reading and math homework each night. Thank you for doing all that you can do to support our classrooms. Important Updates:

- AIMS Science – Monday April 3rd

. Please make sure your child arrives on time at school by 7:55 and eats breakfast.

- The Tucson Village Farm will be continuing to visit our classroom to teach about healthy eating. Ask your students about how to have a colorful and balanced plate!

- We will be beginning to have lessons on Fire Safety from Inspector V

- Look out for our next field trip permission slip to go home this month for our Disney Nature Movie Adventure!

- Spring Break, No School on April 10-14

- TAR Wars – Smoking Prevention Presentation will be Monday, April 24th

- Midterms will be sent home the week of April 17th Thank you for your continued support!

Ms. Schubert, Ms. Cavagnaro, and Ms. Richard

Thank you!

Fifth Grade

Dear Fifth Grade Families,

Friday, the 7th is the 5

th Grade District Track Meet all day long at the Flowing Wells High School. Please feel free to attend

and show your support for Homer Davis. Spring Break is the 10th-14

th, there will be no school and resumes on Monday, the

17th. The 19

th will be a Tobacco Prevention Presentation at 11:00 in the MPR. There will be a Dragons of Character

assembly on Friday the 21st at 1:15 in the MPR. Festival Under the Stars is this Friday as well in the evening at the Flowing

Wells High School from 5:00-8:00. Additionally, midterms go home this afternoon. Friday, the 28th at 12:45 will be the 5

th

grade puberty presentation. Thank you for reading the permission slip and returning to your child’s teacher so that they may

participate. Thank you for the support during the AzMerit test and keeping your child focused on the end of 5th grade.

Your Fifth Grade Teachers, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Binkow, and Mr. Van Derlaske

Sixth Grade Homer Davis 6th graders worked hard on the AzMerit and we're proud of them! We are getting ready for the annual DITC field trip. If you haven't already, you need to get your 4 hours of community service finished and prepare to pay the $250 for the cost of the trip. There will be a MANDATORY meeting for all students attending the trip on Thursday, April 27th at 5pm.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope that everyone has a wonderful spring break!

Sincerely,

The 6th Grade Team

Specials Area News

Band & Orchestra Hello Band/Orchestra Parents! As the end of the year approached us, there are a few events happening soon. Sixth Grade Orchestra is invited to play at our district’s annual Festival Under the Stars on Friday, April 21. Permission slips have been passed out to students and are due by Wednesday, April 19. Teachers and administration has been notified as well, to ensure we have a high number of students representing Homer Davis at this memorable event. Fifth and Sixth Grade Band and Orchestra have their end-of-the-year concert on Thursday, May 18. Our practice concert will be at 9 am that morning along with our formal concert at 6 pm. Both concerts will be in the MPR. Please encourage your student musicians to practice every day in preparation. Instrument usage fees will be due at the end of the year. Reminder notes will be going home soon. Please have students pay Ms. Robin at the front office. Thank you all for your on-going support for fine arts in Flowing Wells. I look forward to seeing you soon! Musically, Mr. O’Keefe

Music

April is a busy month in the music room! There are many performances and special events coming up as we steam full

speed ahead to the end of the year. Please be sure to ask your child about what they are doing in music, as we have a lot of

really great things going on.

Dragon Choir students are preparing to present sing at Festival Under the Stars on the 21st their spring musical “The Trial

of the Big Bad Wolf” on April 26th. There will be a lot of extra rehearsals after school once we are back from spring break,

so please be on the lookout for extra reminders and notifications.

Our 3rd and 4th graders will be learning about the instruments of the orchestra to prepare for our field trip to the Tucson

Symphony in May. Kindergarten is also hard at work learning songs for their performance, “The Three Piggy Opera,” in

May. Please ask your child what they are learning in Music this month- it’s sure to be something exciting!

~Ms. Thrush

PE

Good start to the season for Coach Lambson and the boy’s basketball team here at Homer Davis. Upcoming events: 6th Grade Track Meet 4/6, 5th Grade Track Meet 4/7. Basketball games:

4/3 @Home 4/4@Laguna 4/18@Richardson 4/20@Home 4/25@Hendricks 4/27@Home

Library

April is National Poetry Month! We will be learning about different poets and enjoying some of their wonderful poems. April 9 -15, 2017 is National Library Week! We at Homer Davis are so lucky to have a great library for our students to come and learn to love books. Take some time during this month to read a book and thank your librarian for making sure there are great books to read in YOUR library. Whether it is the Homer Davis Library or the Flowing Wells Branch Library, we are so thrilled to have great books at our fingertips!

Reminder!

Please remember to return those overdue library books. We are nearing the end of the school year and all books must be turned in by May 8. Please work together as a family to find lost books. If not found, they will need to be paid for by you.

Don’t forget to order a yearbook.

They are $12.00.

You can pay with cash, check, or credit/debit card in the front office.

Please make checks out to Homer Davis.

Resource

Reminder to parents with students in special education:

Please fill out the special education survey by May 31st

The survey is for the Arizona Department of Education, to ask for ideas about how your family has taken part in special education. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/involvedparents2016 LEA code: 4405 School code: 5785

If you do not have access to a computer, you may come in and take it at Homer Davis.

Or call 1-844-831-4324 to complete the survey

From,

Your Homer Davis Special Education Team

Miss Martinez, resource

Miss Twarogal, resource

Miss Gallagher, speech

SARSEF WINNERS Congratulations to the 2017 Homer Davis SARSEF Winners! Emilee Howe: 3rd Place Mrs. Hochuli’s Class: 3rd Place

Leah Liljenquist: 2nd Place

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This letter is to inform you that Homer Davis is participating in a proactive statewide public school

drinking water lead screening program sponsored by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

(ADEQ).

ADEQ is coordinating this screening program with multiple state and local agencies, public water

systems, public schools and other parties. All schools and District facilities will be tested this spring.

While drinking water is not considered to be a common source of lead in Arizona, eliminating lead in

drinking water is an important step to reducing your child’s overall exposure to lead.

Please visit the ADEQ website for detailed information about the statewide public school drinking water

screening program for lead: http://azdeq.gov/LeadScreeningProg.

As part of our continuing commitment to provide a safe environment for both students and staff, please

be assured that we will provide you with timely updates. If you have any questions or concerns, please

feel free to contact me at (school phone) or (email).

Sincerely,

Chad Miller Principal