August 17, 2015

Dear Pinnacle Peak Families,

We have a new STEM teacher, Mrs. Suzy Distler.  Mrs. Distler taught at Pinnacle Peak three years ago and her own children, who are now in Middle School and High School, attended Pinnacle Peak.  Mrs. Distler moved out of state a couple of years ago and has now returned and is excited to be back at PPES as our STEM teacher.  I'm so happy she is joining our Pinnacle Peak family again.  Mrs. Distler will see kindergarten, each class for one quarter,  as well as third, fourth, fifth and sixth graders as part of our Special Area Rotations. 

The number of Special Area teachers placed at elementary schools in Paradise Valley School District, is based on the total number of students at the school.  At Pinnacle Peak we have full time Art, PE, and Music.  Our STEM teaching position is a .5 position.  Unfortunately, since the program is half-time, she is not able to see all students each year.  This year first and second graders will not have STEM as part of their Special Area Rotations.  Therefore, we will provide an After-School STEM class for first and second grade.  More information will come home this week regarding this class.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I hope to see you at our Parent Classroom Orientation Night on Wednesday, August 19th.  Parent Classroom Orientation for grades first, second and third is 5:30 - 6:30 pm and grades fourth, fifth, and sixth is 7:00 - 8:00 pm.  At this orientation you will learn more about classroom routines, procedures, expectations, and curriculum.  You will learn how you can best be actively involved in your child's or children's educational experience.  This event is for adults only.  For those of you that have children in the honor's program grades fourth through sixth, Mrs. Stanton has an informational night on Tuesday, August 18th at 5:30 pm.

Have a wonderful week and I hope to see you on Wednesday!

Respectfully,

Lora Herbein, Principal

August 10, 2015

Dear Families,

Welcome to the 2015-16 School Year.  I hope you were able to join us on Friday for our Back to School morning.  I was so excited to see so many smiling, happy faces.  It was great to see everyone.  It sounds like many of you had an amazing summer. The kids, and parents, all sound like they are ready for school to begin!  I know I am ready!

Many of you have probably noticed our SOAR signage, bulletin boards, and even benches on the playground.  SOAR stands for Safe, Organized, Accountable, and Respectful.  SOAR is an instructional approach that is anchored in scientifically proven practices and research.  It is proven to help prevent problem behaviors, reduce distractions in the classroom, and support students’ social-emotional and academic growth.

SOAR is based on the PBIS framework and has been tailored for Pinnacle Peak, allowing us to build upon and enrich the strong and favorable culture that we have today. We are harnessing the power of providing consistent expectations for our students across all environments and across school years.

SOAR allows us, through harnessing the power of instruction and positive reinforcement, to proactively cultivate and acknowledge positive values and behaviors throughout our school community, both in and out of the classroom. SOAR aims to strengthen and strongly root the Pinnacle Peak culture in an engaging and reinforcing school environment where every student feels a sense of belongingness, inclusion and participation.

Students will be systematically taught our expectations for the learning environments, restrooms, cafeteria, playground, and hallways.  Students will be intermittently reinforced for positive actions and behavior with SOAR tickets.  These tickets will be turned in for weekly and monthly drawings in the classroom and in the office.  Students will have the opportunity to earn privileges and prizes such as, lunch with the teacher, homework passes, sit by a friend in class, SOAR bracelets and SOAR T-shirts, just to name a few.  You will learn more about SOAR at PPES at our Parent Information Night on Wednesday, August 19^th.  First Grade through Third Grade classes will meet 5:30 – 6:30 pm and Fourth Grade through Sixth Grade will meet 7:00 – 8:00 pm.  We are also creating a short video panel discussion about SOAR at PPES.  I will send that out as soon as it is finished.

I am looking forward to a great school year.  Please let me know if you have any questions.