September 2, 2015

Dear Families,

I hope your children have settled into their classrooms and are having a fabulous start to the school year.  As I walk through classrooms, our students are happy, engaged and learning.  Check out a few of our classrooms.

Miss Orr's Fourth Graders

Mrs. Okraski's Third Graders

                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                Dr. Stickford's 6th Grade Music Class

I wanted to let you know about a few playground updates.

We have formed a wonderful relationship with the Boys and Girls Club - Thunderbirds Branch.  The director, Paola Gale, is the Community Member on our School Council and very involved in the Pinnacle Peak Community.  She provides a staff member, David Debruin, at least twice a month to come over during our lunch period to play organized games with our students.  The students love it when David joins us on the playground.
 Last year we installed a "Buddy Bench".  The purpose of the "Buddy Bench" is to create an environment that fosters new friendships.  Students that would like to make a new friend sit on the bench and other students know that children on the bench would like to make a new friend. We have just started training students on the use of this bench and we hope this will blossom into a way for our children to expand their friendship to others at Pinnacle Peak.
 One final note on the playground.  For safety reasons, students must wear closed-toe shoes or sandals with an attached back on the new playground equipment, including the obstacle course, the climbing walls, and the spinning equipment.  Students that wear sandals without a back may still play on the swings and the slide area.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Lora Herbein, Principal