Hello Parents/Guardians and Students, Welcome back to school! I’m sure that you all had a fun-filled summer and are anxious to be back into the routine of school. We would like to extend a very special welcome to all of you who are attending SPES for the first time. We’re ready to begin an exciting year working together with you! Some exciting things are happening at SPES this year. We

are using a new Reading program called Core Knowledge.

We have had many updates to the campus. Our classrooms

offer flexible seating to increase engagement in learning. I

am sure the students will enjoy their classroom set ups.

Please stop by to see the new design of our classes and for

more information about our programs.

This will be our first year fully implementing PBIS strate-

gies school wide. PBIS is systemic and individualized strat-

egies designed to teach respect, safety, and responsibility,

at our school. We at SPES hope to encourage students to

continuously make good behavioral choices by implement-

ing this program.

My door is always open and I welcome your input. In order to be the best leader for SPES that I can be, I must be in the classrooms and visible on campus and may not be in my office sometimes. Feel free to call, schedule an appointment, or email me to discuss any concerns, suggestions or ideas to continue our success at SPES. Be sure to check our web-site and Facebook pages for school updates. The hard working staff and I are excited to work with you as a part-ner in education. For our team, success is the only option and excellence is expected. Thank You. #GriffinPRIDE!

Bell’s Bulletin

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Mrs. Bell’s Bulletin 1

Lunch Schedule 2

Parent Leadership 3

PBIS Program 4

Important Dates 6

Transportation 7

Griffin Gazette A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 1 : I S S U E 1

S P E C I A L P O I N T S

O F I N T E R E S T :

NEHS Induction

Why Breakfast?

Pledge of a Scholar

South Pointe Elementary School

www.southpointeelem.com

Mrs. D. J. Bell , School Leader

Office Information

2033 E. Southern Ave Phoenix, AZ 85040

602-276-1943 Phone 602-276-2726 Fax

Office Hours

7:30 am - 4:30 pm

Bell Schedule 7:50 a.m.- Morning Bell

Breakfast & Bell Work

8:00 a.m. - (Monday - Friday) At 8:00 a.m. all students are expected to

be in theirs seats and ready to learn.

School Dismissal

3:00 p.m. - (Monday - Thursday)

Friday Early Dismissal

12:30 p.m.

After-School Program

(Monday - Thursday)

The afterschool program starts in September.

3:30 p.m. -5:00 p.m.

Phone Numbers Report Absence (602)-276-5608 Transportation: (602)-278-0323

A GREAT place to Learn!

Por favor, pónganse en contacto con la oficina de la escuela en case de que necesite cualquier porción de este manual traducido o explicado en español

Our School's Daily Mission Educate the whole student by empowering them with the skills and confidence to achieve excellence.

Griffin MAGIC

Make Good Choices Accept Responsibility

Give Respect Integrity and Effort are Important

Collaborate with others. EXCELLENCE IS EXPECTED

"The function

of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelli-gence plus character - that is the goal of true education. ” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

P A G E 2

Lunch Schedule

G R I F F I N G A Z E T T E

Grade/Subject Classes Time

Kindergarten/ELL

Medina Samuels Guevara 11:00-11:40

1st Grade Bach Campbell 11:30-12:10

2nd Grade Sanders Umraugh 11:30-12:10

3rd Grade/4th Grade

Martinez Pacheco Rael 11:50-12:30

4th Grade/ 5th Grade/ELL

Alvarez Brown/Van Rodriguez 12:10-12:50

Specials Astor 11:50-12:25

Breaking the Fast The word breakfast literally means to break fast. Fast as you probably know is defined by abstaining from all food, which is in essence what we do every night when we sleep. In the morning when we wake the act of eating breakfast is plainly breaking fast. According to a Harvard University - Massachusetts General Hospital study of children in Philadelphia and Balti-more schools, in comparison to children who seldom ate school breakfast, students who usually ate school break-fast had better math grades, higher standardized test scores, decreased absences and tardiness, reduced hyperac-tivity and improved social relations.

Skipping Breakfast Why do we skip breakfast? Maybe because we are sleeping too late, bus schedules, maybe we would rather social-ize before school, or feel that skipping breakfast will help us to lose weight. Sadly skipping breakfast will not help you to maintain a healthy weight. Actually, those of us who skip breakfast tend to consume more calories throughout the day. To ensure that our children are ready to learn, all students eat breakfast for FREE every morning at 8:00am in their classrooms.

School Breakfast Plan The School Breakfast Program (SBP) is a program offered at many school districts and independent schools. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides money to the school for each meal served in order to ensure that all stu-dents have access to proper nutrition. In return the school must serve breakfast that meets Federal regulations, and must offer free or reduced price breakfast to eligible children. All of our students each breakfast for FREE. SPES offers breakfast in the mornings on schooldays according to the following: Breakfast location: Classrooms Breakfast time: 8:00 a.m.– 8:30 a.m. Breakfast price: no charge

SPES Pledge of a Scholar

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

Parent Leadership Team

“Education is the

most powerful

weapon which you

can use to change

the world.”

~ Nelson Mandela

Join Our Parent Leadership Team

DO YOU WANT TO HELP PLAN SCHOOL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES? DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART

OF THE SCHOOL’S OPERATIONS?

For more information regarding the Parent

Leadership Team or to join the team,

please contact Mrs. Maria, at (602) 276-

1943 or email

maria.miramontes@leonagroup.com .

I am a student of South Pointe Elementary School. I am here to learn. I am a scholar. I will do my best every day. I believe in my-

self. I will go to college.

Next Parent Meeting: August 23, 2017

at 2pm in the Library

South Pointe Elementary School is pleased to announce our membership with the National Elemen-tary Honors Society Chapter (NEHS)! The NEHS recognizes and promotes the important qualities of scholarship, responsibility , leadership, and service in students. During this school year, selected scholars from grades 4-5, who have a cumulative standard of excellence grade of 3 or better and display the NEHS qualities will be inducted into the NEHS. We are so excited to bring this oppor-tunity to our students. Parents and family of the inductees will be invited to join us in celebrating this accomplishment. The SPES Fall National Elementary Honor Society (NEHS) induction ceremony will take place on Monday, August 21, 2017 in the Cafeteria. Please contact the advisors Ms. Jones and Mrs. Guevara for more information.

PBIS– Griffin Magic

V O L U M E 1 : I S S U E 1 P A G E 4

Starting on 8/7/17 our school will use a school-wide clip chart system. All students will be taught the rules and

procedures with aligned expectation lessons for all areas of the school.

PBIS daily color zones are :

(Griffin Scholar) purple

(Focused Learner) blue

(Ready to Learn) green

(Make Better Choices)

(Refocus-Think about It) orange

(Talk about a Consequence) red.

All students begin their day on Green as a “Focused Learn-

er”. Each student is expected to follow the basic expecta-tions according to the school’s PBIS Expectations Matrix

while the staff utilize appropriate interventions for the

behavior displayed by students. The ultimate goal is for the students to have the opportunity to correct their daily

behavior and receive the necessary interventions and tools to be a successful learner.

K-5 Behavior Clip Charts Monthly Behavior Record To ensure that there is consistent communication between the school and the parent, your child will bring a behavior report home daily to record

their behavior. This calendar will indicate the following: The students daily behavior clip chart color

The student’s academic understanding of the daily lesson. Teacher/Parent Comments

South Pointe Elementary staff and students take pride in being safe, being respectful and responsible every day. Students are taught these expectations right away at the start of the school year. Below are the examples of the areas where theses expecta-tions should be followed.

We have created a large brag board in

the hallway of the administration build-ing for those who continue to exceed our PBIS expectations of being respectful,

responsible, and safe. There are chances for students to win individual and class prizes monthly or

their accomplishments.

PBIS– Griffin Magic Cont.

V O L U M E 1 : I S S U E 1 P A G E 5

Mr. Darwin Russell Assistant School Leader

602-686-5076 Darwin.Russell@leonagroup.com

Everyday students are expected to follow the school-wide MAG-IC expectations and are honored with Griffin bucks when they show their Griffin excellence. The Griffin bucks can be used as “money” at the PAYD store that is open at the end of each month. We welcome and appreciate any donations to our PAYD store from parents and families. Please see Mr. Russell or Mr. Castro to volunteer at or donate to the PAYD store.

Peer and Youth Development (PAYD) is a charac-ter development approach and incentive program to encourage students to go above & beyond the basic character skills. The purpose of the Behav-ioral incentive program is to provide students with opportunities to be recognized for their citi-zenship. South Pointe Elementary School follows the Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports Program (PBIS) along with character education. There are two components to our behavioral in-centives both for grade levels and for individual students. PAYD store will occur once a month starting

on September 15, 2017. The teachers and staff members will distrib-

ute the Griffin bucks for exemplar behavior and for students going above and beyond. .

What is PAYD?

Parents can help by reading and discuss-

ing the Behavior Expectations Matrix on a

regular basis.

If your child experiences behavior prob-

lems in school, review with them the Be-

havior Expectations Matrix.

Work on a plan to assist them with strat-

egies for appropriate behaviors.

Support teacher and administrative be-

havior decision. Discuss problems or

concerns privately with staff.

Volunteer to be a parent member of the

SPES PBIS team.

Chaperone PBIS sponsored events.

.

What Can Parents Do?

Uniforms All students are required to wear a South Pointe Elementary School uniform which

consist of black, beige/tan bottoms, or black jean bottoms and purple, or black shirts (polo style) with the South Pointe logo. Students are allowed to wear plain

purple and black polo shirts. Students may also wear school purchased T-shirts with the school logo on Fridays only. Students must wear closed toe shoes. Students are NOT allowed to wear open-toe shoes due to safety.

Get a week’s worth of shirts for $25 TODAY.

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southpointeele

Drop off & Pick Up Unless they attend the after school program, all children are expected to be picked up NO LATER than 3:30 pm, except on Fridays, when they are ex-pected to be picked up no later than 1:00pm. Students who are not participating in a school sponsored activity must not arrive before 7:15 AM. We do not have staff available to supervise your child before this time. Students must be picked up from the after-school program, no later than 5:30pm. All playground gates are open until 8:30 A.M. at which time they are locked to visitors. It is expected that all visitors use front door by the office and sign in. This is for the safety of our children.

Late Pick Up Policy Student safety is the highest priority of the school. Therefore, we make every effort to ensure that all students are under appropriate supervision until they return to you at the end of their school day. For that reason, we are con-cerned about students who are left after dismissal time or who are brought back to school because no one is there to meet the bus. The school is not, and cannot be, staffed to provide supervision for students in these situations; hiring extra personnel to supervise is beyond our financial resources. In addition, children can feel confused and appre-hensive when they are not picked up on time.

When children are returned to school from the bus stop or not picked up within 30 minutes after school is dismissed, the child’s parent or guardian will receive a letter each time this occurs. If a third incident occurs within 60 days, the parent or guardian will be charged a minimum of $20.00 payable to the South Pointe Elementary School. Time ex-tending beyond the first hour will be billed at $40.00. The school can make the decision to contact Child Protective Services (CPS) if the child is not picked up and the parent can not be contacted. If you wish, we can provide you with day care information in the South Phoenix area. Please contact our school office at 602-276-1943 for a list of day-care providers.

P A G E 7

Bus Schedule The bus schedule will be updated during the first two weeks of school. If you do not see a stop near you on the current route, please call Royal Transportation at (602)278-0323. Students must be at the bus stop 5 minutes before their scheduled pick-up time.

August 2017

3 Open House

7 First Day of school

18 PD Day-NO SCHOOL

24 Student Council Elections

28-31 District Assessments Begin

31 PBIS Kickoff

September 2017

1 District Assessments Begin

4 Labor Day - No School

7 Pastries for Parents/Curriculum

Parent Conferences

8 Parent Conferences

21 Summer Academic Olympics

28 Turn Up Thursday (PBIS)

The Bus is a Privilege Any student in violation of the bus expectations can and will be suspended from the transportation service. Please discuss with your child the importance of the transportation provided by the school, which is for their education and your conven-ience. All handbook expectations apply on the bus. This is for their safety. The bus expectations are below: Always obey your driver

Be polite & use appropriate language

Be courteous to those sitting with you

Stay seated at all times

Respect and listen to the bus driver

Pick up litter and keep your sitting area clean

Follow all bus safety rules

Allow safe walking space for others