Dear Parents and TUHSD Community,

2012 has just begun, and already we see the days whizzing by. January saw students return following winter break eager to begin the second semester. Teachers felt renewed and ready to deliver exceptional classroom teaching. February, with its many celebrations, has arrived. Black History Month, established in 1976, offers an opportunity to study and reflect on the African-American legacy in American history. Everywhere you look, there are signs of Valentine’s Day symbolized with hearts, flowers, and chocolate. The birthdays of Presidents Washington and Lincoln will be celebrated on February 20, and our great state of Arizona will celebrate its 100th birthday on February 14. With 2012 being a leap year, we add an extra day to the month – February 29. And, who can forget that millions of people from around the world will tune in to the Super Bowl on February 5 to watch two teams compete, then celebrate the victory of the new champion?
 
While two football teams will be competing in Indianapolis for a victory, we in TUHSD also have an opportunity for victory this month. We believe that victory in the classroom is facilitated by a strong instructional leader who is supported by trained staff and encouraged by a talented administrator. With a solid team in place, focused on instruction and student learning, we know that we will have a victory at the end of the month when our students take the AIMS writing and reading tests. We anticipate that we will have a great deal to celebrate when we receive our results later in the semester. We have been training and know that our time is now, that victory is within our reach.

I am often asked what parents can do to help their children be successful on the AIMS test. Your role is vital to our success. I encourage parents to:

• Talk to your students about the importance of testing and taking all tests seriously.
• Make sure your student has breakfast the morning of each testing day, February 28-29.
• Ask your student what they did in school each day and if they have homework.
• Encourage your student to attend tutoring sessions when they need help.
• Register for Synergy so that you can regularly check your student’s grades and progress.
• Call your student’s academic advisor and teachers if you need clarification or help.

The most important thing that you can do is to continue to be our partner in education. We are all on the same team; we want all of our students to be victorious. The TUHSD team, working together, will ensure a victory for all students.

Yours in education,

Lexi Cunningham
Superintendent

Our district will hold an Indian Education Meeting on February 16, 2012. The meeting will help to familiarize parents and guardians of Native American students with services available through the Johnson O'Malley (JOM) and Title VII grants. Please view our flyer for more information.

Parents, are your students on course to graduate? Do they need to catch up on missing or failed work? Perhaps “TOLLESON @ NIGHT” is the answer. Please view our Alternative Education page for more information.

Excellence in teaching and learning is taking place in all TUHSD schools. The correlates of effective schools state the importance of a clear and focused mission, safe and orderly environment, high expectations for student and staff success, opportunities to learn, positive home-school-community relations, frequent monitoring of student progress, and strong instructional leadership.

On October 12, the Arizona Department of Education released for the first time A-F letter grades for every public and charter school in the state. These school/district achievement labels are the result of legislation passed last year and are based on a state accountability system administered by the Arizona Department of Education. The accountability system is designed to show how well schools and districts do as a whole on mastering the state standards in the subject areas of reading, writing and math.

Please view the letter from Dennis Dowling, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, for the full letter. For more information on A-F letter grades, please visit the Arizona Department of Education website.