In This Issue

Message from the Principal P1

Monthly Events P1

Math P2

Electives P2

Science P3

Social Studies P3

English P4

SPED P4

Counselor’s Corner P5

Message from the Principal Welcome to the first installment of our monthly Sundown Mountain Monthly Newsletter. As a faculty and

staff, we are excited to begin the 2017-18 school year with a balance of returning and new students to our

campus. It is our goal every year to provide our students with rich academic opportunities, to find success

and eventually earn their diploma in a supportive, safe and nurturing learning environment. We strive to pre-

pare our graduates to be career, college and life ready once leaving the Dysart Unified School District.

Sundown Mountain continues to implement the PBIS program (Positive Behaviors Interventions and

Support) as a vehicle to promote positive student academic and behavioral outcomes. In addition, we em-

phasize the 3 R’s as part of the PBIS program. The 3 R’s are Respect, Responsibilities and Readiness.

They are the guiding principles that each student and staff member adheres to each and every day. Last

year, Sundown Mountain was able to prepare and graduate over 120 seniors, a number we are proud and

strive to replicate for the 2017-18 school year.

In our efforts to continue to provide outstanding educational opportunities for our students, to prepare

them to be career ready, we are refining our site goals as a means to this end. Sundown Mountain will be

focusing on Personalized Learning, Digital Citizenship, and the Acquisition and Utilization of Resources

as our areas of focus.

In keeping with past practice of tapping into community talents and resources, Sundown Mountain is look-

ing for parent and community involvement in supporting and fostering our educational mission. Volunteering

is a great and simple way to get involved and make a powerful impact in a student’s life and serve the commu-

nity you reside in. If you have the time, have a special talent or expertise, we would be glad to have you be-

come part of our Sundown Mountain team. Please find additional information regarding volunteering in the

Dysart District website or call 623-876-7250.

Again, welcome back! We look forward to a very positive and successful year here at Sundown Mountain.

Sincerely,

Anthony Capuano

Principal

Sundown Mountain Newsletter January 2018

PBIS School

RESPECT

RESPONSIBILITY

READINESS

Ms. Miller

Here we go with Quarter 3 and I am excited to get started. This school year has been filled with many changes, the biggest being taking learning to the online environment. In August, we brought our Algebra and Geometry courses to HMH (Holt McDougal Online) . This change is meant to better and more consistently prepare students for their future whether that be with college, trade school, or in the work force. While this has been challenging for stu-dents, they appear to be learning more as they are in the environment they live everyday, specifically the “online” world. This is also better preparing them for the AZ Merit testing.

In Financial Math, we have also moved completely online and self-paced. This allows students to work at a pace that is comfortable for them. Although there is a suggested minimum pacing calendar, students can work at a faster pace if it better matches their learning speed. Students also have multiple methods of learning. Some are better with the videos, while others are better with reading through the textbook, and others prefer the one on one teach-ing I am able to provide. This was very successful in the second quarter and I am looking forward to taking it to the next level as we move from Google Classroom to Schoology. Schoology offers more diversity and materials to en-sure students are learning.

This semester I am looking forward to meeting new students and continue moving in the direction of personalized learning. Feel free to contact me with questions at cathi.miller@dysart.org .

Mr. Brook

Hope everybody had a wonderful winter break, the quarter started as scheduled. In math, we

continue the HMH online program and with the experience we had from the last two quarters, things are

going very smooth. In Algebra 3, we completed introduction to functions, domain, range end behaviors and characteristics

of graph transformations of functions on the first week. We will continue on transformations of functions and inverse func-

tions this week. In geometry, segment length, midpoints, angle measures, angle bisectors, representing and describing transfor-

mations are some of the materials we will cover in the first two weeks. The good advise will be to start working hard from the

beginning, ask questions and take advantage of the academic enrichment program. This will make it a lot easier around the end

of the quarter on all of us. Any concern, please, feel free to contact me at Daniel.Brook@dysart.org.

Mrs. Gorosics

Welcome back!

Students will be testing the first week of the quarter and then after that we will jump into our curriculum.

ing many labs, projects and presentations throughout the quarter.

all the activities I have planned.

Mrs. Fontes

3rd quarter electives have begun. Students enrolled in online elective classes can log into ischool.agilixbuzz.com to work on their

classes using their normal district login. Tests and quizzes are password protected and must be taken at school. Students can

work on their elective class at home by reading the lessons, completing their note pages, answering text questions, and playing the

quiz review game. If you have any questions about the elective courses, please contact Mrs. Fontes by email at

shanin.fontes@dysart.org.

Mrs. England

Welcome back to (or Welcome to) Sundown Moun-

tain- Spring 2018.

Hope everyone had a safe and relaxing winter break

and is looking forward to starting fresh in the New

Year!

I would like to direct everyone to visit my website:

https://sites.google.com/dysart.org/mrs-england

Each week I will post our agenda, objectives, and

announcements.

Additionally- every single assignment we have for

the class is listed under "unit resources".

School and classroom rules and expectations are

listed here as well.

I will be out Thursday and Friday of week 1- but we

will have Ms. Carmen as our amazing sub.

We will start out the quarter with pre-testing and

reviewing the social studies skills essential for suc-

cess in my classes.

Best of luck this semester.

Mrs. Gorosics

Welcome back!

Students will be testing the first week of the quarter and then after that we will jump into our curriculum. Students will be complet-

ing many labs, projects and presentations throughout the quarter. I'm excited to begin the classes with them and hope they enjoy

all the activities I have planned.

Mrs. Wilfong’s Classroom News

The beginning of another year is exciting and full of anticipa-

tion. Economics classes are learning the basics in vocabulary

and finding out what the fundamentals of economics consist of.

The students Budget Project will be given to the students

next week to begin tracking their cash. If the students are in Fi-

nancial Math currently some of the research can be used in

both class projects. I suggest keeping all the economic

research from both classes until you are finished in March.

AZ/US History 1, will begin with the prehistory of North

America and the colonial era. The colonists, who were once

loyal British subjects eventually declare their independence,

fight for their freedom and begin a new nation. The American

Constitution was written to bring order and legitimism. We will

analyze this extraordinary experiment in self- government that

the Enlightenment Era brought to the revolutionary

thinkers.

Mrs. Kuettel

Mrs. Kuettel’s classes are off to a great start! We com-

pleted our reading and writing pretests and have now

jumpstarted the curriculum.

Our current poetry, fiction, and nonfiction are based on

the following thematic questions:

English 1: “What is the American Identity?”

English 2: “Why do we imagine the future?”

English 5: “What is the meaning of Freedom?”

English 6: “How is literature connected to place? “

The journey of appreciating and ENJOYING litera-

ture and the writing process has begun!

Mrs. Santacasa’s English Classes

We are off to a great start with newly enrolled students,

and returning students. We just finished up pretesting and

will soon be beginning our first units in both Eng. 3 and

Eng. 7. English 3 will begin a unit on fear, while English 7

will start working on the idea of heroes and how we define

then as a society.

Mrs. Saeed

Welcome to Mrs. Saeed's British Literature class. Seniors

will explore the Anglo Saxon Time period, construct and

publish creative journals all while taking a fun filled journey

back in time forming conflict resolutions. Students will meet

our Epic hero Beowulf while exploring poetic devices in the

Epic tradition. They will also concluding what virtues

the hero embodies through literary analysis. Students will

participate in learning about career choices, setting goals and

visiting colleges. By the end of this course you should be ca-

reer and college ready! I'm looking forward to having a great

year!

Mrs. Parish– SPED

Radiant Church is excited to host Night to Shine, sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, on Friday, February 9, 2018 from

6-9 p.m. Night to Shine is an incredible prom experience for individuals 14+ with special needs. It is a completely FREE, unfor-

gettable night complete with hair, make up, shoe shines, corsages, boutonnieres, limo rides, red carpet entrance, photography, food,

karaoke, and of course, dancing! We will cap this night off by crowning each honored guest as the King or Queen of the prom.

This is a highlight video from last year:

https://www.timtebowfoundation.org/videos/official-2017-night-shine-highlight-video-featuring-gary-levox-rascal-flatts

Invitation includes a website where parents can register their guest.

Happy Holidays to all Sundown Mountain Students!

At this time the end of quarter 2 is quickly approaching and some students will be graduating and moving on to the next phase of life. Congratulations

those students who are graduating this quarter, as we can see hard work truly pays off.

Students who will graduate in December 2017 or hoping to return to your home-school in December, please schedule an appointment with Ms. Jones

before winter break.

To schedule an appointment email Ms. Jones at tamika.jones@dysart.org, NO walk-ins!

Reminder: December graduates please make sure you stop my Ms. Jones ’ office or see Mrs. Chavez to pick up your graduation check out

sheet. All sheets must be signed by your teachers and submitted before December 21, 2017.

Seniors seeking an official transcript can submit a request under the Dysart Unified School District’s web page under the Parchment tab.

Dysart High School Announcements: https://www.dysart.org/Sites/default.aspx?pgid=2169 To view upcoming events please click on the at-

tached link.

Naviance Login https://sites.google.com/dysart.org/dhs-guidance-counseling/naviance Shadow Ridge Announcements: Stay informed of Shadow Ridge activities and events by enrolling in Remind 101, by texting 81010 and sending the link that pertains to your graduation year. If you need assistance please see Ms. Jones

81010 Stay connected with remind 101 2018srhs@mail.remind.com

2019srhs@mail.remind.com

2020srhs@mail.remind.com

2021srhs@mail.remind.com

Seniors: Cap & Gowns (12/31 order deadline) Cap & Gown orders need to be placed no later than December 31, 2017 in order for it to get here before graduation. Naviance Login https://connection.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login/?hsid=shadowridge

Valley Vista High School Announcements: Senior time lines are located in the front office on the table next to the gotcha drawing box. Senior Yearbook Ads: Due by December 21, 2017 Cap and Gown order forms are located in Ms. Jones office. Orders are due by Dec 21, 2017 Naviance Login https://connection.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login/?hsid=valleyvhs

Willow Canyon High School Announcements: Senior Time Line: https://www.dysart.org/Sites/Default.aspx?pgid=2192

Date : Tuesday, May 22, 2018 @ 7:30 PM Location: University of Phoenix Stadium Ticket Information Graduation ceremony is open to the district community and tickets are not required to attend. Graduation Announcements and Cap & Gowns Orders Balfour online ordering Information Items 1/16/18 & 1/17/18 (Tuesday/Wednesday) - Balfour taking graduation orders (10:30 a.m. - 12:05 p.m., cafeteria) 3/28/18 (Wednesday) - Spring Senior Talks (7:15 a.m. - 9:15 a.m., Auditorium) / Balfour disseminates pre-ordered graduation items 5/14/18 (Monday) - Cap /Gown Distribution (Balfour) 12:15 p.m., Auditorium 5/21/18 (Monday) - Graduation Practice/Cap & Gown Distribution (7:00 a.m. - TBD) District Wide Scholarship Link: https://www.dysart.org/scholarships/