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MARCH NEWSLETTER
Combs Traditional Academy
March is an important month for us at Combs Traditional Academy. While it is interrupted by Spring Break, we also have many important events going on as well as it is our last push towards
AIMS and Stanford 10 testing. Additionally, we begin to look at our re-enrollment and staffing as
we prepare for the next school year.
Re-enrollment and open enrollment paperwork went home with students on February 24th. We use this information to see which students will be returning and which may not be returning. This is extremely important as we are also beginning to receive new enrollment applications for the 2014-
2015 school year. Our priority for registration is to re-enroll our current students. Once those have been tallied, we then look at our classroom capacity and determine which grade levels may have a waiting list for the upcoming school year. We also use the re-enrollment paperwork to communicate with our District Office to determine our staffing needs for the upcoming school year.
We also use that information as we determine which grade levels may have a waiting list. This year, our 4th-6th grades have been on a waiting list status for most of the school year. We anticipate more grade levels going to waiting lists for this upcoming school year, so please make sure your
paperwork gets in on time so we can ensure a spot is available for your child!
We are also preparing for our final push towards AIMS and Stanford 10 testing. Our goal as a school is that 97% of our 3rd-6th graders will pass the AIMS reading and 90% of our 3rd-6th graders will pass AIMS math. Based on our Galileo and STAR assessment data, we feel that both of those goals are achievable, but we want to ensure that our students are continuing to be rigorous in their
learning as they prepare for the AIMS tests. Please help us continue to push your child to further success, both at home and at school. You can do this by monitoring and supporting your child and their homework, checking your child’s progress regularly through Jupiter Grades, and monitoring
their AR progress through Home Connect.
You will also have an opportunity to have your child share with you their progress towards the goals you have set for them through the Academic Parent Teacher Team Meetings as well as goals they have set for themselves at our Student Led Conferences on Thursday, March 20th. Teachers will be communicating with you as to when or how their Student Led Conferences will work and we
will also be posting information on our Facebook page as well as sending it out in our Weekly Update. We encourage you to attend the conferences and to make sure your child attends with you. If you feel that you need to have a private conference with your child’s teacher, we have reserved Friday, from 12-4,
for individually scheduled conferences. Please contact your child’s teacher
to make those arrangements.
Thank you for choosing Combs Traditional Academy. We appreciate all of
the support and time you dedicate to our school and it is because of you
that we are successful!
Marcus Berkshire, Principal
Principal’s Message PTO News 2
Combs Flag Football 2
March 20th & 21st–
Half Days 2
Orchestra News 2
Jump Rope for Heart 2
Illustration by G.G.
Pierson 2
Combs Summer School
and Camp 2
CTA Staff
Acknowledgement
3
Registration for
2014/2015 3
Nurse’s Closet 3
Combs Kidz– March
17th Day Camp
3
Kinder Round-up 3
Book Fair Raffle 3
Food Services News 3
AIMS Testing 3
March Birthdays 4
Inside this
Newsletter:
Parent Reminders:
March 5th- Board Mtg– CMS @
6pm
Kindergarten Round-up– March
6th @ 6pm
Spring Break– March 10th-17th–
No School
March 18th– School Resumes
March 18th– PTO Mtg @ 6pm
March 18th-21st– Book Fair
March 19th– Donuts with Dad @
7:15am
March 20th– Sweetie Peaz
Fundraiser
March 20th & 21st– Student-
Led Conferences
March 20th & 21st– Half Days–
Dismissal 11:15am
Student Led Conferences & P/T Conferences Our spring conferences are Student Led on Thursday, March 20th. This means that your child will
be sharing with you their progress over the course of the school year. This is a wonderful opportu-
nity for you to have a conversation with your child about what they have been learning and how
they are doing in school and helps students take ownership in their learning. If you feel that you
need an individual conference with your child’s teacher, we have reserved Friday, March 21st from
12-4. Teachers should have sent information out regarding how their particular Student Led Confer-
ences will be conducted, but please feel free to contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions
or would like to schedule an individual conference.
Illustration by G.G. Pierson
Thank you to all the families that came out and had fun at the Sweetheart Dance! The Silent Auction baskets were a huge success. We are pleased to announce that each classroom received half of the proceeds their basket raised! You can view your photos by visiting http://bit.ly/sweetheart-2014.
We have some exciting events in March! Our next PTO meeting is on Tuesday, March 18th. Please join us as we discuss upcoming events including Donuts with Dads, Movie Night, and Teacher Appreciation.
Join your little knight before school on Wednesday, March 19th for Donuts with Dads. The book fair will also be open before and during Donuts with Dads. More information will be coming home soon.
Student led conferences are March 20th. If you feel like a tasty treat after your conference why not stop by Sweetie Peaz? Our next Sweetie Peaz Fundraiser is also Thursday, March 20th. We hope to see you there!
We appreciate all of the support we have received from CTA families. We couldn’t make our events successful without you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please contact us at [email protected].
Combs Flag Football The Community Education Department will be offering Flag Football for
1st-6th grade boys and girls. Two co-ed divisions will be offered: 1st - 3rd
grade & 4th – 6th grade. Practices will be held on Tuesdays and
Thursdays after school on your school field (if minimum enrollment is
met). The first practice is March 25th. Games will be held on Saturday
mornings at our Combs elementary school fields from March 29th – May 17th. For more information and online registration, please visit
www.jocombs.org. Choose the “Community Education” tab across the
top. From the drop down menu, choose “Sports Programs.”
Combs Summer School and Camp
As you are looking ahead to this summer, please remember that we will be
offering an exciting summer school & camp program at Harmon Elemen-
tary School.
Summer School can not only assist children who are struggling in math & English, but it also provides enrichment classes for all students in arts, science, mathematics, computers, physical education and more. Summer School will be held Monday – Thursday, June 2-26 in the morning. A com-
plete class list coming soon!
Combs Kidz will also provide Summer Camp throughout the summer from
6:30 am – 6:00 pm for working parents. Campers will stay engaged and have a blast enjoying water days, field trips, science experiments, arts and
crafts, physical activity, technology, foosball, ping-pong, and Wii games.
Registration for both programs will be online. Check our website
www.jocombs.org for details and registration.
March 20th & 21st-Half Days
All students, including Kindergarten, will be released at 11:15am on both the 20th & 21st of March. Lunch will not be served in the cafeteria these days. PM Kinder will meet on March 20th from 8:15-11:15am. There will be no AM Kinder or Kinder-Express on the 20th. AM Kinder and Kinder-Express will meet on March 21st from 8:15-11:15am. There will be no PM Kinder on the 21st. Please contact our office at 480-987-5320 for any questions.
Orchestra News Orchestra Students did a great job on the Glow-in-the-Dark Concert Valentine’s Day.
They are now working very hard to prepare for their third quarter test and new concert songs.
Way to go Orchestra!!!
Mrs. Moulding thinks you ROCK
Jump Rope for Heart This year’s Jump Rope for Heart event was
a great success. The students at Combs Traditional Academy raised $1,241.79 for
the American Heart Association. If the school raised more than $1,000 than our
PE teacher, Mr. Azanger, said he would let a few students duct tape him to the wall in
the gym. Since we reached our goal, Mr. Azanger will get duct taped during Donuts
with Dad on Wednesday, March 19th. The top fundraiser for
this year was 2nd grader Tatiana
Martin out of Mrs. Lemons’ class.
WAY TO GO KNIGHTS!!!!
AIMS and Stanford 10 testing will be the week of April 7th for all 2nd-6th
graders. Please start planning your calendar now to ensure that your child
is in school on time each day of testing and will not have any appointments
during that week. It is very important that they are well rested, have a good
breakfast, and are able to focus on the test each day. Students that miss
the day of testing will have to take the test during a make-up day following
the testing week and will miss classroom instruction as a result.
AIMS Testing
Combs Traditional Academy Staff Acknowledgement Form
Has a Combs Traditional staff member gone above and beyond for you or your child? We
would love to hear about it! Please share your appreciation for a Combs Traditional staff member and turn it in to the front office.
I would like to recognize ____________________________________________ for ________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
I would like to recognize ____________________________________________ for ________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I would like to recognize ____________________________________________ for ________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
March 17th- Day Camp
Don’t forget, there is no school on Monday, March
17th. The Combs Kidz program will be offering a
camp all day at Harmon Elementary School (6:30
am – 6:00 pm). The price is $30/full day or $15/
half day. There will NOT be an additional
registration fee. Register online! How? Go to
www.jocombs.org. Look across the top for the
“Community Education” tab and choose “Camp
Programs” from the drop down menu.
It’s that time of the year to start looking to next year and we need
your help! We have begun accepting enrollment registrations for
next. Pre-enrollment paperwork was sent on February 24th and is
due March 7th. Our growth as a school depends on our families
and their positive reviews of the school. You can help us by telling
others in your community about your positive experiences with
Combs Traditional Academy and by visiting greatschools.org to
submit a review. We have had a lot of phone calls expressing
interest in Kindergarten and are anticipating a waiting list for
some grade levels for next year! Thank you for your help!
Registrations for 2014/2015
Food Services News
This is just a reminder that current meal eligibility
for our Free and Reduced
Program is only good for the
current school year and the
first 30 days of the new school
year. Parents must reapply every year for benefits for their
children. Thank you for your
cooperation in this matter.
Nurse’s Closet
We are in need of clothing donations for the nurse’s closet for
sizes 6, 7, & 8 (small/medium). If you are able to send in any items that your child has grown out of, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for
your help.
Kindergarten Round-up
We are currently accepting enrollment
registrations for the 2014-2015 school year. Please let your friends and commu-
nity know about our program and invite them to stop by for a tour. We will be host-
ing our Kindergarten Roundup on March 6th at 6:00PM in the gym for prospective
Kindergarten families. At the roundup, we will introduce the staff and Ms. Briggs will
take the incoming Kindergarten students to her room for an activity. There will then
be a short presentation on our program, specifically for Kindergarten, followed by a
tour of the school and ending in the Kin-
dergarten classroom. We will also be able
to take registration forms that evening. We
hope to see a lot of new faces that night!
Book Fair Raffle
Enter to win a Scholastic
gift basket worth over
$100! Raffle tickets are
only $1 each! The winner
will be selected the last
day of our
spring book
fair on
March 21st!
Good luck!
Mission: To provide a rigorous academic
focus for all students in an
environment that emphasizes
responsibility and respect
37327 N Gantzel Rd San Tan Valley, AZ 85140
Combs
Traditional
Academy
HAPPY
BIRTHDAY!!!
Students:
Joel Squires
Kole Brian
Alex Rodriguez
Emily Marviglia
Kaylee Jensen
Patrick Quinn
Isabella Loyola
Jadyn Brian
Ashtyn Hubbard
Ava Russell
Kaleigh Taylor
Phone: 480-987-5320 Fax: 480-987-3473
Website: www.combstraditional.jocombs.org
Rigor, Responsibility, &
Respect
Vision: Students will develop the essential
skills to become higher level
thinkers that will empower them
to become respectful, self-
disciplined, conscientious, and self-
motivated leaders of society.
Jayden Anderson
Jordyn Vallejo
Ava Litviak
Jade Keesler
Haydin Miller
Waylon Deel
Ariana Kizier
Larry Joseph
Rylee Culver
Roy Fisher
Natalie Bonilla
Aaron Schellenberg
Fabrizio Steven
Alyssa Jensen
Dylan Hudgel
Students:
Mrs. Keeli Engel
Mrs. Holly Hargarten
Mrs. Janis Skinner
Dear Parents and Families:
Reading is the most important skill you can teach a child. Of all the skills children learn, it is the one you can
influence the most.
We invite you to visit our Scholastic Book Fair and experience a celebration of reading that provides families
the opportunity to get involved in a universal mission: encouraging kids to read every day so they can lead
better lives.
Our Scholastic Book Fair theme - Book Fair Fiesta: ¡Yo Quiero Libros! ¡Vamos a Leer! (I Want Books!
Let's Go Read!) –surrounds students in the celebration of reading with hundreds of fun, engaging, affordable
books for them to discover. Giving kids access to good books and the opportunity to choose their own books
will motivate them to read more. And like most acquired skills, the more kids practice reading, the better
they’ll get.
Reading is vital to every child’s success, and raising kids as readers means getting involved while they’re
young. Now is the time. Since there will never be a substitute for a parent’s direct involvement in his/her
child’s education, please make plans to visit our Book Fair. Hope to see you there!
Book Fair Dates: Tuesday, March 18 – Friday, March 21
Shopping Hours: 3/18-3:00-3:30; 3/19-7:00-8:10 & 3:00-3:30; 3/20-7:45-8:10 & 11:00-7:00; 3/21-7:45-8:10
& 11:00-2:00
Special Events: 3/19 Donuts with Dad; 3/20 & 3/21 Conferences
Before you visit the Book Fair be sure to download the FREE Book Fairs App to help you find the right fit
books for your child. For more information, visit: scholastic.com/apps/bookfairs. And if you’re all booked up
during Book Fair week be sure to visit the Book Fair online at scholastic.com/fair. Our Online Fair is available
for an extended time from March 13 to April 2.
We look forward to having you participate in our Fair, and remember, all purchases benefit our school.
