The Paloma Partner

It's Holiday Boutique Time!

Kids can have their picture taken with Santa or have help choosing gifts for family members through the Secret Shoppers program. There will be crafts to make and food to eat plus all the great handmade items for sale. Tables are still available for crafters! Please call Sherry Urias at 940-1841 or pick up a form in the school office to sign up.

Speaking of Shopping

Twelve Grand Prize winners, drawn from among all participating students, will be announced at school soon. In addition, the volume of sales we generated qualified Paloma for a free assembly with musical group Melon Ball. We'll let you know when a date has been set.

Orders came home on November 3rd. If you have any concerns about your order, please call our vendor directly at 602-442-4866. Please do not call the school office as they have no information about these orders.

Shopping On-Line?

Many thanks to all who registered with Schoolpop.com earlier this year. We have earned a $250 gift certificate from Barnes and Noble for the Paloma library!

October Meeting Notes

A small but attentive audience of about 25 people attended our school board candidates forum. Candidates Robert Briscoe, Slade Mead, and Rich Zawtocki answered a dozen questions from the floor, ranging in subjects from how to get parents more involved in the decisions the Board makes, to pay for performance program for teachers, to the administrative costs in the district.

November 15th PTA Agenda

Agenda items include:

• D.A.R.E. program funding for next year
• State tax donation to schools program
• Artist in Residence program

Our special program following the meeting will feature Chandler Police Officer Dave Kobler. He'll talk to parents about important safety issues affecting our children. Please join us.

Paloma PTA Supports the Arts

This year, for the first time, Paloma will participate in the National PTA Reflections Program. Students have the opportunity to create works of art for fun and recognition supporting this year's theme "It would be really strange if .". Works of art may be submitted in any of four areas: literature, musical composition, photography, and the visual arts. Entries are critiqued by a panel of local artists and selected works are chosen to represent Paloma at the state and national levels. Submission rules and deadlines will be announced soon. All entries will be exhibited at the school and a reception for the artists and judges is planned for January.

Parent Superintendent Council Update

At the August meeting the primary topic of discussion was the fundraising efforts of the Kyrene Schools Community Foundation. The Foundation hopes to raise $39 million for an endowment to assist the district achieve smaller class sizes and improve technology, among other goals. The Foundation is also working with the district to increase community awareness of the state' s tax credit donation program. Also at this meeting, schools signed up to host the Council meetings. In January, the meeting will be at Paloma.

In September, Council members learned:

• the names of the current Governing Board candidates; and
• that donations made under the state's tax credit donation program must go to individual schools, not to the district or the Community Foundation

The 10th day of school having passed, official class sizes across the district were presented. While average class sizes continue to be within the district's guidelines, recent budget reallocations have created some larger than average classes at many schools. Additional teaching assistance was provided in the form of either a teachers aide or an extra teacher for those classes with enrollments over the guideline limit. The meeting closed with an informational presentation about the contents of Proposition 301. It was made clear to all that district employees cannot do anything during school hours or using school resources to influence the upcoming election.

At the October meeting the following announcements were made.

• A few senior district staff members have new job titles. The changes better reflect these employees' current duties and clarify organizational communication lines. No promotions or salary increases went with these changes.
• This year's budget process has begun. The Governing Board held a study session where three budget process options were presented. A decision will be made soon which process will be used.
• Funding for the early kindergarten program will need to be reevaluated in light of the legal opinion handed down by the Arizona Attorney General. The program will remain intact for the 2000-2001 school year. Any changes for the following year should be announced before winter break.

Student achievement scores across the district were presented using numbers from the Stanford 9, AIMS, and Kyrene Math/Communication Arts tests. Overall, Kyrene students earned scores above the state and national averages. However, lower scores in middle school mathematics will prompt the district to focus attention on that curriculum.

We will continue to provide you with the information presented at these Council meetings in future newsletters.

Time to start thinking about making your $200 tax credit donation to Paloma.

Cleaning out your closets? Remember the PTA Garage Sale is on February 10.

Reading Skills

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Literacy Tutor Interest Sheet
Name __________________________________ Phone ____________________
Student(s) Name(s)  ______________________ __________________________
Preferred workshop time: _____ Saturday morning  
                         _____ Weekday evening
                         _____ Weekday during school hours