Hello Gophers! Do you believe that September is here already? We are in full swing of school with activities happening daily.

I was very pleased with our Open House and appreciate the number of people that showed up. We tried to vary up the format this year as we had just had Meet the Teacher. At the upper levels we had the teachers put on workshops that would benefit the parents including: note taking, stamp sheet, learning styles, Aleks and mathematical practices. We also introduced the TOPS program which is Teen Outreach program which we utilize from the University of Arizona. This is an opportunity for our students in a non- threatening situation talk about different issues that they face. They meet every Monday after school. If you are interested for your child call the school and we will connect you to the director Victoria Bonyani.

Another program offered at the Open House was Not My Kid. This is a privately funded group in connection with local, state and national law enforcement about the issues involving substance abuse. We put on a clinic for parents so that they could be more knowledgeable in this area. They have met with our 8th graders already this year on teen peer pressure.

We were very pleased when we received our School Report Card earlier this month as we moved up from a “C:” school to a “B” school. This was based mostly on the amount of improvement that we showed last year. To continue this trend I would ask you to take advantage of our teachers with their after school tutoring. All teachers provide assistance for students that require help 2 times a week. Please, if your child struggles, look into what days your child can stay to help them improve.

Midterms were sent out this week and if you have any concerns please talk to your child’s teacher to work out a plan. We have 5 weeks to go before the end of the quarter and hopefully everyone is on the right path. Parent Teacher Conferences will be Sept. 19th and 20th just prior to Fall Break.

The NED show was presented to our K-5 students. It is a non- profit organization that utilizes a pretty cool show including yo-yo’s to motivate the students. Its message is Never Give Up, Encourage Each Other, and Do Your Best.

Go Gophers!