Combs Traditional Academy

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

PTO News 2

CogAT 2

AZ Find 2

Cafeteria 3

APTT 3

Drop Off &

Pick Up

3

Orchestra 4

Library News 4

CHS BBQ 4

Volunteer

Information

4

Staff Acknowl-

edgements

5

Governing Board 5

Chess Club 5

Accelerated 5

Birthdays 6

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 N e w s l e t t e r

Parent Reminders

Sept, 1st-Labor Day,

NO School!

Tues, Sept. 2nd -

Progress Reports go

home

September 11th,

Flag Day Ceremony

APTT

Sept. 11th, Site Coun-

cil 3:30-4:30

CHS Homecoming

Parade Sept. 18th

Sept. 24th Bus Evacu-

ation Drill

A Message From Mr. Berkshire

Welcome back to Combs Traditional Academy! We have had a successful first month back to school and are appreciative of all of you that have chosen the Knights as your school of choice! I am truly blessed to be surrounded by the wonderful staff, fami-lies, and students at our school. I look forward to the rest of the school year and seeing what great things I know will be happening! We have a number of new faces and additions to our campus this year. I am excited to welcome Ms. Amber Sutton, 6th grade; Mrs. Katie Slater, 5th grade; Ms. Autumn Lord, 1st/2nd grade; Mrs. Bethany Gagni, General Music; Mrs. Karen Steele, Band; Mr. Barry Smith, Counselor (here on Tuesdays); and Ms. Brenda Bencomo, ELL (here on Thursdays and Fridays)! They have all hit the ground running and I am confident that they will continue our tradition of Excellence in the classroom. Please take the time to say hi if you haven’t already!

You may have noticed that your children have come home talking about some new programs we have put into place to provide additional academic support and enrichment for your children. Our Kinder-garten through Third Grade teachers all attended Write from the Beginning training this summer. Write from the Beginning is an extension of Thinking Maps applied to the writing process. I hope your chil-dren will be able to share with you how they are using their Thinking Maps to start writing and you can even see some of the examples in our hallways from our 3rd graders! In addition to the Write from the Beginning training, all of our staff attended training in Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies. Ef-fective instruction begins with direct instruction and guided practice, which is our guiding instructional philosophy, but it is important that students be able to collaborate effectively in order to put I to prac-tice those skills which they have been taught, especially in today’s world. The Kagan training we re-ceived emphasized how to establish structures for students to effectively and productively collaborate and be engaged in their learning. It is very exciting to see students putting into practice their learning in a collaborative manner! We have also introduced Target Time into our daily schedule this year. Eve-ry year, we assess our students using STAR, Galileo, and DIBELS and these instruments help identify for us students and skills that need additional support or enrichment. Target Time provides us with the flexibility to address those students and skills outside of our core curricular program of Spalding and Saxon. 1st and 2nd grade Target Time will primarily address English Language Arts while 3rd-6th Tar-get Time will primarily be addressing Math.

I would like to invite all of you to take the time to attend the Academic Parent Teacher Team Meetings on September 2nd and 3rd. These meetings will give you an opportunity to see how your children’s classroom performed on these assessments and the teachers to share with you their goals for their classroom and help you to set goals for your child as well as provide guidance for you as you work with your children at home to achieve those goals. Our school wide goal is for at least 80% of our 2nd-6th grade students to achieve an 80% or better on the Galileo 4th quarter benchmark assessment. Teachers have written long term and short term goals for their classroom that will help us achieve that school wide goal. It is a partnership, though, and your help at home can help us not only achieve those goals, but to exceed them!

This is our 5th year as a school and we are proud of our accomplishments in these last four years, but we know that this year will be even better! Our school, staff, students, and families all SPARKLE!

Thank you!

Marcus Berkshire

P a g e 2

MISSION:

To provide a rigorous academic

focus for all students in an

environment that emphasizes

responsibility and respect.

COGNITIVE ABILITIES TEST

PTO NEWS: Combs Traditional Academy PTO welcomes new and returning families and we invite you to

join with us in making a difference and helping our children to have a positive and rewarding

time learning. PTO would like to thank everyone for their recent donations for Movie Night and

Art Masterpiece! Movie Night was a success and we appreciate all the support from the fami-

lies! We would also like to thank all of the parents who have volunteered to teach Art Master-

piece to the students this year! This is an exciting program that the students look forward to!

PTO Reminders:

Sep 3rd – Fundraising packets are due

Sep 17th – Little Caesar’s Pizza night. $1 will be donated back to CTA for every pizza

purchased.

Also, mark your schedules for our Halloween event coming on October 24th at Peter Piper

Pizza!!!

contact the special education

department at your local pub-

lic school district or the char-

ter school the student at-

tends. J.O. Combs screens

children from preschool

through High School. We

refer infants and toddlers with

disabilities to the Arizona

Early Intervention Program

for Evaluation and Services.

All Child Find referrals are

considered confidential and

services are provided at no

J.O. Combs School District

offers Child Find Screen-

ing to locate, identify, and

evaluate all children who

may have a disability. If

you know a child who has

a disability or one you sus-

pect may have difficulty

with learning, communica-

tion, vision, hearing, be-

havior, or motor control

and coordination, please

cost to the family. Preschool

Screening dates can be found

at http://www.jocombs.org/

index.cfm?plD=723, or you

can call Jeremy Scherer at

480-987-5321 for more infor-

mation.

Parents of young children,

you can access public aware-

ness materials, helpful links,

and resources at

www.azed.gov/special-

education/az-find.

Testing concludes between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. Permission to test is required and student may only test one time in a 12 month period.

Spring Gifted Testing for Kindergarten – 6th Grade Saturday, March 28, 2015 at Combs Traditional Academy. Students arrive between 8:00 and 8:20 a.m.

Testing concludes between 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. Permission to test is required and student may only test one time in a 12 month period You can locate information about testing on the J.O.

Combs Website under the Curric-ulum and Instruction tab you will find details about the CogAT test and qualifying test scores for placement in the gifted cluster classroom. Along with the Per-mission to Test Form. Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher with any ad-ditional questions, or you may contact Debbie Sant at 480-987-5300, extension 1050 or via e-mail at dsant@jocombs.k12.az.us

J.O. Combs Unified School District is committed to identifying students who qualify for placement in the gifted cluster classroom. The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is the assessment used to determine whether a child qualifies as gifted. Listed below are testing dates for the 2014-2015 school year for students Kindergarten – 6th grade.

Fall Gifted Testing for Kindergarten – 6th Grade Saturday, September 20, 2014 at Ellsworth Ele-mentary. Students arrive between 8:00 and 8:20 a.m.

C o m b s T r a d i t i o n a l A c a d e m y

AZ Find Information

Cafeteria News We are always working to offer our students healthier and tastier choices. School meals are a great value and a huge convenience for busy families too! This year at CTA we are offering Breakfast as well as lunch. Breakfast price is $1.25 per day and lunch price is $2.50 per day and an individual milk is $0.45. We encourage you to set up an online account with our food services department at ezschoolpay.com and moni-tor the account balances regularly. You can also send payment in with your child, a lockbox located in the front office for cash or check payments where students can turn money in prior to the start of the school day (directions are on the lockbox). Teachers will NOT collect money from your child for lunch. Lunch payments must be received in the lockbox no later that 9:00am in order to be added to your child's account and counted for that day. Free and reduced lunch applications are available online at https://secure.ezmealapp.com and it is the easiest and fastest way to apply for the free and reduced meal program, or an application can be picked up in the front office.

Drop Off & Pick Up

Academic Parent Teacher Team Meeting

Morning Drop off Procedures: The playground opens at 7:50AM. Please do not drop your children off prior to that time, as we

do not have adult supervision prior to 7:50AM. The drop off lane is the first row of parking spaces in the lot. We ask that you

pull all the way forward and have your children ready to exit from the right hand side of your vehicle. It is a hug and go zone,

and we ask that you remain in your car in order to help move traffic efficiently through the drop off area. If you require more

time with your child, please pull into a parking space and walk with your child to the cross walk. Teachers will be on duty in

drop off to assist students with getting out of your car, but if they are occupied, please have your child exit the car themselves.

Once our buses have delivered students, we will move the yellow “Bus Zone” sign to the side of the road and you will be di-

rected to pull into the bus lane to drop off your children. Please do not enter the bus zone in the morning until the sign has

been moved. The gate to the playground is locked promptly at 8:10AM and students may enter through the office at that point.

Pick up Procedures: We have three buses that serve our campus in the afternoon and one for AM Kindergarten. We ask

that you not pull beyond the first row of parking spaces until both buses have pulled in and parked. Once the buses have

loaded and pulled away from the curb, please pull all the way forward to the final gate. Please display your Pick Up Card that

you were given at Meet the Teacher to help us quickly and efficiently match children to cars. We load the first three cars at a

time and children will need to access the passenger side of the car. We ask that you remain in your vehicle during the pick up

time. If you would like to exit your vehicle, we ask that you park and use the crosswalk to pick up your child and escort them

back to your car. Parents that are walking may pick up their children through the gate closest to the office. Parents may not go

past the crosswalk on the sidewalk, as that is reserved only for car and bus traffic.

PM Kindergarten Drop Off: PM Kindergarten students can be dropped off

at the front office beginning at 12:05PM. (On Wednesdays only 11:25AM )

Please plan to join us for Academic Parent Teacher Team Meetings on September 2nd and 3rd from 6:00-

7:15 PM. These meetings are for parents only and we encourage you to make arrangements for your chil-

dren to stay at home. Teachers will be sharing classroom data and goals with parents and will be asking par-

ents to write goals for their children for the first quarter and the year. Teachers will also be working with par-

ents on specific skills and strategies that can be employed at home to help achieve those goals.

Tuesday, September 2nd AM KG, 1st-2nd Grades

Wednesday, September 3rd PM KG, 3rd-6th Grades

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1 P a g e 4

ORCHESTRA

Students are already working hard with their instruments in hand. Thanks to the Orchestra Parents for all their help getting the necessary books, shoulder rests, ros-in, and of course instruments. I want to thank you for preparing your orchestra child for a successful experience in or-chestral studies this year. Sincerely, Guido Lavorata glavorata@jocombs.k12.az.us Director of Orchestra: Ellsworth, Simon-ton, Harmon, and Combs Traditional Academy

Library News Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fantastic summer and is as excited as I am to be back at school. My name is Brittani Barbeau and I am the librarian this year here at Combs Traditional Academy. Some of you may already know me as the Kinder Express teacher. This will be my second year in the Kinder Express classroom and my first year in the library. I am really looking forward to a great! How the Library Works The 1

st-6

th grade students will have library as a special once a week for

thirty minutes. During that class time, they will have the opportunity to check out two books. Each student should know their AR level, so the process of checking out books will run smoothly. Please, make sure your child returns or renews their books each week. They are only allowed to have two books checked out at a time, so if they do not return their books, they cannot get any new ones.

Here’s to a wonderful school year!

Contact Information: The best way to contact me is through email, but calling is fine too. Brittani Barbeau, bbarbeau@jocombs.k12.az.us, 480-987-5320 x3301

Volunteer We love our volunteers and appreciate all the help they give us! If you are interested in volunteering, either in your child’s Classroom the Front Office or with PTO, you may contact Mary McGonegle in

the office at 480-987-5320.

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.

Type in student’s user name and password

View student’s AR Quiz results and setup email messages (visit link at upper right-Email Setup)

Enter all areas to receive emails and click “Add” (an email will be sent to the email address provided)

Individual should receive email with the following information and click to accept invitation

After accepting invitation, person should be taken to a link that shows it went through properly.

Go to www.combstraditional.jocombs.org and visit Parent Links, click on Accelerated Reader

Type in student’s user name and password

View student’s AR Quiz results and setup email messages (visit link at upper right-Email Setup)

Enter all areas to receive emails and click “Add” (an email will be sent to the email address provided)

Individual should receive email with the following information and click to accept the invitation

After accepting invitation, person should be taken to a link that shows it went through properly

M E E T I N G D A T E : S e c o n d W e d n e s d a y o f e a c h m o n t h M E E T I N G T I M E : 6 : 0 0 p . m . M E E T I N G P L A C E : J . O . C o m b s M i d d l e S c h o o l M u l t i - P u r p o s e R o o m 3 7 6 1 1 N . P e c a n C r e e k D r i v e S a n T a n V a l l e y , A Z 8 5 1 4 0 Governing Board Minutes are available on the District

website at: www.jocombs.org

Accelerated Reader Email Set-up

Combs Traditional Academy Staff Acknowledgement

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:__________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

Rigor,

Responsibility & Respect

Governing Board Meetings Combs High School Homecoming Parade, BBQ, and Bonfire

Combs Traditional Academy PTO, along with Student Council, will be entering a float in this year’s Combs High School Homecoming Parade and we want to encourage all of our families to attend the parade and the subse-quent activities! The parade starts at 4:30 at Ranch Ele-mentary School and ends at Combs High School. There will be a BBQ and activities following the parade. Different meal options will be available for purchase as well as different activity booths during that time. Meals include entry into the bonfire that evening. We hope to see you as we cheer on our Combs High School Coyotes!

Mission:

To provide a rigorous academic

focus for all students in an

environment that emphasizes

responsibility and respect

Tennysen Rodgers

Isabella Quinata

Jack Greene

Jaydon Pief

Tristan Williams

Miranda Kennedy

Preston Lord

Ashley Mabey

Anissa Deel

Jayce Gattas

Isabelle Harris

Samantha Moylan

Kylie Hannan

Kelvin Ta

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY!!!

Student Birthdays: Ashley Williams

Elijah Golden

Olivia Minson

Pierce Hyde

Maliyah Rasmussen

Nathaniel Rembert

Sophia Byrd

Kemper Paterno

Aiyanah Scism

Lilyanna Pruett

Ryan Greene

COMBS TRADITIONAL ACADEMY

37327 N Gantzel Rd San Tan Valley, AZ 85140 Phone: 480-987-5320 Fax: 480-987-3473

Website: www.combstraditional.jocombs.org

Rigor, Responsibility, Respect

September Birthdays

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.

Staff Birthdays: Renee Lemons Brittani Barbeau Sonia Ochoa Krista Nino

REMEMBER:

Parents we ask that you not send balloons, flowers

or any other distractions to the classrooms please.

Such items like this will wait in the office to be

picked up after school.

Also - Please contact teachers and make

arrangements if you are planning to bring in a

snack for the class on your child's birthday.