Sunset Hills News

Sunset Hills hosted activities throughout the day in remembrance of 9/11.

• Preschool learned about emergency responders and how they help us in times of need
• Kinder created an anchor chart to learn about what a hero is 
• First grade read a short story about heroes and how they are to be remembered and celebrated on 9/11
• Second graders made ribbons of remembrance to adorn the hallways
  
• Third grade students wrote a short essay about Patriot Day
• Fourth grade did a Paying Tribute activity and watched a video about 9/11
• Fifth grade read Save the Boats, learned about the 9/11 memorials and created their own symbolic tribute to 9/11
• Sixth, seventh grade, and eighth grade students watched videos about 9/11

Audition Packets will be released next week for our Annual Musical Production. This year we will be bringing to life the classical story of CATS. 

Check back here for more information as soon as the packets are officially released! We can't wait to share this memory with you!

Monday, September 4th, 2023 there will be no school in observance of Labor Day. 

Boys Baseball

• Tue 8/22 from 6:30-8:00 am
• Wed 8/23 from 6:30-8:00 am
• Thu 8/24 from 6:30-8:00 am

Girls Softball

• Wed 8/23 from 3:15-5:00 pm
• Thu 8/24 from 3:15-5:00 pm

Regular season games will begin the week of 9/12. Let's Go Bobcats!

Please see our August Newsletter!

August Newsletter

Beginning in 5th Grade our students get to choose 2 of their classes each quarter from the following categories: P.E., Music, Art, and iExplore. These classes allow students to explore interests outside of the standard math, reading, science and social studies. Students are required to take at least 1 class from each of the 4 categories below but with 8 options throughout the year there is still plenty of room for their favorites!

P.E. Offerings:

• Outdoor Team Sports (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Health in Sports (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Indoor Sports (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Fitness (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Lifetime Sports (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)

Music Offerings:

• American Popular Music (8th)
• Music Blogging (7th)
• Jazz & Improvisation (6th)
• Movie Music (5th)
• Choir (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Beginning Band (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Band (6th, 7th, 8th)
• Musical Theatre Performance (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Musical Theater Survey (8th) 
• Music History (7th) 
• Music PBL (6th) 

Art:

• Painting (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Drawing (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Ceramics (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Art & Technology (7th, 8th)
• 2D/3D Multimedia (5th, 6th)

iExplore:

• iExplore Coding (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Creative Technology (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• STEM (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)
• Robotics (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th)

If you are completing enrollment for the 23/24 School Year and would like more information on our Elective Course Options, including detailed course descriptions please find your grade level below for the complete course guide:

• 23/24 5th Grade Elective Courses
• 23/24 6th Grade Elective Courses
• 23/24 7th Grade Elective Courses
• 23/24 8th Grade Elective Courses

Back to School Information

Our Office will be open with modified hours for the summer:

Week of 5/29

Monday 5/29 - Closed for Memorial Day

Tuesday through Thursday    7:15 am - 3:45 pm

Weeks of 6/5, 6/12 & 6/19 - Summer School Office Hours

Monday through Thursday    7:30 am - 11:30 am

Weeks of 6/26 & 7/3 - Office Closed for Summer Break

Weeks of 7/10 & 7/17 - Summer Office Hours

Monday through Thursday    7:15 am - 3:45 pm

Regular Office Hours Resume Monday 7/24

Monday through Friday    7:15 am - 3:45 pm

Our 23/24 School Supply Lists can be found here:

• PreK School Supply List 2023-2024
• Kindergarten School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 1st Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 2nd Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 3rd Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 4th Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 5th Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 6th Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 7th Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  
• 8th Grade School Supply List 2023-2024
  

Click here for our May Newsletter: 22/23 May Newsletter

And catch up on all of our newsletters here: Sunset Hills Newsletters

Here is the state testing calendar for Sunset Hills: 

State Testing

Monday March 27 our current 4th - 7th graders will be choosing their electives for next school year.

Here are the Elective Offerings for 2023/2024 School Year, (remember to use the grade level your student will be in the 23/24 School Year):

5th Grade Course Descriptions 2023-24

6th Grade Course Descriptions 2023-24

7th Grade Course Descriptions 2023-24

8th Grade Course Descriptions 2023-24

Band Elective Contract and Agreement 2023-24

Congratulations to our Dysart Heroes, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Boisvert! 

Newsies Jr Photo Gallery

Get your tickets now at shes.booktix.com

Shows are:

• Thursday 2/23 @ 7 pm
• Friday 2/24 @ 7 pm
• Saturday 2/25 @ 2 pm
• Saturday 2/25 @ 7 pm

Sunset Hills PTO is hosting a Donation Drive from Feb. 6th - Feb. 17th

Please bring any donated supplies to your homeroom teacher! Homerooms with the most donations will win:

1st Place - Sonic Lunch for the Class!

2nd Place - Sundae/Float Party for the Class!

3rd Place - Popcorn Party for the Class!

Sunset Hills would like to Congratulate Mrs. Older and Ms. Moberg on their recertification of their National Board Certification! 

Tickets are on sale now for our highly anticipated production of Newsies Jr.! Our cast and crew have been working hard to make this show big enough to take on the World! Make sure you Seize the opportunity and Watch What Happens when we get 100 Voices Singing on that stage! 

Shows are at The Vista: 

• Thursday 2/23 @ 7 pm 
• Friday 2/24 @ 7 pm 
• Saturday 2/25 @ 2 pm 
• Saturday 2/25 @ 7 pm  

Get your tickets today @ shes.booktix.com

Here's a sneak peek preview of our amazing show!

Happy New Year to all of our Sunset Hills community! I hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful winter break! We completed benchmarks for grades 3-5 and finals for grades 6-8 prior to break. Our 6-8 grade students will be taking benchmark 2 the week of January 9. The data from all of the assessments will be used to evaluate growth toward our continuous improvement academic goals as well as individual student driven goal setting. Please encourage your child to do their best!... (click here for full newsletter)

Sunset Hills is so excited to welcome back our families on to our campus for our Thanksgiving Lunch! Please see the attached flier with all the information, including an RSVP that is due this Friday 11/4/22

Thanksgiving Lunch

Sunset Hills Elementary School is excited to announce that we have received an A-rating from the newly-released 2022 State of Arizona accountability labels. This letter grade provides us a glimpse into many areas of proficiency and growth for our school, including information about student achievement, college and career readiness, student growth, and other key areas of interest. We appreciate our hardworking students, staff and parents for their contributions in making our school an A-rated school! 

This is the first time the state has issued new labels since 2018-2019, due to House Bill’s 2910 and 2402, which temporarily paused the issuing of A-F letter grades. It is important to note that this year the state used the same cut marks as they did in 2019 for K-8 schools, the last year they issued letter grades. However, this year's K-8 growth score is only based on growth percentile and does not include growth-to-target.

About School Letter Grades: Arizona Revised Statutes § 15-241 requires the Arizona Department of Education, subject to final adoption by the State Board of Education, to develop an annual achievement profile for every public school in the state based on an A through F scale. The system measures year to year student academic growth, proficiency on English language arts, math and science, the proficiency and academic growth of English language learners, indicators that an elementary student is ready for success in high school and that high school students are ready to succeed in a career or higher education and high school graduation rates. 

 Dysart Unified School District invites parents and students to a Career and College Expo on Wednesday, October 26 from 5:30 - 7:30pm at the Dysart District Office, located at 15802 N. Parkview Place in Surprise.  

The expo showcases Dysart's Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, West-MEC, colleges and universities, and military representatives so families can explore opportunities to pursue in and after high school. This is a great way for 5th through 11th grade students and their parents to get hands-on with all of the career pathway classes and programs offered at Dysart Schools. The event is free and open to the public. Details can be found at www.dysart.org/CTEexpo. 

Dysart Schools currently offer 17 CTE programs at four high schools (Dysart High School, Shadow Ridge High School, Valley Vista High School, and Willow Canyon High School.) Program options include Automotive Technology, Culinary Arts, Digital Animation, Digital Photography, Education Professions, Engineering, Film and TV Production, Fire Science, Graphic Design, Laboratory Assisting, Law and Public Safety, Marketing, Nursing Services, Software and App Design, Sports Medicine, Stagecraft Design and Production and Technology Device Maintenance. Learn more at www.dysart.org/CTE. 

Our October Newsletter is here!

22 23 Newsletter September.pdf

Boys Baseball & Girls Softball Try Outs are this week! Ask the front office or your coaches for more information and how to get a try out packet. Boys Baseball tryouts will be Tuesday and Wednesday (8/23 & 8/24) and Girls Softball will be Wednesday and Thursday (8/24 & 8/25).  Games begin the week of 9/13. Come on out to cheer on our Bobcats!

Boys Baseball Schedule

Girls Softball Schedule

Sunset Hills had a successful first day of school!  We were so excited to welcome back our more than 930 students and their families for another great year.  Please continue to check our website and social media to learn more about all the great activities and events planned, as well as updates on our academic progress!  We hope you have a great year, and please reach out if you need anything to help make your student successful! Check out the photo gallery from the first day below!

Sunset Hills is ready for another fantastic year! Join us on Monday, August 1st from 5:00-6:30 pm for Meet the Teacher Night.  Our PTO will be ready that night with all the Sunset Hills Spirit gear you will need to start off the new year.  Papa Eddie's BBQ and Cerealphoria will be joining us and ready to serve up some delicious eats, with a portion of their proceeds going back to our fabulous PTO.

We can't wait to see our Bobcats back on campus for our first day of school Wednesday, August 3rd!

Join us for Sunset Hills Meet the Teacher Night on Tuesday August 1st, from  5:00-6:30 pm.  

We can't wait to see everyone back for the first day of school on August 3! Make sure you mark your calendars for event and activity dates and keep an eye on our new website for important information as the start of school approaches.

Our Meet the Teacher night will be on August 1 from 5:00-6:30pm. Please join us to see the campus, meet your child's teachers, and get information on what to expect this year. 

Still need to enroll? There's still time to get your children enrolled for the 2022-2023 school year! Parents and guardians can complete the necessary registration information online at Dysart.org/enroll at any time.  Please note that in order to finalize registration the following documents will be required: government issued photo identification; birth certificate; proof of residency; and immunization records. For additional assistance with student registration, families are welcome to contact our front office.

Don't forget to make sure you have access to the Parent Portal to keep up with your child’s academic progress throughout the year! Sign up or access the site online at Dysart.org/parentportal or via the Campus Parent app. 

Dysart Schools have many opportunities for the community to assist schools in providing an amazing educational experience to each and every student. Volunteers help to enrich children’s learning opportunities, provide individual attention to children who need one-on-one assistance, promote a school-home-community partnership for quality education, provide staff members with more time to work with students, and assist staff members and support personnel with non-instructional tasks.

Where is Help Needed?

• Classroom and teacher support 
• One-on-one student assistance 
• Event help (preparations, setup, operations, tear-down)  
• Guest speakers (experts or retirees in various fields) 
• Front office assistance

How to Become a Volunteer:

1. Review the volunteer handbook and complete the volunteer application at Dysart.org/Volunteer 
2. Make an appointment for your volunteer orientation 
3. Coordinate your schedule through the school office 
4. Put on your volunteer badge and have fun!

Who Should Apply to Volunteer?

Anyone who cares about children and education is a potential volunteer. Parents, grandparents and community members 18 years of age or older who want to make a difference in the lives of children and support educators are encouraged to apply to become a volunteer with Dysart Unified School District. Volunteers are welcome in all of our schools and prior teaching experience is not necessary.

Learn more or apply here.

Dysart Nutrition Services ensures that students at all schools have fresh, wholesome and nutritious breakfast and lunch options to support their education and focus in class. Learn more about Nutrition Services at Dysart.org/Nutrition. Menus and nutritional information may be viewed at Dysart.Nutrislice.com.

Apply for Free and Reduced Meals

Beginning July 1, 2022 the USDA is returning to income eligibility guidelines for free or reduced meals. All families should complete a Free and Reduced Lunch Application at SchoolCafe.com to help maintain school funding and make sure that qualified families receive this and other benefits. Only one application is required per family, and may be completed at SchoolCafe.com.

How to Add Meal Funds to an Account

Cash and checks are accepted for meal purchases, or families may utilize SchoolCafe.com to prepay for meals online, view their balances, or place restrictions on purchases. Online payments take 24 hours to post to student accounts.  

Meal Prices 

• Elementary Lunch $2.60, Reduced $.40, Adult $3.50  
• Elementary Breakfast $1.25, Reduced $.30, Adult $1.75  High School Lunch $2.85, Reduced $.40, Adult $3.50  
• High School Breakfast $1.25, Reduced $.30, Adult $1.75 

A la carte and snack items are available for purchase on each campus, and additional meals are available for an added charge. Parents are always welcome to dine with their child, but please be sure to call in advance and check-in at the school office. Adult meals may be purchased for $1.75 for breakfast or $3.50 for lunch. 

Dysart is the largest employer in both the cities of Surprise and El Mirage with over 2,700 employees. Dysart Schools offer highly competitive salaries, full benefits and an inviting school-year calendar with holidays and weekends off for most positions. 

With a wide-variety of positions ranging from groundskeeper, to mechanic, to office staff, and teachers, we’re always looking for great people to join our Dysart team!

Current High Need Areas: 

•  Bus Drivers and Aides
•  Childcare and Preschool Aides
•  Paraprofessionals
•  Behavioral Technicians 
•  Speech and Language Pathologists 
•  Special Education Teachers 
•  Math Teachers 
•  Science Teachers 
•  ASL Teachers 
•  Health Services Assistants 
•  Crossing Guards 
•  Maintenance Workers and Plant Managers 
•  Social Workers

Check out our current openings at Dysart.org/Careers and apply today!

The Parent Portal is a great tool to stay informed 24/7 about your child’s academic progress. Grades, attendance, assignments and more are viewable in real time online or via the app, Campus Parent. A single login allows parents with multiple students to access information for all of their children in one place. Learn more at Dysart.org/ParentPortal.

Update Your Communication Preferences and Contact Info

To make sure that we can keep you informed in emergency situations, please ensure that your contact information is current in the Parent Portal. You are also able to adjust your communication preferences (phone, text, and/or email) at Dysart.org/ParentPortal or on the Campus Parent app to ensure you are getting the various message types in the way that you would like. Remember that if you select more than one type of communication per category, you will receive the message multiple times via each of those avenues.

Students from West Point Elementary School and Sunset Hills Elementary School were recently recognized for being named finalists in the annual Friends of the Surprise Libraries Bookmark Contest. Each year, Friends of the Surprise Libraries invites local sixth through eighth grade students to participate and create bookmarks depicting reading and literacy.  First place, honorable mention, and a Mayor’s Choice Award are selected in each grade category. The following Dysart students were selected as finalists: 

• First Place - Grace Luu (6th grade, Sunset Hills) and Layla Calico (8th grade, West Point). 
• Honorable Mention - Kayla Krise (6th grade, West Point), Isabella Jordan (7th grade, West Point), and Kayla Patnod (8th grade, West Point). 
  
• Mayor's Choice Award - Audrey Howat (8th grade, West Point)
  

Each student was recognized and presented a plaque with their winning bookmark, as well as a monetary award at the April 5, 2022 Surprise City Council Meeting. 

Friends of the Surprise Libraries is a non-profit organization supported by local citizens who volunteer their time to promote local Libraries, literacy and reading programs. They are dedicated to supporting the local community by sponsoring various programs, school grants, and providing gifts and donations to public libraries and literacy organizations.