Imagination is more important than knowledge.
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You are cordially invited to the World Premiere of The Story of San Tan Leaning Center Friday, March 2nd at 6:30pm in the San Tan Gymacafatorum. Emmy Award winners Tom Catlin and Chris Dunn take you on a 40 minute inspiring journey of the transformation in education.
Red carpet arrivals begin at 6:00 with the viewing at 6:30. Please bring your blankets and snacks to come and enjoy the premiere viewing.
Hello San Tan Families,
This week we have a four day week, and we will wrap up the week with the Jump Rope for Heart event on February 24th during Physical Education classes.
I have a special message from Mrs. Kenney to share with everyone.
Congratulations to our Pac Man Reading Contest Top Readers!
Our top student readers were Tyler Gustavson with a whopping 155 books and Megan Chandler with 105 books. I am proud of you both for tracking your reading so well and bringing your book titles to me throughout the contest.
Runner up Readers:
Joseph Simon (52), Annalisa Baniecki (31), Reve Osheel (20), Carson Frezon (9), Khanye Sternke (12), Preethi Bandlamuri (10), Hayden Scott (14), Cameron Frezon (14), Adriana Baniecki (21), Marley McAllister (9).
I am proud of all my participants who not only read books, but logged their reading and turned in their logs.
Our Pac Man Reading Contest Winners will all receive a gift certificate to the San Tan Book Fair running from March 6-March 9.
Thank you! I loved watching our Pac Man Maze grow!
Mrs. Kenney
It is now time for our 2nd Box Tops Submission. Please drop off your Box Tops at the front office by March 28th. We already have earned $554 for the 1st half of the school year. Let’s try to double it with our next submission. All money earned from Box Tops will go to help fund Campus Improvements. Please visit http://www.boxtops4education.com to see which products earn box tops and more information on the bonus programs. If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact Sherri Goluba at (480) 813-2576.
Also, we held a school-wide door decorating contest to celebrate Arizona Centennial. Ms. Winter’s and Ms. Gustafson’s classrooms tied for first place. Congratulations! Thank you to all the students that participated in the door decorating contest.
We are planning a school-wide Music Field Trip on March 2nd. Permission slips are due back to your child’s teacher this Friday, February 24th. Please contact Ms. Ball if you have any questions about the trip. tball@santanlc.com
Please visit http://www.stlcgolf.com/ to learn more about the annual golf tournament on April 21st this year and to register for golfing.
Visit http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/calendar/ frequently to check in with current events and the school calendar.
Enrollment packets for all current families are due February 29th. All packets must be turned in by this date with a completed packet to ensure your family has placement for next year. All packets turned in after February 29th will go into the lottery with new families trying to enter San Tan for the 2012-2013 school year. Enrollment packets can be found online.
Elementary: http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/public-charter-elementary-school/elementary-enrollment/
Middle School: http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/public-charter-middle-school/middle-school-enrollment/
Have a great week!
Hello San Tan Families,
We got our week started this morning by having a modified-lock down practice drill on campus. This is a safety precaution that students and staff practiced to be prepared in the event that we would need to lock down the campus for any reason. The students did well with the practice, and we will continue to have emergency procedure practice drills throughout the school year.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating the Arizona Centennial by wearing red, white, and blue to school. The classrooms have begun the door decorating contest, and we will post a photo of the winning door online next week. Also for tomorrow, please remember that even if your family observes Valentine’s Day as a holiday, our school nutrition policy does not permit students to bring sweets on campus for holiday celebrations. Any sweets sent to school will be collected by teachers and parents will need to pick them up in the front office to be returned home. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with our nutrition policy.
A big thank you to all STLC families and staff who participated in our Fresh and Easy fundraising this year. Our approximate totals raised are as follows:
$1075 for Fresh and Easy receipts turned in dated 9/15/11-12/31/11.
$587 for our 50/50 raffle held during our Shop for Schools night January 26th. (Our raffle winner was Mr. Santana, a Gilbert resident. He chose to donate 100% of his $293 winnings back to our school, even though he has no connection to STLC! Thank you Mr. Santana!!)
$550.37 from our Shop for Schools night cash register totals on Jan 26th from 4-8 p.m. Thanks for shopping, everybody!
Our final total of funds raised through Fresh and Easy was over $2212.00!!
Congratulations to Ms. Ullrich’s class, who had the highest participation at Shop for Schools night. They enjoyed a special treat on Friday Feb 10th sponsored by Fresh and Easy.
We are also approaching the end of the Labels for Education collection to be completed by March 28th. We would like to collect 135 more labels before our submission deadline, so please check your pantry to turn in Labels for Education and help STLC provide more great equipment for your children during Physical Education class.
The Nutrition Committee along with Coach Dickerson will be putting a team together to participate in the Phoenix Marathon. Please see the attached flyer for additional information.
The golf tournament is coming up on April 21st. If you are interesting in golfing at the tournament, please view the attached flyer to learn how to get signed up for the event.
And lastly, it is that time of year REGISTRATION! All registration documents are online and available to print. Registration papers for the 2012-2013 school year, can be found under the appropriate section (Charter, Gifted, Middle School) under the enrollment tab on the website. Current student registration packets are due, completed, by February 29.
Have a great week, San Tan Families!
Gilbert, Arizona 2/21/2012 San Tan Learning Center, a public K-8 charter school in Gilbert, Ariz., today announced it has opened enrollment for its new middle school for the 2012/13 school year. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms feature the national, standards-based Common Core curriculum and incorporate the Learning Community model, a learning format in which a small group of students take a common set of courses together and share a common academic experience.
The Learning Community model will enhance the Common Core curriculum, which district administrators selected after careful analysis of seven standards-based curricula.
Participants in a Learning Community develop a deeper understanding of courses’ subject matter while building relationships and learning together inside and outside of the classroom. This model also incorporates community partnerships and service learning, allowing students to put learning into practice in real-world situations.
“Studies have shown again and again that Learning Community students enjoy greater academic success than students in a traditional middle school environment,” said Dr. Kristofer Sippel, Superintendent, Learning Center Public Schools. “Combined with our small class sizes and personalized attention for each student, our middle school will provide learning experiences often found only in AP or gifted-child programs, but are beneficial for all students.”
San Tan Learning Center opened in Gilbert in 2008 with grades K – 4 and a vision of offering an interactive, inquiry-based learning environment to nurture students’ natural intellectual curiosity and help them achieve their greatest potential. Since that time, the school has grown more than 500 percent and now offers classes in grades K through 8.
San Tan Learning Center’s middle school program continues the school’s tradition of individualizing instruction while providing excellent academics, personal attention for each student, and strong partnerships between parents, teachers, students, staff and the greater Gilbert community.
In addition to core subject areas, San Tan Learning Center’s middle school offers a full array of specialty classes and electives with a focus on communications and entrepreneurship. Moreover, classes are designed to provide active-learning experiences for hands-on discovery and teamwork.
Open enrollment for the 2012/13 school year is now underway. Admissions forms are available at http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/public-charter-middle-school/middle-school-enrollment/ or by calling 480-222-0811.
About San Tan Learning Center
San Tan Learning Center is a public charter school serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Located in Gilbert, Ariz., the school and its staff have received numerous distinguished honors including Top 10 Charter School Teacher 2011, Arizona Outstanding Gifted Educator 2010, and Go Gilbert! Top School 2010 and 2011.
In addition to its standards-based curriculum, the school is well-reputed for its self-contained gifted classrooms, its physical education program providing daily PE for all students, and its music program. As a school community, San Tan Learning Center strives for excellence in academic and character education by fostering the curiosity, creativity and imagination born within us all. For more information, visit http://www.santanlearningcenter.com or call 480-222-0811.
Hello Roadrunners,
It has been a very spirit filled few weeks. As many of you know we are well into enrollment for the next school year; be on the lookout for reminder emails and updates from Mrs. Haughan.
This is typically the time of the year when we get many questions regarding next year; who is returning, what teacher will my kiddos have, will we have this or that. What I can say to this is we are continuing all of the incredible programs that we have this year and look to refine the areas of need, so that San Tan can continue to be the great educational environment that your kiddos have come to enjoy. If you have specific questions please contact my office via phone or email and I would be happy to sit with you and discuss. I firmly believe that a five minute conversation with decision makers can ease a two hour gossip session with misinformation makers, please come right to the source, my door is always open.
Gilbert Business Woman of the Year
The Corporate Board was asked this last month why San Tan Learning Center sponsored the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce Business Women of the Year Luncheon at the cost of $5,000. One of the saying that we have here at San Tan is that is takes a village to raise a child, and Gilbert is part of our village.
Every year the Corporate Board approves a budget (http://www.santanlearningcenter.com/welcome/governing-board/board-resources/) and one of the areas is marketing. In the past we have used this for door hangers, newspaper articles, post card mailers; all ways to increase school enrollment, many of you may have found San Tan that way. We are now fortunate that most of our new kiddos come from you, our current families sharing your experiences, San Tan use to be known as the best kept secret in Gilbert, because of you the word is getting out!
We are now blessed to turn these funds to areas that grow the school outside of our boundaries and into the community. San Tan selected, through the help of past and current administrative staff to be the title sponsor of Gilbert’s Woman of the year. However, the extra benefits that came from this event are;
· Golf tournament business sponsors, funding the Growing Brilliance Program and putting money into the teachers’ pockets.
· Seven new students for the upcoming school year, if they get pulled from the lotteryJ
· $2,400 in state tax credit monies that help fund our specials program.
· Name recognition within the business community, allowing us to partner with Gilbert companies to sponsor events for our students and teachers. To date we have had a full catered dinner and free massages for our staff as well as decreased cost in cleaning products and paper products.
So as you can see the current financial outcome from this event has been thousands of dollars back to San Tan.
Middle School Construction
The Construction trucks have arrived and will begin the Middle School building on Monday, February 13th with a scheduled completion date of April 30th. These five new classrooms will be equipped with state of the art interactive STAR boards as well as a science lab. If you have an incoming Middle School kiddo and would like to see the construction drawings as well as the Middle School course of study approved by the School Board, please attend our Middle School information night February 17th at 5:30 in the gym.
Arizona Looking to Pay Schools for Performance
States across the nation are shifting how they fund schools and reward teachers. Here in Arizona, a bill moving through the legislature would reward high performing charter schools.
Senate Bill 1257 (tax credit, charter schools) encourages high quality charter schools to open or replicate in Arizona because it provides access to additional funding for facilities. Under the proposed legislation, a charter school could receive a $500 tax credit from an individual or $1,000 tax credit from a married couple or corporation.
The tax credit may be used to support capital facilities including the acquisition, lease, improvement or debt service of charter school facilities.
This is a seismic change. Arizona is now moving towards aligning school success with additional funding. Charter operators are under contract to improve student achievement and SB1257 allows access to additional funds for charter schools fulfilling their statutory mission.
Federal Government Rolled Out New Lunch Standards
The U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled new nutrition standards that will require schools to add more fruits and vegetables to lunch while gradually reducing the amount of sodium and trans fat. The rules also set calorie limits for the millions of meals served annually through the National School Lunch Program. The changes, which will be phased in over three years, begin July 1. All public schools in the National School Lunch Program must follow the new guidelines. San Tan Learning Center does not participate in the National School Lunch Program so we are exempt from this law. However, the nutrition committee has the new standards and is looking at ways to implement these healthy changes.
Find out more information here.
Governor Brewer’s State of the State Address
Governor Jan Brewer began this year’s State of the State speech by taking a moment to remember the people that lost their lives in the Tucson shooting. The Governor then focused on such issues as border security and the Arizona’s economy, promoting the fact that Arizona now has a balanced budget and a surplus. She also stated she will end the temporary one-cent sales tax, which has helped fund education for three years, in 2013. “This tax will end on my watch,” she said. Education is one of her top priorities, saying “we must find a way to fund the results we want and reward educators.” She supports school choice and data driven decision making, and wants to ensure students have quality teachers, a safe school environment, and high academic standards. “Let’s continue to lower taxes and cut regulation. Arizona is open for business,” she said. Read an article about the speech here.
Governor Brewer’s Budget Proposal
On Friday, Governor Jan Brewer introduced her budget proposal, which provides some good news for K-12 public education: $90 million in additional funding. While the budget proposal continues the additional assistance cuts that charter schools have experienced the last several years, it does include some new investments in school districts and charter schools. Find out more information here.
BY THE NUMBERS