School year 2021-2022 was a busy one in the district! As we look back on the many accomplishments of this year, we are so proud of our students, teachers, administrators, staff, and so many others who made this an amazing year! Here are just a few of the highlights. (for more highlights, check out the following link to our website: https://www.sjusd.net/article/762374)
At the District Level
--At a time when other districts are struggling with learning loss due to Covid, every one of our grade levels scored above (often well above) the state averages on State testing. As an example, 86% of our 3rd graders scored proficient or highly proficient on the math portion of the state (AASA) test, while the average around the state was only 39%.
-Broke away from the County consortium and established our own consortium (Arizona Rural Schools Consortium), providing a savings of around $70,000
-Completed a full renovation of the middle school cafeteria, foyer, bathrooms, and gymnasium
--New batting cages were installed at the middle school thanks to the following people:
PERKINS CINDERS: donated aggregate, the cement and labor
DW DUSK: donated labor for cement and finish work
TEP, SRP and TRISTATE: donated the poles
EW PARKER: set the poles
Other various contractors donated money for the pitching machines, nets and hardware.
Kasey Nelson hung the lines and nets and organized and orchestrated the project (thank you!!)
-Named football stadium, Mike Morgan Stadium
-Created a district-wide writing program, with a paper and digital format
-Installed new playground at the middle school
-Pursued and received the Final Mile Project grant, allowing for high-speed internet in St. Johns
-Created a new app for the district that will help parents, teachers, and community members keep up-to-date on all things SJUSD
-Updated our district website
-Transitioned to a new point of sale software that will make it easier to track money in the district
-Revised our professional leave policy
-Installed district-wide security system
-Created and offered ACT prep class at the high school, along with life-prep class focused on helping students apply to college, fill out FAFSA forms, learn basic financial literacy skills, etc.
-Utilized grant money to purchase new computers for teachers (to be purchased in batches over the next few years)
Dear SJUSD Community,
Like you, we are shocked and deeply saddened by the news of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas on Tuesday. We share in the heartbreak we are all feeling for the families who have lost a loved one due to this senseless act of violence.
School should and must be a place where students feel completely safe and secure. As an added precaution, we have charged each of our school’s administration teams to increase security and awareness in their buildings this week. This Summer we also plan to revisit our school safety plan and make needed adjustments. We will do all we can to make our schools as safe as possible.
Please join us in keeping the students, staff, and families of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in our thoughts at this time.
Sincerely,
Kyle Patterson
Superintendent
SJUSD
Parents just a reminder. We have early release on Thursday May 26th at 1:10 pm and on Friday May 27th the students will be released at 10:20 am.
Mrs. Diggs provided breakfast for all of the students who read more than one million words this year at the middle school. There were 36 kids who met this goal, with our highest student reading over 4 million words! A huge shout out to these kids for such an amazing accomplishment.
Our 5th and 6th grade teachers and their students have been busy! It has been so much fun this week to see their science projects, writing pieces, and to stroll through their Ancient History Museum. These students did amazing!
Shoutout to Mrs. Ashton and our 8th graders! All high schoolers are required to pass the Arizona Civics Test before they can graduate. This year we decided to have our 8th graders take the test just to see how they would do before high school. All but 11 of them passed it! Mrs. Ashton has done an amazing job with these kids over the past two years, preparing them to pass a test intended for high schoolers on their first try. We are so grateful for our teachers that are instilling within our students a love of their country and a strong base in civics education.
The 5th grade science fair is on 5-18-22 from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Parents,
Just a reminder that the band concert is tonight at 7:00 pm at the high school.
Just a reminder, the booster club carnival is tonight at the middle school football field from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm .
Good Morning,
The last assembly of the year is today at 9:00 am.
General music class concert is tomorrow at 1:25 pm in the middle school gym.
Parents,
Just a reminder that the orchestra concert is tonight at 7:00 pm at the high school.
It's Teacher Appreciation Week, please join me in celebrating the great teachers we have here at the middle school!
8th grade promotion will be held on May 26th at 7:00 pm at the high school auditorium.
May 2-6 is teacher appreciation week. Please stay tuned for what is planned that week to celebrate the great teachers here at the middle school.
The month of April we will be doing state testing. Please check the testing calendar that was sent home to see when your student(s) will be testing.
