ANNOUNCEMENTS:

2010 WORLD'S FAIR

With December already upon us, we are all looking forward to our 2010 World’s Fair, which will be held on Thursday, December 16 from 6 to 7:30 pm.  This year our theme is the ‘World Bank of New Vistas’.   Our entertainment will include a Hawaiian Musical Troop and our own Show Choir, the “Note”-ations.  Also, Santa will make an appearance.  We encourage all of our parents, students and their guests to visit all of our beautifully decorated classrooms.  Each classroom will be decorated with work that the students have completed relative to one of the countries we have studied.  You can travel through Kenya – the jewel of East Africa, see the Eiffel Tower in France, hike the Swiss Alps, visit an archeology dig, and even travel to Cyber Space!  The students can collect different coins from each classroom and have them affixed to their World Bank program. 

We hope you enjoy your travels!

NEW VISTAS’ BRAG BLOG WEBSITE

New Vistas Brag Blog Website is under construction and coming soon to a computer near you. Watch for information coming in the January newsletter or on this website about how to access this great blog.

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY NATIONAL TALENT SEARCH AWARD CEREMONY

Dr. Jordan, Mrs. Elias and Mrs. McFadyen were extremely proud to represent the academic staff of New Vistas at the award ceremony for the Johns Hopkins Talent Search in Tucson on Saturday, October 16th.

New Vistas by far had the highest percentage of qualifying elementary student participation for spring 2010 from throughout the state!  (As such, we have been recognized as an Arizona Top 10 School.)

We were proud to see students and parents and share this honor with them. Their names are mentioned individually in the “Hats Off” section of this newsletter. Special congratulations also to Kabir Marwah, NVA graduate, who won high honors for the ACT/SAT tests.

Phyllis MacDonald, CTY Ambassador, congratulated the students and presented them each personally with their awards at the ceremony.

We are so proud of all our NVA families for their dedication to their children’s success.

PLAYING ON PLAYGROUND AFTER SCHOOL

We would appreciate everyone’s help to keep children off the playground, play equipment and grassy areas after school, even if parents are nearby.  We notice that some students are unsupervised at dismissal time as parents pick them up at the various gates and dismissal doors.  It is important to keep all of our students safe and supervised to prevent accidents and injuries. Teachers are at the gates/doors with students who are waiting to be picked up by parents, and it is extremely difficult for our staff to also try and supervise those students whose parents have already picked them up, but who are allowing their children to play on the playground and grassy areas.  We appreciate your help to keep everyone safe.  Thank You!

As in the past, the safety of your children before, during, and after school is of utmost importance to all of us. Preschoolers should be walked to their classes and signed in by their parent or guardian. The State Health Department requires that you sign your full signature not just initials. The teacher or teacher’s aide will bring all of the children to you at the gate following the conclusion of class. Please come to the gate and your child will be "handed" directly to you. We would never want to risk your child being injured by letting a child leave our school premises without your hand to guide them through the parking lot. Even for older students, a parent must come to the gate before we will dismiss them. With the parking lot crowded, we cannot dismiss students to a waiting car. There is to be no parking in the red fire lanes in front of school or on the side of the school or in the yellow striped no parking spots by the front gate. The Golf Academy near the center of our complex does impact parking at times. Please take the extra few minutes to park safely in a space in the north parking lot and walk the few additional steps to the south gate! In the "big picture of life" what are a few extra steps or minutes when the safety of our children is involved?

UPCOMING DECEMBER EVENTS:

Holiday Toy Drive:  During the month of December, New Vistas will be participating  in a “Holiday Toy Drive”  through the Chandler Community Action  Program (CAP).  In the past, we have “adopted” families through this community services office.  However, this year they have revised the holiday gift program.  CAP families who participate and qualify to receive assistance are required to attend classes on parenting, finances, first aid and safety.  They receive “credits” for their attendance at these classes.  The credits then allow them to shop for their children at the CAP holiday “store” where they can purchase books, games, and toys.  After shopping, they then wrap the gifts for their children.  The parents are definitely active participants in the holiday gift giving for their children and feel that, instead of receiving a “hand out”, they have “earned” the ability to purchase toys etc. As a school, NVA will be one of many organizations supplying the “gifts” for the CAP store.  We will have boxes set up in our main hallway near the office from Wednesday, December 1st until Wednesday, December 15th.  We would ask, if as a family you feel that you would like to help out with this program, that you purchase a game, book or toy and drop it in one of the boxes starting December 1st. More information will be available later this month.

WINTER RECESS

New Vistas will be in winter recess from noon on Friday, December 17th - Tuesday, January 4th. 
School resumes on Wednesday, January 5th.

NEW VISTAS WORLD’S FAIR

New Vistas will again host a “World’s Fair” to be held Thursday evening December 16th from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. More details about this special evening will appear in next month’s newsletter.  AN IMPORTANT REMINDER:  All Day Students will be dismissed at noon on Friday, December 17th.  Morning Preschool classes will meet as usual that day. The 5 Day Afternoon Preschool/PreK classes will not meet  in the afternoon on the 17th. Important Reminder: New Vistas On-Site After Care will not meet on December 16th as our staff gets rooms ready for our World’s Fair that evening.  The On-Site After Care will also not meet on Friday, December 17th as this is a Noon Dismissal Day.   However, The YMCA After Care will meet as normal both days, picking up at 3:00 on Thursday and at Noon on Friday.

Optional extended hours are available to preschool students and families this year. Participating students will stay at NVA from 11:15 – 12:15 daily, eating their lunches and enjoying activities together. If you are interested in more information about these extended hours, please contact the office. (480-963-2313)

Mrs. Kathy Grismore, one of our All Day K teachers, will be our Morning Before Care Teacher from 7:45 to 9:00 AM in Room 6 for Preschool and Kindergarten students; Mrs. Holly, one of our 1st grade teachers, will do Before Care for the 1st - 6th graders. The cost of the Before Care Program is $ 95 per month. For those students signed up for Before Care, parents will need to pay $ 47.50 for the month of August within these first two weeks of school. Beginning in September and going through May, the full monthly Before Care Fee of $ 95 will be due during the first school week of each month. If you have signed up for the Before Care program and now realize you will not need it, please let the office know as soon as possible. The YMCA will be again doing an Adventure Club After Care program at their facility. Parents contract directly with the Y on a monthly basis. If you are interested in this After Care program and have not yet signed up for it, please call the Y at 480-899-9622.

If your child needs to take either "over the counter medication" or any kind of "prescription medication" during school hours, you must provide New Vistas with the medication. We can dispense it if we have a signed permission slip from parents. The State Health Department will no longer permit New Vistas to purchase and have on hand over the counter medications such as Children’s Tylenol or Motrin and cold and allergy medications. Please send in medication in a small plastic bag with your child’s name and grade level on it. We will also need the signed permission slip. Please pick these forms up from the office at the time you bring your child’s medication to us. We cannot carry over forms from last school year. If your child consistently needs over the counter or prescription medication, or if you would like your child to be given Tylenol on an "as needed basis" during the school year, we need those medication bottles and the permission forms filled out and returned to us as soon as possible.

ATTENDANCE

Please keep in mind:

• It is helpful for your child’s school experience if doctor and dental appointments are scheduled outside of class time when at all possible.

• When a teacher knows in advance about an absence, especially an extended one, teachers will try to provide materials for the student, as appropriate.

• All children, especially those with fevers, are most comfortable at home, resting in a bed. This also keeps the spread of illness among students to a minimum. We know this isn’t easy for working parents and we appreciate your efforts.

• Thank you in advance for being good role models for our students by helping them arrive on time and escorting them safely into the building. Punctuality is a wonderful life skill for students to learn.

• Teachers arrive early to prepare for classes each day. They will be ready to receive students at 8:50 AM for classes that begin at 9 and 8:30 for classes that begin at 8:40.

• Our goal is always safety first! Thank you for taking the time you need to help your child arrive safely and well prepared for the day.

SCHOOL CHOICE SCHOLARSHIP FUND INFORMATION

With all the bad press in the paper regarding tuition tax credit in Arizona, we want you to know which group we use and why, so that you can feel comfortable that your tax deductible funds are being used in the proper way.  

New Vistas funds go through the Arizona School Choice Trust. We continue to use this organization because of the highly ethical commitment they have made to provide scholarships for low income families, or families with a very specific financial need. They have always been very careful to follow the letter of the law, as intended. Funds go into school accounts, if designated, for general use.

We called the trust to make sure that this is happening and are assured that 96% of the dollars collected are dispersed yearly. Arizona School Choice Trust requires tax statements to support the eligibility of candidates to receive funds.

Again this year, through the Arizona Tuition Tax Credit Program, it will be possible for taxpayers to receive a full dollar for dollar tax credit (up to $500 individual or $1000 per couple on state income tax) for contributions made to an educational trust. We suggest you may wish to designate your tax dollars go into the fund to support scholarships specifically for New Vistas’ students. This is important because an unexpected financial setback, illness in the family, divorce or job loss, can create a sudden crisis in any of our lives. Parents would then be eligible to apply for these general funds in time of need.  And, while we hope that this never happens to any of our families, this aid can allow our families to maintain consistency in their children’s lives when it is most crucial.