Monday, December 8 - 3:00pm - Parent Council Meeting
Tuesday, December 9 -
3:00pm - 4th Grade Class Meeting
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Great Ways to
Support Our School
We get credit for every. click!
Good Search.com is a search engine site that donates to the organization of your choice when you perform a search.
You can help Desert Star by using Good Search as your search engine, and choosing Desert Star Community School (Cornville) as the organization you support through Good Search.
If you want to help Desert Star even more, make Good Search.com your home page so that every time you use them as a search engine, instead of let's say, Google, Desert Star gets the credit for that search.
Type in our web address www.desertstarschool.org. from Good Search.com to access our web site,
and Desert Star gets credit again.
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When visiting Desert Star's webs ite, be sure to use our Amazon.com Associate link located in the right hand column of our home page.
We get credit from Amazon for every item purchased from our site. This is only if your purchase through Desert Stars Amazon links not from Amazon directly. Do all your Winter Holiday shopping through our link and DS gets a donation.
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We have a fantastic Waldorf book list and a way to order
right from our site. Go to our web site under Parent Resources and then to Recommended Books.
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Remember, instead of paying the state your taxes, direct them to Desert Star. Go to the Support Us page on our website then go to the State Tax Credit page.
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We appreciate all you do to support our school.
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Parent Council Is Up and Running -
Join Us!
Next Meeting - Monday, December 8th 3pm
Our new Parent Council has begun meeting on alternating Mondays at 3pm outside in the play area at the school. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 8th. Children can play outside while parents meet, childcare may be provided in the future. Meetings may be held less frequently once the structure becomes established. Chairperson, Angie Barnes hit the ground running with the help of veteran Parent Council co-chair from last year Mike Jefferson. Desert Star is very lucky to have their enthusiasm and commitment, as well as a great group of parents willing to participate. The Parent Council is a vital part of our school community, all classes are represented by the parent class representative and all parents are always welcome at the meetings.
Current Parent Council focus will be:
· Organizing parent's commitment to volunteer 50 hours per school year
· Promoting the AZ Tax Credit effort
· Organizing Parent Reps. to communicate to their class via phone trees
· Creating a Hospitality/Welcoming committee for new families
· Contributions to the weekly Desert Star newsletter
· Reports from Class Reps.
· Helping with school festivals
Additional Tax Credit Promotion Info:
All parents will be receiving a packet of 5 letters to be distributed to friends and family who pay Arizona State income tax. This is a win-win for both the school and those who want to know their tax dollars are supporting a great cause. It is crucial that we all get 100% parent participation in this program! All parents are welcome to enclose personal notes regarding the importance of tax credits to our lovely little school along with their letters and tax credit forms. Please spread the word on how Desert Star meets the needs of our children in a unique and meaningful way! The deadline for tax credits is December 31st.
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Greetings!
This recent holiday of Thanksgiving reminds us that we have  many things to be thankful for as a school community. Our community is filled with warm-hearted, hard working parents and friends who contribute to the school in a myriad of ways. Dedicated, caring, skillful and loving professionals make-up our teaching staff. In today's newsletter, we are introducing a section that will feature a short piece written each week by one of the Desert Star teachers. We hope that you will learn more about what goes on in the classrooms at Desert Star through these articles. Did you know that teachers are required to write thorough lesson plans each week that align the curriculum with the state standards? Read more in the article about state testing. Thanks for being a terrific community with which to work! Susan Simon Principal Desert Star Community School
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Teacher & Community Corner
Picks & Pieces
Fingerprinting for Volunteers:Fingerprinting cost will go up from $51 to $65 for volunteers as of January 1, 2009. So get them before the increase !!!!
Extra Clothing:Please look in your closets. We still need clean extra sweat  pants sizes 8 to 12 neutral colors. This is for students who might have need for spare clothes during the school day. Carpool Reminder:We are receiving numerous calls during the school day for office staff to get carpool messages to students or even to arrange rides for the students. Please make arrangements for your carpool and rides prior to school hours. Desert Star Parent Testimonial Link:
Our fabulous Desert Star web site designer and parent, Char Howard, is adding and improving our web site. We are not only a school, we are a growing resource for the greater community. Please take a look around, use the links and spread the word. We are working closely with Char to link our newsletter information to our web site. She has asked for parent testimonials on our site. There is an easy form you can fill out online. Please participate. In doing so, you are contributing to creating the online presence of Desert Star.
Teacher Highlight -  A Peek Into Second Grade - By Miss Brenda Green
The following two stories were submitted to the Red Rock News but were not published.
After reading about three year old Alyssa Tudor and her cancer disease, Neuroblastoma, in the Red Rock News, second grade students at Desert Star decided to do something. Believing that a little "change" can make a big difference, they spent a month accepting donations on Alyssa's behalf to help defray her medical costs. The final result? 112 dollar bills. 193 quarters, 353 dimes, 174 nickels, 1285 new pennies and 306 old pennies, otherwise known as $220.16. Good Luck Alyssa. Future teacher? Second grader Isabelle Altman was second grade teacher at Desert Star for the morning of October 14th, 2008. Isabelle's parents outbid other second grade parents for the coveted position during the school's annual fundraiser held October 5th at Tlaquepaque. The school raised $13,000 during it's fundraising event. Isabelle's duties included greeting the second graders, taking attendance, facilitating a morning hike, leading the students in morning verse, preparing a poem which the students will study throughout the week, telling them a story she created about a little bird who falls from a tree and learned to fly from a dog, assisting students in their acting out of the story, and helping them create an illustration of the story in their lesson books. When asked what she liked best about being the teacher, Isabelle responded, " The morning work and telling the story." What did she find most difficult? " Making the frame." ( She had to stand on a chair to create an illustration for the other students to follow.)  When Isabelle's peers were asked what they liked best about having her for their teacher some of the comments were: " the hike, how she was always smiling, when she was doing the morning verse, having snack, she's really nice, doing the story." One child commented, " I'm confused because I almost called her Miss Green... and doing the weather and her story." I would like to state for the record how very proud I am of the camaraderie of the second graders this year! The class is one whole cohesive unit: constantly working together, helping each other often, and being patient as needed. I smiled during my conversation with Eugene Schwartz when he remarked he could not tell which of the students in my class were new this year. Way to go second grade! Submitted by Miss Green, Second Grade Teacher Student Artist Spotlight -
Katja Vaatz, Grade 2 - By Zenna MacGregor
This week's featured artist is Katja Vaatz, grade 2. Katja loves color and is not afraid to experiment. Her family reports that they "know when Katja has had art because her clothes are rainbows when she returns home." Her mother Kirsten and father Wolfgang are both artists as well. Wolfgang's work can be seen at Exposures gallery in Sedona. Katja says Tuesday is her favorite day to go to school because she has art class! Featured picture is Katja's soft pastel rendition of a Georgia O Keeffe flower.
 
Submitted by Zenna L. H. MacGregor, Art teacher
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State Testing
The Terra Nova Test (grade 2) and the AIMS test (3rd-6th) are state tests given to all public school students in Arizona, in April.
Students are tested in Reading, Writing, and Math. Fourth graders will also be tested in Science this year. These tests are given to determine if Arizona students are mastering the academic skills that the state says are required at each grade level and in each subject area.
What are the requirements for a Waldorf Charter School that follows an entirely different curriculum than a traditional public school? The requirements are the same. This is a big challenge that we have to face in our classrooms each day. Desert Star Teachers are required to plan for and teach the state standards on a daily basis within the Waldorf Curriculum. How do teachers know what standards to teach? What if our curriculum focuses on a particular skill in reading, in 3rd grade, but the state focused on it in 2nd grade? Does this place our students in jeopardy of scoring poorly on the tests? These are important questions.
Desert Star Teachers review the state standards for their grade level at the beginning of the school year to get an overview of what skills they will focus on throughout the year. Teachers then take this information about the skills they must teach and incorporate it in their lesson planning. Desert Star Teachers write weekly lesson plans for their classes. They are required to list the standards, within their plans, that they will teach that week. This planning helps to insure that the students are being taught the required skills. Teacher's lesson plans are occasionally reviewed to insure that they are paying attention to the standards and teaching the appropriate skills. State standards are available for anyone to review at www.ade.state.az.us.
Our focus this year at Desert Star is determining how best to demonstrate that our students have reached mastery, on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, of particular skills that they've been taught. Some ways that students demonstrate mastery are through keeping portfolios and main lesson books of their work, giving oral presentations, passing a class test, giving reports, teacher observation and turning in written work.
Desert Star Teachers work hard to find a balance of keeping the integrity of the Waldorf Curriculum in tact, while meeting the state requirements placed upon them. This is a daily challenge that requires diligence, experience and creative planning on the part of our teachers. Desert Star students have passed these state tests the first two years of our existence as a school. We plan to continue to improve student performances, while remaining true to who we are as a Waldorf-inspired school.
Susan Simon
Principal
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Thank you in advance for spreading the word about Desert Star Community School.You may forward this newsletter by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page. For more information, please call or visit us on the web.
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