Mesquite Elementary

Dear Mesquite Elementary Families,

This week I would like to highlight and say thank you to our Musical Theater Club! What an amazing performance of Disney's Frozen Jr.! What an amazing weekend we had celebrating the hard work of over 100 students! Thank you to those who joined us to watch the show, a record number of tickets were sold and everyone in attendance was in awe of the performance!

We are incredibly grateful to our amazing parent and staff volunteers that truly lead the program and those that support in everyway! The Musical Theater Club is only possible due to the the commitment of parents and other volunteers that direct, lead committees, design sets, create costumes, take pictures, organize the cast party, and more. We are thankful for the staff members that support in untold ways as well! We are thankful to Gilbert High School for supporting our program with technical support and letting us use their auditorium! There is truly no greater joy than seeing our community come together is such a memorable way!

Enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year is currently open! We will host two kindergarten open house events on Tuesday, March 4th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Thursday, May 1st from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. prior to Evening of the Arts which will be from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

As you start thinking about junior highs for next year, please know that we feed into Greenfield Junior High School, South Valley Junior High School, and students have the option to apply to Gilbert Accelerated Middle School at Gilbert High School, Gilbert Classical Academy, and/or Gilbert, Talented, and Creative Program at Highland Junior High School. For more information about upcoming Level Up days or campus information, please visit GilbertSchools.net/LevelUp.

We are looking forward and hope to see you at Mesquite Musical Theater Club's performance of Frozen, Jr. on Friday, February 21st at 6:30 p.m. or Saturday, February 22nd at 2:00 p.m. at Gilbert High School! So proud of all of our performers and thankful for our Club Sponsors and Volunteers!

Sincerely,

Wendy Norburg

So proud of our student leaders helping to draw names and celebrate others for being respectful, responsible, and safe!

Mrs. Schock shares that Hattie is the type of student who every teacher dreams of. She is bright, hard working, kind, and funny. She is a role model in every way imaginable. If I need a kiddo to answer a really tough question, I know Hattie will have an insightful and interesting take on it. If there is a student who is having a hard time socially, I trust that I can simply put him or her in proximity to sweet Hattie, and she’ll immediately take that peer under her wing. If there is a moment where my 5th graders are hesitant to share something vulnerable because it’s embarrassing, and let’s face it they don’t want other 5th graders to make fun of them, I can call on Hattie to be her 100% genuine self (she has our whole class obsessed with rats, something that until this year, has been objectively “uncool” to 5th graders).

These are all things that make Hattie an exceptional human, but what might be her biggest superpower is how she makes everyone in her orbit feel. She has a gift of quietly finding a way to make each person she encounters truly feel special, accepted, seen, and valued. It’s clear that the reason Hattie has this impact on people is because she actually sees each person she encounters for who they are, and believes they’re special and deserving of kindness and respect.

Hattie is knocking it out of the park at being a human and demonstrating humanity. I think we could all learn some lessons from her. I can not wait to see what this phenomenal young lady does in the future, and am honored to get to be her teacher.

Mesquite Mountain Lions, this year we would love to see your pride colors! We look forward to seeing our Mountain Lions wearing their favorite school shirt or school colors on Fridays this year!

Love of Reading Week is just around the corner, March 3rd through the 7th. We look forward to you joining us on celebrating this week!

• Monday, March 3rd - "Books Brighten Our World!" Wear Tie-Die or Bright Colors
• Tuesday, March 4th - "Reading Takes us Places!" Dress like a tourist or wear Hawaiian Shirts
• Wednesday, March 5th - "Reading is Fun!" Wear a crazy outfit or crazy hair
• Thursday, March 6th - "Reading Jogs the Mind!" Dress in workout clothes
• Friday, March 7th - "Cozy up with a Good Book!" Wear your pajamas

Free admission for students, staff, and immediate family on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at the Musical Instrument Museum. Scan the QR Code below to RSVP a spot for your family!

This year's yearbook is available for the pre-order price of $25.00 until Friday, March 7, 2025. After that the yearbook will be available for order for the price of $30.00 until Friday, April 11, 2025 Please use this link or the QR Code below to order your yearbook. For questions please email mesquiteptso@gmail.com.

Thank you PTSO for the delicious snacks for our Professional Development Day! We appreciate all you do to support our teachers and students!

Our Fun Run Fundraiser is revved up and we are at 34% of our $30K goal! The Fun Run is on Thursday and we encourage parents to come join your students during their scheduled run time.

We have donations from 20 US states and if we can get a donation from every state, the whole school will earn Kona Ice!!

Thank you for your support, sharing the fundraiser and every single donation! Go Mountain Lions!

Thank you to all who joined us at our PTSO Meeting on Thursday, February 13, 2025! The next PTSO meeting will be on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 3:15 p.m. in the Library and we would love to have you join us!

Thank you to those that follow the Mesquite Elementary PTSO Facebook page. PTSO has an Instagram account as well which can be found using this picture QR Code. Thank you for following along and sharing along the way!

• Amy Simon - President
• Stacy Nelson - Vice President
• Kimberly Castro - Secretary
• Mel Van Klaveren - Treasurer
• Heather Foti - Member At Large
• Allison Brumfield - Member At Large

Please check the PTSO website and join the Mesquite Elementary PTSO Facebook group for all the current information from PTSO. This is a great way to connect with other families.

• March 3 - PTSO Chipotle Spirit Night
• March 4 - Spring Pictures and Kindergarten Open House from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm
• March 6 - PTSO Fun Run Fundraiser
• March 7 - Half Day Dismissal at 11:55 am
• March 10 - March 21 - Spring Break No School

Spring Testing will be here before we know it. Just as each school day is important we ask that in order to help testing run smoothly please avoid scheduling any appointments on the days listed below. Testing will begin promptly each testing day listed below. We appreciate your help with making sure your child is on time and in attendance each testing day!

• March 25 - 5th Grade AASA Science Part 1 & 2
• March 26 - 5th Grade AASA Science Part 3
• April 1 - 3rd - 6th Grade Writing
• April 8 - 3rd-6th Grade Reading Part 1
• April 10 - 3rd-6th Grade Reading Part 2
• April 15 - 3rd-6th Grade Math Part 1
• April 16 - 3rd-6th Grade Math Part 2

You may have seen in the news that a child in Texas passed away due to a measles infection. While we hope that this was an isolated case, it is important to acknowledge that Measles is extremely contagious and that there is a possibility that this could impact our schools at some point. With Spring Break and subsequent travel we feel it is even more important to alert our families to this outbreak.

Therefore we would like to share some helpful and important information with our families. Typically the illness starts off with a fever, cough and runny nose. It is soon followed by a rash that typically starts at the head and soon covers the entire body. If measles does spread into our school community we will immediately begin working with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and you will be notified. Any students who are not vaccinated will be identified and MCDPH will determine when they can safely return to school. Unvaccinated students may need to be out as long as 21 days and if more cases arise, it could be longer. If you have any questions regarding measles please reach out to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health at (602) 506-6767 or Maricopa County Department of Public Health

It is very important that all families complete the online ‘Annual Update’ to prepare for the new school year. The ‘Annual Update’ in Infinite Campus allows you to tell us of any updates to your contact information, address changes, and updates to emergency contacts. In order to ensure we can communicate with you regarding your student, or in case of emergency, it is essential that we have your up to date contact details. Please log in to your Infinite Campus parent portal and complete your student’s ‘Annual Update’ today. To access the IC portal visit www.gilbertschools.net/IC.

Download the GPS App

The GPS App includes a link to IC, as well as access to your student’s school calendar, meal information, bus routes, and other helpful information for parents and students. Visit www.gilbertschools.net/app for more information.

Preschool Registration for the 2025-2026 school year opened on December 2, 2024. For more information please visit gilbertschools.ce.eleyo.com.

Kindergarten registration for the 2025-2026 school year is currently open. For more information please visit gilbertschools.net/enroll.

Please join us to learn more about kindergarten at Mesquite Elementary on Tuesday, March 4th from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, May 1st from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If you wish to add money to your child's account for this coming year, please use this link. The Free and Reduced Price Meal Online Application is available here as well!

Please use this link to complete a Free and Reduced Lunch Meal application. If you are interested in applying and have questions please don't hesitate to contact the front office or our social worker, Ms. Karina Nyberg.

Please remember students must have their Student ID Badge to ride the bus. All bus riders have had copies of their badges added to their backpacks, we ask that you make sure these stay on your child's backpack. Thank you!

By becoming a Friendship Club member at Mesquite Elementary, students learn to build awareness and create opportunities in which friendships can grow in a safe and accepting environment. At each club meeting, students will engage with peers before school for 30 minutes for structured fun and peer interaction. There are no costs to join this club.

Thursdays 7:30 am - 8:00am

Quarter 3 - Kindergarten-3rd grade

Quarter 4- 4th-6th grade

Email Ms. Kelli at kelli.stark@gilbertschools.net to sign up!

Provided below is current upcoming construction information based on the current schedule. Please remember schedules can be impacted by various factors, to include weather, materials scheduling and resources, coordination with other projects or utilities, and neighborhood or school activities. A project description and exhibits from the public meeting are available on the project webpage.

• Contractor crews continue work to conduct any needed potholing, and also install sewer stub outs for properties along the north and south side of Mesquite Street. This work is taking place in segments, currently between Lindsay Road and 29th Place, beginning on the west and moving in an easterly direction. Work at each property is expected to take a few days, and restoration will follow, as crews excavate down to the existing sewer pipeline to install a stub out to the residential property to accommodate potential future sewer connections.

• Scheduled to take place during the school's Spring Break, crews will work to rehabilitate manholes in Mesquite Street. As this requires excavation around the manhole, a flagger activity will be used during work hours near the work zone to assist travelers around the work area. Work will take place on one-half the street at a time to maintain traffic and access for residents.

• In addition, crews for Cox Communications will be working on the east side of 29th Place, north of Mesquite Street, to relocate their facilities to accommodate the planned improvements.

Mesquite Street and 29th Place remain open for travel with a flagger activity in place, as needed, to shift traffic away from the work zone. Access to residences and the school will be maintained.

Please maintain safe speeds and obey traffic and construction signage, as it is placed for your safety and the safety of travelers and construction crews. In addition, please do not disturb workers as they are given specific tasks, working within allowable rights-of-way or easements, which need to be completed to maintain the project schedule.

Thank you for your patience during this work.

Project Information: 480.898.4090 | www.gilbertaz.gov/cip