Sunrise Scoop

I hope you all had a wonderful and restful Fall Break! It’s hard to believe we are already beginning Quarter 2. September was an amazing month at Sunrise—we accomplished so much together. From welcoming families on campus for Grandparents’ Day and seeing hundreds of smiles at Bingo Night, to celebrating our Lion Leaders with Pawsitive Office Referrals, hosting Kona Ice, Battle of the Books, and kicking off a strong start to the school year, our campus has been filled with energy, joy, and community spirit.

As we look ahead to October, we are excited for even more opportunities to learn, connect, and grow. This month brings Fall Conferences, our Scholastic Book Fair, Spirit Week fun, and of course continuing to spotlight our PAWS behavior expectations with the monthly trait of the month. Quarter 2 is a fresh opportunity for students to set new goals, build on their learning, and continue to rise together as a community.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support—you make Sunrise such a special place for our Lions. Together, we will make this quarter one of growth, celebration, and success.

Warm regards,

Michelle Martelli
Principal, Sunrise Elementary

October is National Principal's Month

• Monday 10/6 National Coaches Day
• Tuesday 10/7 National Stop Bullying Day
• Thursday 10/9 Bus Evacuation Drill
• Friday 10/10 1st Quarter Ends
• 9:15 5th & 6th Grade Field trip to the DVHS Homecoming Parade

10/13-10/17 Fall Scholastic Book Fair & National School Lunch Week & Earth Science Week

• Monday 10/13 Columbus Day
• 4th Grade Field Trip to the Zoo
• Tuesday 10/14
• 7pm Governing Board Meeting
• Thursday 10/16 National Bosses Day
• 11:35 Early Release for Conferences
• Friday 10/17
• 11:35 Early Release for Conferences

• Monday 10/20
• 4pm Volunteer Training
• Wednesday 10/22
• 5-8pm Sonic Fundraiser night
• Saturday 10/25 National Make a Difference Day

• Monday 10/27 National Occupational Therapist Day
• Tuesday 10/28
• Kona Ice at Recess for students in Grades 2-6
• 7pm Governing Board Meeting
• Wednesday 10/29
• 10 am 6th Grade Field Trip to DSMS for Performing Arts Performance
• 5:30-6:30 Trunk or Treat
• Thursday 10/30
• Fall Picture Retakes

Thursday 10/16

Friday 10/17

On the week of conferences, students will be dismissed at 11:35 for half days on Thursday & Friday.

October 10th

October 24th

October 31st

Early release days in the Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) are designed to provide teachers with dedicated time for professional development, collaborative planning, and administrative tasks, while also allowing students to be dismissed 60 minutes earlier than a full day of instruction. This dedicated time helps teachers enhance their skills and ensure high-quality education for students.

https://www.dvusd.org/principals

On Tuesday, October 28th, Kona Ice will be on campus for students in grades 2–6 to purchase a cool treat! A portion of the proceeds will come back to benefit Sunrise Elementary. Thank you for supporting our school while enjoying a sweet treat!

See the pricing chart below for options.

At Sunrise, we’re focusing on Honesty as our PAWS character trait for October. Throughout the month, teachers will be on the lookout for students who consistently demonstrate honesty in their words and actions.

To celebrate, one student from each grade level (2nd–6th) will be chosen to receive a free Kona Ice during our next visit on Tuesday, October 28th! 🎉 This is a fun way to recognize Lions who model integrity and set a positive example for others.

Thank you to Kona Ice for supporting our PAWS program and helping us celebrate students who are living our values every day! 🦁

Conferences are such an important time for us to come together as a team to support your child’s success. During your conference, we will:

• Strengthen our partnership with you 🤝

• Share your child’s progress and growth 📈

• Collaborate on goals and supports for the rest of the year 🎯

Our schoolwide goal is to meet with 100% of families, because when we work together, our Lions thrive!

Conference Details:

• Conferences begin the week of Monday, October 13th.

• Each conference will last about 15 minutes.

• We encourage you to bring your child with you—having them present helps ensure everyone is on the same page and gives students ownership of their learning.

• Conferences may be scheduled before or after school starting October 13th.

• Thursday, October 16th: Evening conferences available until 6:00PM.

Scheduling Your Conference:
This year we are using Sign-Up Genius to make scheduling easier for families. Your child’s teacher will share their link with you so you can select a time that works best.

Thank you for taking the time to partner with us. Together, we’ll make sure every Lion is set up for success! 🦁✨

The Scholastic Book Fair will be at Sunrise the week of October 13th, right in time for conferences! This is a great opportunity for families to stock up on new books and help support our school library and classrooms.

For added convenience, you can set up a Scholastic eWallet—a safe, cash-free way for your child to shop the fair. Learn more and get started here: Scholastic Book Fair – Sunrise Elementary.

We can’t wait to see our Lions excited about reading! 🦁❤️📖

• A valid photo ID is always required for anyone checking out a student, no matter the reason.The person must also be listed on the student’s approved contact list in order for us to release the student.
• On Early Release Fridays, students cannot be signed out after 1:00 p.m.

Did you know that we have Early Childhood classrooms on campus? These are connected to the Early Childhood building. Many of our baby and toddler families drop off at the same time that our students arrive. To ensure student safety, please pull through the main loop (within the parking lot) and pull all the way forward. Coach Bummer will be crossing students between the loop and the gym. This will help to keep all of our students safe! Thank you for supporting all Lions!

At Sunrise Elementary, we believe that by reinforcing these core values, we create a positive and supportive school environment where every student can thrive. Through our PAWS program, students earn Dojo points for demonstrating these behaviors, helping them to build strong character and succeed both academically and socially. Students can then spend their Dojo points in our classrooms and at the PAWS shop. (If you would like to donate to our PAWS shop, check out our Amazon wishlist.) We’re proud to celebrate our students’ achievements and encourage them to keep showing their PAWSitive behavior every day!

Join us for lunch as we explore some NEW tastes around the world. Be on the lookout for some fun and prizes that week. National Apple Day🍎🍏 Tuesday October 21st, we will have an assortment of apples on the lunch line. 🍎🍏 National Pretzel day is October 24th, Join us for a pretzel wrapped hotdog for lunch! 🥨

https://sunrise.dvusd.org/our-school/cafeteria

Sunrise is pleased to announce that through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program, we will be providing breakfast and lunch to all students at no charge.

All students enrolled at Sunrise may receive one breakfast meal and one lunch meal at no charge every school day. Additional meals and a la carte items will continue to be available at regular pricing.

You are receiving this benefits form because your student attends a Community Eligibility Program (CEP) school but does not qualify for meal assistance at home through programs like SNAP, TANF, FDPIR or, as a Migrant.

Completing and submitting this form is necessary for your school to secure funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) which may be used for after school activities, tutoring, technology, staff development, and parent classes.

Thank you for helping us continue to provide valuable support to our students and schools!

This month, our Lions are focusing on Communication—how we share our thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others. Communication can happen in many ways: through words, sounds, body language, and even pictures!

Each week, students will learn and practice a different skill to strengthen their communication:

• Week 1: Active Listening 👂

• Week 2: Getting Another Person’s Attention ✋

• Week 3: Using an Appropriate Voice, Tone, & Volume 🎤

• Week 4: Taking Turns in Conversations 🔄

Tips for Families at Home:

• Practice active listening by having your child repeat back what they heard you say.

• Teach ways to get someone’s attention respectfully, such as saying their name or tapping them gently on the shoulder.

• Model using an appropriate voice and tone for different situations—inside vs. outside, calm vs. excited.

• Play games that encourage taking turns, like board games or simple conversation starters at the dinner table.

Together, we’re helping our Lions grow into strong communicators who can express themselves clearly and respectfully—at school and at home!

We’re excited to announce School Spirit Fridays at Sunrise! Every Friday, wear your Sunrise spirit wear or school colors to show your love and pride for our amazing school. Whether it's your Sunrise swag or red and gold, let’s fill the halls with school spirit and show off our Sunrise pride!

To promote a safe and distraction-free learning environment for all students (and in alignment with Arizona House Bill 2484 (2024)), the use of personal electronic devices (PEDs), including cell phones, is strictly regulated for students during the school day. This policy applies to all DVUSD students and is enforced during instructional hours across all areas of the school campus, including classrooms, hallways, restrooms, lunch areas, recess, assemblies, and any school-sponsored activities taking place on campus during the regular school day.

Students are required to keep their personal electronic devices (such as phones, earbuds, smartwatches, and similar items) turned off and stored away throughout the school day unless they have received explicit permission from a DVUSD staff member for instructional or health-related and nurse approved purposes. Use of electronic devices is not allowed in classrooms, hallways, restrooms, lunch areas, or other common spaces during school hours. In addition, messaging, phone calls, and social media use are strictly prohibited during instructional time.

Bluetooth headphones and earbuds are not permitted on campus. Only wired headphones may be used, and only when connected to school-issued Chromebooks for approved instructional activities. This ensures appropriate use and limits classroom distractions.

Students are strongly discouraged from bringing personal electronic devices (including cell phones, earbuds, smartwatches, and gaming systems) to school or school-sponsored events. The Deer Valley Unified School District is not responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged personal items.

Misuse of electronic devices may result in disciplinary consequences and may also result in confiscation of the device. Devices that are repeatedly confiscated will be held in the front office until they are retrieved by a parent or guardian.

Our students are well on their way into "school-mode" and have been doing great with routines.

Students have been trying their best efforts to focus in class. Our children succeed the most when we are a team between school and home.

At home tip: Check with your child if they have removed all the toys that do not need to go to school. Keeping toys at home helps our children in being efficient and productive about their learning. You can also have a discussion on "time and place". Such as, "You can play with your toys at home. At school, you get to play on the equipment during recess". Thank you for being a team with us!!

At Sunrise, we love celebrating our Lions who Practice Respect, Accept Responsibility, Work Together, and show that Safety Matters! Students earn PAWS points for meeting these expectations, and they can spend them at our PAWS Store on fun prizes and rewards.

Thanks to the generous donations from our families and community partners, the PAWS Store is stocked with items our students are excited about—from school supplies and small toys to special experiences. Your support makes this positive behavior system a success and helps motivate our Lions to shine every day!

If you’d like to contribute, we welcome donations through our Amazon Wish List or by dropping items off at the front office. Together, we’re building a culture of encouragement and celebration. 🌟

Our students are working hard on practicing their reading skills. Please have your child read at least 15 minutes every night. Our children succeed the most when we are a team between school and home.

At home tip: Make reading time a fun family time. Here are some manageable options in our busy schedule:

• Option 1: Have your child read to you while you are cooking dinner.
• Ootion 2: Have your child read a short story and then tell you what was the story about?
• Option 3: Have your child compare a story that they read to a movie that they watched. Have a discussion about the similarities and differences. They love that!

Thank you for being a team with us!!

Reminder to Parents/Guardians- there are NO stocked medications at school. If your student needs medications while they are at school, DVUSD medication forms must be completed by PARENT/GUARDIAN and DOCTOR, and medications need to be brought to Nurse Penny. ALL medications need to be stored in the Nurse Office. Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and Cough drops are common medications that parents/guardians can bring to the Nurse to be used as needed during the school year. Please DON’T send medications or cough drops to school with your child. Medications must be brought in by Parent or Guardian.

If you have any questions on medication use at school- please contact Nurse Penny 602-467-5910 or Penny.Reamer@dvusd.org. Thank you for your help to keep our students safe!

The Care Center on Crossroads campus is where families in need can come for help with shelf-stable food, clothing, and hygiene items. Shoes are also available through the Care Center. The Care Center is open from 11am-1pm on Sundays & 6-8pm on Tuesdays. No appointments or referrals are needed- people can simply show up for help during the Center's hours of operation. If someone needs help, but isn't able to come to the Center when it's open, they will set an appointment outside of those hours.

For more information, contact Nurse Penny.

Kindness is more than just "being nice" - it's noticing others' needs and choosing to help.

At school, we are encouraging students to use kind words, share and include others. Families can build kindness at home by modeling it, pointing out kind acts, and asking simple questions like, "What's one kind thing you did today?" Small acts of kindness make a big difference in our school community. At Home Watch: Be Kind real aloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAo4-2UzgPo.

Here are the slideshows from past classes:

• Attendance Matters
• Depression & Anxiety

Upcoming Classes:

• October 23- Rudeness, Disrespect and Logical Consequences- what it is, why it happens and how do we help our children and keep our sanity
• November 20- Grief- (grief awareness month)- how to learn to move on

We are excited to introduce one of our School Safety Officers, Officer Cate Taylor-Anderson! Officer Anderson has proudly served with the Phoenix Police Department since 2016. Before joining the force, she served eight years in the U.S. Navy and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University. Fun fact—she’s been a competitive basketball player since she was just four years old and continued through college! 🏀

Officer Anderson is married with two children, and their family is full of love and energy with eight dogs and three cats! Together, they enjoy music, game nights, movie nights, playing sports, and spending time on outdoor adventures.

We are so grateful to have Officer Anderson as part of our Sunrise family, keeping our campus safe and building positive relationships with our students and community.

Did you know that good attendance sets the foundation for lifelong learning habits? When students are in school consistently, they don't just keep up with lessons-they build confidence, strong routines, and social connections. We do realize that things happen. In the event that your student cannot be at school please call our 24 hour attendance line 602-467-5990, to let us us know your student will be absent. Every day counts! Let's work together to ensure our students are present, prepared, and ready to succeed.

Please join me in celebrating Miss Harmony as our Teacher of the Month! Her students showed amazingly high growth on the AASA assessment, which speaks volumes about her dedication and strong instruction. Beyond the data, her classroom is warm and inviting—a place where students feel both supported and challenged. She builds incredible relationships with her students, holding them accountable while also making sure they know she cares deeply about their success. We are so fortunate to have her on our Sunrise team—congratulations, Miss Margraves! 🎉

The FIC is an amazing resource that can help families. Check out what it does below:

When you’re a parent to someone with complex behavioral, mental health or medical needs, it’s common to feel like more could be done to help. You may even feel you’re not being heard or valued as the primary source of information for your child.

Please understand, you’re not alone. In fact, if you’re struggling to find appropriate support, your frustrations will just keep growing.

This is why, at Family Involvement Center, we’re here to help you make informed choices when navigating child-serving systems.
You see, our staff has lived experience navigating children’s services for their own kids. So you get help from people who have direct experience with your situation.
‍
We work with you in your home or a community setting to provide support, build advocacy skills, share knowledge and help you connect with resources and services that are beneficial for your family.

Parents who come to us are often involved with child-serving systems such as:

‍● Behavioral health

● Child welfare

● Juvenile justice

● Division of Developmental Disabilities

● Department of Child Safety

● Special education

Regardless of where you live in Arizona, we’re available to support you and your family. FIC’s services are free for AHCCCS members. If you’re not already enrolled or need to renew, we take care of the entire process for you.

https://www.familyinvolvementcenter.org/

Our school is collecting Box Tops—and the best part is, it’s all digital now! We’ve already raised some money this year, and every little bit helps.

Sign up easily using this QR code or click the link: https://btfe.smart.link/c2jjdifkw?referral_code=X37Z0KB0&school_id=72514

Reach out the Kelsey Shade if you have any questions or need assistance.

Please check to make sure you are enrolled. It is easy.

1. Log on to your Fry's account.
2. Click on My Account.
3. Click on Community Rewards.

There is nothing else to do! Once your Fry's VIP reward card is linked, just shop as normal and Fry's will track a percentage of your purchases and we will get a donation!

We would love for you to join us as a volunteer at Sunrise Elementary—whether it's for a school event, field trip, or helping around the campus! There is a simple process through Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD) to get started.

Please visit DVUSD Volunteering Information for full details. A few important points to note:

• In-Person Volunteer Training: All volunteers must complete an in-person training, which we will offer four times throughout the year. However, you are welcome to attend training at any DVUSD school. You only need to attend this training once!

• Returning Volunteers: Thank you for your continued support! To register as a returning volunteer, please reach out to either Holly Kuhn (holly.kuhn@dvusd.org) or Hedy Rastedt (hedy.rastedt@dvusd.org).

• Volunteer Eligibility: Volunteers must be family members of a current student unless you hold a valid fingerprint clearance card.

• Important Reminder: Please ensure you complete the training at least 30 days before you plan to volunteer to allow time for processing.

We can’t wait to have you on board as we work together to support our Sunrise Lions!

Volunteer training can be attended at ANY DVUSD campus.

Learn more about how the restoration of the M&O override will help continue to pay a portion (approximately 8.5%) of all salaries, maintain maximum class sizes (would otherwise increase +3 students per classroom), continue full-day kindergarten and other specialized programs for students, continue to support extracurricular activities for students, continue to provide counselors and support services staff such as school nurses, and continue to provide a portion (10%) of school and department budgets.

Website: Sunrise.DVUSD.org

Instagram: sunriselions_dvusd

We are currently in need of 2 crossing guards and 1 special education teacher.

If you are interested in any of our open positions, please apply at https://jobs.dvusd.org/ and email Hedy at Hedy.Rastedt@DVUSD.org.

At Sunrise Elementary, we are excited to announce our theme for the 2025-2026 school year: "Together We Rise!" This year, we are focusing on the power of unity—working hand in hand with our students, families, and community to elevate every learner. By fostering collaboration, celebrating each other’s successes, and supporting one another through challenges, we will rise to new heights of achievement and growth. We invite you to join us on this journey as we build a stronger, more connected school community. Together, we can make this a year to remember!