Coyote Pride - Week of 09/15/25

This year, we’re inspired by Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg, which teaches that mistakes and surprises can spark creativity, learning, and connection. To celebrate, we’ve created a Beautiful Oops Kindness Wall where students, staff, and families can share notes about moments when someone turned a challenge into something positive or showed kindness and creativity. These uplifting messages will be proudly displayed for all to enjoy.

Dear Desert Heights Families,

What an exciting time it is at Desert Heights Elementary School! Our classrooms are buzzing with curiosity, collaboration, and growth. We are so thankful for your continued partnership as we work together to help every student reach their fullest potential.

At Desert Heights, we believe that families are essential partners in education. When families and schools work together, students thrive—not only academically, but socially and emotionally, too. That’s why we are committed to keeping you informed, involved, and inspired by what’s happening in our classrooms each week.

Here are just a few of the amazing things I saw during my classroom visits this week:

• 🧮 In Ms. Daniels’ kindergarten class, students were joyfully counting objects in groups, building early number sense and a strong math foundation.

• 📝 In Ms. Jones’ 1st grade class, students were blending sounds to make words like gum, sum, and hum and even changing one sound to create new words—building their phonics and reading confidence!

• 🎧 In Ms. Neumann’s 1st grade class, students practiced putting individual sounds (like /c/ /a/ /t/) together to make words like cat, map, and sun—a big step in becoming fluent readers.

• ✍️ In Ms. Erickson’s 1st grade class, students were editing mixed-up sentences—turning “jumped fence the cat” into “The cat jumped the fence”—which helps them become strong writers.

• ✏️ In Ms. Lawrence’s kindergarten class, students were working hard to form letters and write simple words, laying the groundwork for future writing success.

• 🔢 In Ms. Babb’s 2nd grade class, students were using place value blocks to represent and compare numbers, showing how digits work together to build bigger numbers.

• 💡 In Ms. Cleven’s 2nd grade class, students were breaking apart numbers (like seeing 15 as 10 + 5) to solve math problems in creative ways.

• 💭 In Ms. Kincaid’s 2nd grade class, students were learning how to decompose numbers from standard form (like 234 = 200 + 30 + 4) and explaining their thinking to their classmates.

Every day, your children are learning, thinking, and growing in ways that will carry them far beyond the classroom. Seeing their excitement and determination is truly inspiring!

We encourage you to keep the learning going at home by asking your child about what they’re working on. Even simple questions like “What did you read today?” or “How did you solve that math problem?” help build their confidence and show them that you are part of their learning team.

Thank you for your continued support, encouragement, and partnership. Together, we are empowering our Coyotes to Have Respect, Own their actions, Work to succeed, and Learn by leading! 🐾

Join us for Snack Time with Books on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 3:00 PM in the Desert Heights Elementary lunchroom! We’ll be reading Bunny’s Book Club by Annie Silvestro, enjoying snacks, and giving away free books and raffle prizes.

📝 Children must attend with an adult.
This is a great way to spend time together, celebrate reading, and bring home new books for your family library. We hope to see you there!

The Scholastic Book Fair kicks off Monday in the library! Please review the schedule and guidelines below to help things run smoothly:

📅 Book Fair Hours

• Parents: 9:00–9:30 AM and 3:30 (2:45 on early release)–4:30 PM, Monday–Friday
  (Closed Tuesday morning due to duty)

• Students (Breakfast Shopping): 9:15–9:45 AM

  • Students must leave by 9:45 so classes can begin.

  • Please only send students who have money.

  • No sharing of money is allowed, especially in K–3.

🕒 Lunch Shopping Times

• Monday & Tuesday: 12:00–1:15

• Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 12:00–12:30

📌 Additional Notes

• Students can shop during their scheduled library time, but if time runs out, they may need to return later.

• If you want to send a student during school hours, please call first to check availability.

• Share the Book Fair homepage and eWallet link with families as needed:
  🔗 Book Fair Homepage & eWallet

Thank you for supporting our library and helping make this a great experience for our students! If parents have questions you can’t answer, feel free to reach out to me directly on ClassDojo or I can call them back.

Here is the updated the School/Family Handbook that contains important information about our school. Please take some time to read it over. We will update it throughout the year but this should give you some basic information about our school.

Right at School’s Early Adventures™ program is now available at our school! 🏫

🕖 Time: 7:00 AM – Start of school
💲 Cost: $186/month for 5 days/week (see attachment for discount)
(Flexible pricing for fewer days available!)

✨ What’s Included?
✅ Fun fitness games & team projects
✅ Crafts, reading, and more
✅ Homework help from RAS staff
✅ Flexible drop-off times
✅ Financial assistance available!

📲 Register now: RAS.fun/register

Let’s learn, play, and grow—together! 🌟

The Dads of Great Students (D.O.G.S.) and Moms of Marvelous Students (M.O.M.S.) program is a school-based volunteer initiative that invites fathers, father figures, and moms to spend time on campus. It aims to:

• Provide positive male and female role models for students

• Strengthen school safety through increased adult presence

• Foster a supportive and engaged school community

Thank you to Miryam Contreras, Cathy Tilton, Maria Quinto, and Michele Barton for their support of this program.

The video reminds students how to “Work to Succeed” when using the bathroom at Desert Heights:

• Use the appropriate bathroom.

• Quickly and quietly take care of business.

• Transition back to class right away so learning time isn’t lost.

These expectations help keep our bathrooms safe, respectful, and efficient so everyone can get back to learning.

The Daily Learning Planner is a resource designed to give families simple, practical ideas they can use at home each day to support their child’s learning.

It provides one short activity per day—such as reading together, practicing math in everyday routines, setting goals, or reflecting on successes—that helps reinforce school skills, build good habits, and strengthen family involvement in education. The activities are easy to integrate into daily life and focus on reading, writing, math, organization, responsibility, and communication.

This issue of Autism Parenting Magazine (Issue 182) focuses on empowering girls with autism.

Featured topics include:

• Social challenges for girls on the spectrum

• Independent sleep solutions to support families

• Understanding ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)

• ASD beyond IQ, looking at broader aspects of autism

• Ritual behaviors and how they impact daily life

• Communication tools for success

• Pathways from diagnosis to connection

• Vocational training opportunities for independence

The overall theme highlights strategies, supports, and insights aimed at helping autistic girls thrive at home, in school, and in the community.

Families are invited to join the FREE NDE Northern Family Engagement Summit on Saturday, September 20th in Carson City (8:00 AM – 3:15 PM).

This event is a great opportunity for families and educators to come together, learn new strategies, and strengthen partnerships that support every child’s success.

You can register today by scanning the Family Registration QR code below. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect and grow!

David Frydman, Principal

Chrystal Thayer, Assistant Principal

Juana Maya, Admin. Secretary

13948 Mount Bismark Street, Reno, NV, USA

Phone: (775) 677-5444