Volume 3 Issue 15

I have the best news to share with our families! We officially have a new interim music teacher who is graciously volunteering her time once a week for the rest of the school year.

Mrs. Benita Howe:

Mrs. Howe has directed choirs, taught private piano, and led large youth musical productions—including a summer camp that prepared 200 high school students for fully memorized performances in just one week.

She currently serves as President of the Westernaires Chorus (a 110-member non-profit ensemble) and previously spent a decade as a Music Director and Youth Minister, where she founded a high school musical troupe and built programs that fostered both musical skill and community.

Mrs. Howe also has a personal connection to our school—her granddaughter is a student here—and she’s excited to bring joy, foundational music skills, and performance opportunities to our students while the school prepares for a full-time music educator.

On November 1st, open enrollment for NEW families for the 27-28 school year begins.

Share the flyer with families that you know will love Pinnacle as much as you do!

Plan to join us on Monday, November 9th at 3:45 p.m. for our monthly PTO meeting. We will be discussing and planning for Winter Festival, which requires many hands and parent help.

See you there!

Thank you to the parents who took the time to share what they love about Pinnacle and why they choose to trust us with their scholars. I'll share a new video each week for five weeks.

We love supporting and advertising for our family-owned businesses!

Commercial Comm & Electric (CCE) is a veteran-owned electrical contractor specializing in commercial, industrial, and mission-critical construction. Proudly based in Arizona, we’re powering projects across the country while building the next generation of skilled tradespeople through career opportunities and our in-house electrical apprenticeship program.

Interested in joining our team? Visit www.ccearizona.com to explore career opportunities!

Nov 9- PTO meeting @3:45 p.m.

Nov 10- Kona Ice @ lunch

Nov 11-12- Veterans Day No School

Nov 17- soccer club 7:00 a.m.

Nov 18- snack bar & Liberty Mini Belles Cub 3:45 p.m.

Nov 18- SUPPORT STAFF APPRECIATION DAY! We love Mrs. Zurita and Mrs. Santizo!!!

Nov 19- Dollars for Duds

Nov 23-26- Thanksgiving Break No School

Dec 1- soccer club 7:00 a.m.

Dec 2- snack bar & Liberty Mini Belles Cub 3:45 p.m.

Dec 7- PTO meeting @3:45 p.m.

Dec 8- soccer club 7:00 a.m. & Kona Ice @ lunch

Dec 9- snack bar & Liberty Mini Belles Cub 3:45 p.m.

Dec 11- Winter Festival 5-7 p.m.

Dec 14-15- JH finals

Dec 15- LAST soccer club 7:00 a.m.

Dec 16- JH All 8 Day, snack bar & Liberty Mini Belles Cub 3:45 p.m.

Dec 16- Holiday Concert time TBD

Dec 17- Half Day release 12:30 p.m.

You read that correctly! We are currently working on the 27-28 instructional calendar and would value your input. Please answer two brief questions in the form below.

In the spirit of citizenship, service, and goodness, Heritage Academy Pinnacle is continuing our annual tradition of supporting our families by providing Thanksgiving dinner.

Please use this form to let Mrs. Jenks know who could use a Thanksgiving meal this year.

• nominate your own family- I promise that the recipients will remain ANONYMOUS from staff and parents)
• nominate another family in our school community.

In the spirit of service and holiday season joy, our Scholar Council wants to bring some love to Valley teens by collecting gifts.

Please see the flyer for all the details

Gift drive collection date: NOW through December 8th

Contact Mrs. Sounart m.sounart@heritageacademyaz.com with any questions

Did you (and your scholar) miss out on getting a yearbook the last two years (24-25 or 25-26)? We have a few left that can be purchased for only $10.

Bring $10 cash or check made out to Heritage Academy Pinnacle to the front office.

First come, first served

We all know that Heritage Academy has the top-rated teachers in Arizona according to Niche.com and our teachers at Pinnacle change lives every day.

Would you like to recognize one of our teachers for making a difference? If chosen, they would be honored on T.V. and earn $1000!

The nomination form is attached or you can get a copy in our front office. Click HERE if you want to learn more.

We have a fun and meaningful program where we invite our dads to volunteer during lunch time to play outside with scholars.

This serves two important purposes: it increases scholar supervision and provides ways for our dads to build relationships and engage with our scholars.

Click HERE to choose your day(s) for Quarters 1 & 2.

IMPORTANT- you must have attended mandatory volunteer training and have a valid IVP on file with the front office.

At Your Doorstep Medical provides personalized, compassionate healthcare in the comfort of your own home.

Make your health a priority—schedule today!

Nichole Alford MSN, FNP-C

https://atyourdoorstepmedical.com

Commercial Comm & Electric (CCE) is a veteran-owned electrical contractor specializing in commercial, industrial, and mission-critical construction. Proudly based in Arizona, we’re powering projects across the country while building the next generation of skilled tradespeople through career opportunities and our in-house electrical apprenticeship program.

Interested in joining our team? Visit www.ccearizona.com to explore career opportunities!

YOUR BUSINESS COULD ADVERTISE HERE! Contact the Pinnacle front office for details

Click on the photo to download the PDF

Please visit our pages, like them, follow us, and share with your friends!

President- Ronda Siquieros

Vice President- Vanessa Prentice

Treasurer- John Parsons

Secretary- Rachel Mutchler

26-27 PTO Meeting Dates

All meetings are at 3:45 p.m. in the cafe on Mondays

November 9, 2026

December 7, 2026

January 11, 2027

February 8, 2027

March 8, 2027

April 12, 2027

May 10, 2027

There are MANY ways to be involved with the PTO and support our school.

Email our PTO directly at heritage.academy.pinnacle.k8.pto@gmail.com

PTO DUES

We ask that every family consider making an annual donation of $25 to our PTO, which funds and supports schoolwide events, shows appreciation to our teachers during conferences, holidays, and appreciation days, and purchases great new items for our scholars (like our soccer goals and basketball hoop).

If you have multiple scholars, perhaps you'd consider making a family level donation of $100

If you own a business, you could consider making a business level donation and as a thank you, you will get free advertising for the school year!

ALL PTO parents can be made in cash or via Venmo @HAP_PTO

To make purchasing snacks easier, you can purchase a snack bar punch card for $10. Each punch equals one regular snack, ice cream treats are two punches. You can purchase as many punch cards at a time that you want and purchase more throughout the year. Don't worry about having cash on Wednesday mornings, buy a punch card today!

You can pay by bringing cash to the front office or Venmo @HAP_pto

If you pay by Venmo, you must put your scholar's name and snack bar card in the description.

Morning driveline begins at 7:30 a.m.

Afternoon driveline for Kindergarten-5th grade starts at 3:15 p.m

Afternoon driveline for JH starts at 3:30 p.m.

A.M. drop off

Scholars can be dropped off in the back drive ONLY between 7:30-8:00 a.m. Parents should not drop off in the front drive, parking lot, or through the front office.

Parents should remain in their vehicles during drop off. We have staff available to open car doors and assist scholars. IMPORTANT- do not let scholars out of cars until 7:30 a.m. when staff is present.

At 8:00 a.m. the back drive gate will be locked. At that point, parents must escort scholars through the front office and sign them in as tardy.

P.M. pick up

NOTE- we are using staggered pick up times. Read carefully.

Kindergarten (plus 1st-5th grade siblings)- 3:15 p.m. in the front driveline (see the RED arrows on the map below). Parents should pull ALL THE WAY forward to the fence. **If kindergarten scholars have JH siblings, they will be escorted to the cafe at 3:30 for JH pick up. JH siblings will not be released at 3:15 for pick up.

1st-5th grade- 3:15 p.m. in the back driveline (see the BLUE arrows on the map below). The first vehicles to enter the driveline should pull ALL the way around to the exit (it helps us keep traffic off of the street). Parents should remain in the vehicle at all times. **If 1st-5th grade scholars have JH siblings, they will wait to be picked up until 3:30 when JH is dismissed.

JH (6th-8th grade)- 3:30 p.m. in the back driveline (see the BLUE arrows on the map below). Parents should remain in the vehicle at all times. Kinder-5th grade siblings will be waiting with JH scholars.

IMPORTANT!!

• You will be given car tags of a specific color based on the driveline you are expected to use. Car tags should be CLEARLY displayed in the driver window or dash board.
• Kinder (including their 1st-5th grade siblings)- yellow car tag
• 1st-5th (NO kinder or JH siblings)- green car tag
• JH (including k-5 siblings)- orange car tag

Avoid arriving before your scheduled pick up time. If you are picking up JH scholars, do not enter the driveline before 3:30, you will be sent around to re-enter the driveline once JH scholars have been dismissed. If you do not have a kindergarten scholar, avoid the front driveline.

Arriving early (even if you pick up kinder or 1st-5th) is not helpful. If you arrive right at 3:15 or 3:30, you will move through pick-up quickly and avoid traffic jams. Please be aware that we have no control over street traffic. We ask parents to demonstrate the same citizenship and self-governance that we teach our scholars.

Do not cut through the parking lot to bypass waiting in line. It causes frustration for other parents who follow driveline procedures.

ALL SCHOLARS SHOULD BE PICKED UP FROM SCHOOL BY 3:45 P.M.

Part of the unique Heritage Academy culture is our school uniform. It helps to maintain the clean, moral, and safe environment that we guarantee our scholars and families. Strict adherence to the uniform policy will be required starting the first day of school. PARENTS!! Our scholars probably grew over the summer, please check skirt/shorts length and shirt sizes to be sure they meet our expectations. See the link below for our approved vendors.

Dress standards

• Only Heritage Academy embroidered polo shirts are permitted.
• Shorts/pants- navy blue or khaki only. NO CARGO SHORTS OR PANTS
• Skirts/shorts length for girls- they should touch the top of the knee when sitting or standing (front and back). Some of our scholars are tall, try items on before purchasing. This will be strictly enforced.
• Leggings are NOT pants and must be solid red, white, or navy with no patterns if worn under a uniform skirt.
• Footwear- Shoes should have a strap around the back for safety. No flip flops, slides, or slippers under any circumstances (including spirit days and Dollars for Duds).

• Boys- hair must be off the collar and ears. All boys must be clean shaven.
• K-5 girls may NOT wear make-up. JH girls may wear MINIMAL make-up but it should appear as if they are wearing nothing.
• All hair color and styles (girls or boys) should be a color that a baby could be born with. Hair styles may not be extreme.
• No scholar may have visible tattoos or facial piercings. Girls ONLY may have one piercing in their ear lobes. Boys may not wear earrings or use clear plastic plugs at school.

***All parents and scholars are required to read the entire parent/scholar handbook and sign an acknowledgement (provided at the Back to School Bash).

6754 W Pinnacle Peak Rd

Glendale, AZ 85310

623-537-3535

Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.

hapinnacle.com