Coyote Pride - Week of 09/22/25

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,

We hope this message finds you well! 🌟 As we move into October, please mark your calendars for a few important dates:

📅 Fall Break is scheduled for October 6–10
📅 Staff Professional Development Day is on Monday, October 13
📅 Students return on Tuesday, October 14

🧠 Classroom Highlights

Exciting learning is happening all around our school!

• Ms. Brock’s Strategies Class: Students participated in a warm, supportive environment as they sang songs about the months, counted together, moved calendar pieces, and dressed the classroom weather kangaroo. They used visuals, sentence frames, and hands-on materials to show their thinking, with each student contributing in their own way—by pointing, verbalizing, or manipulating objects.

• Ms. Daniels’ Kindergarten Class: Students practiced counting aloud up to 10 with enthusiasm.

• Ms. Sachs’ Kindergarten Class: Students showed the number 10 in creative ways—drawing 10 triangles, circles, or hearts—and then writing the two-digit number 10.

We’re so proud of our students’ hard work and joyful learning each day! 💛

This year, we are excited to offer Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV) as part of our commitment to strengthening family–school partnerships. These 30-minute visits give our staff and families the chance to connect in a relaxed setting—at your home or a local park or library.

Rooted in the Dual Capacity Framework, these visits are designed to build trust, honor families’ strengths, and create meaningful two-way communication. When families and educators understand each other, students thrive—academically, socially, and emotionally.

If you are interested in participating, please return the PTHV form sent home or contact Ms. Neumann at nicole.neumann@washoeschools.net. We look forward to partnering with you!

Welcome to Kindergarten! 🌟 Our newest Coyotes have been busy building friendships, learning routines, and diving into early academics. They’ve been practicing kind words, whole-body listening, and taking care of classroom materials. In literacy, they’re exploring letters, sounds, and favorite stories, while math time is filled with counting, sorting, and shape fun. We’re so proud of their excitement and growth already! 💛📚🔢

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. This program helps:

• Provide positive male and female role models for students

• Strengthen school safety through increased adult presence

• Foster a supportive and engaged school community

A special thank you to Bob and Cathy Tilton for serving as WatchDOGS and WatchMOMS this week. Your presence makes a meaningful difference for our students and school community—we appreciate your time, energy, and commitment to Desert Heights!

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.

David Frydman, Principal

Chrystal Thayer, Assistant Principal

Juana Maya, Admin. Secretary

13948 Mount Bismark Street, Reno, NV, USA

Phone: (775) 677-5444