November Newsletter

Mountain Lion - November Edition Thank You! We would like to thank everyone who contributed and/or came out to our Halloween Parade. We cherish every opportunity in which kids are able have fun in a safe environment. Seeing their excitement, giggles, and smiles not to mention cool costumes is incredibly rewarding. Please remind students that all candy needs to stay home and may not return to school on Monday. Have a happy and safe Halloween!   Bingo Night Join us on Friday November 7th for Bingo Night. We will have 10 regular games with prizes and one special 50/50 game. The cost for a pack of 10 regular game cards is $10. Tickets for the special 50/50 game are $2. Our PTO will have refreshments available for purchase. All students must attend with an adult. Purchase your game tickets at the door. Cash and Zelle will be accepted.   Student Council Food Drive This year, our school will be supporting Maldonado families in need by creating complete Thanksgiving baskets. Each grade level will be responsible for putting together one full basket. This approach helps ensure that every basket has all the essential items for a wonderful holiday meal — with just the right amount of each item! To help purchase turkeys, students are invited to bring in quarters throughout the collection period. Every contribution helps, and we appreciate your support! In the cafeteria, each grade level will have a paper basket display. As students donate items, a paper version of that item will be added to the display to show the progress toward completing the basket.   Turkey Disguise Contest and Turkey Trot All students will receive a turkey paper in which they can turn their turkeys into undercover agents. Submitted turkeys will be judged in five categories: SPorts, Cartoons, Heroes, Maldonado, and Creative. All disguised turkeys are due November 17th, So let's get creative! Our Second Annual Turkey Trot will take place on November 25th at 12:40. There will be two races per grade. Come out and see who is able to go the distance and earn the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons.   Special Olympics Buddies This year we have partnered with Warren Elementary School to hold a Special Olympics event on March 10th. We will be sending home permission forms for students who have shown exceptional leadership skills and learner qualities to participate as a buddy for our Special Olympics participants. As a buddy, students will practice the olympic games that will take place for 15 minutes weekly and will travel with us to Warren on the 10th of March.   Family Engagement We Want You! We would love to have you as a partner. There are many ways in which you can support Maldonado Elementary. Our PTO and Site Council are looking for parents interested in supporting our children by planning events and advocating for the school. We are always in need of volunteers to assist classes by preparing materials, preparing for and assisting at school events. Please refer to our school Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MaldonadoMountainLions/ for upcoming events. Next PTO Meeting in person and online on November 6th in the library or on zoom https://tusd1.zoom.us/my/mountainlions   Help Us with the PTO Fundraiser   Student Safety Comes First - Important Reminders To ensure the safety of everyone I would like to remind families of the following: - Students may be dropped off AFTER 7:20 am at the playground. Students may walk to the cafeteria from there. -Tardy students must be signed in at the office by a parent or guardian. Students who arrive after 7:45 am are tardy. -Parents may walk their students to the exterior door of their teachers classroom and say goodbye at the door in the morning before the bell rings. Only authorized personnel are permitted in the school building. - The entrance off of the bus bay is only for PRESCHOOL students. All others need to use the identified gates. -Volunteers must be approved through TUSD. As our focus is on instruction, all classroom volunteers must schedule shifts ahead of time and will be limited to one hour increments.   Maldonado Family Handbook Wondering where morning drop off is? (All drop offs will be off of the main playground on Tetakusim) Where should my child line up? (Depends on teacher) What day can I bring in a goodie for my childs birthday? (Fridays at the end of the day) Answers to all of these questions and so much more can be found in our Maldonado Family Handbook. You can find the file here Maldonado Family Handbook.   Important Dates November 3 AAA Student Recognition during Community Time 3 Fire Drill 1:30 pm 3 - 7 Veteran's Day Cards 3-17 Turkey Costume Contest 3-24 student Council Food Drive 6 PTO Meeting @ 2:15 pm 7 Bingo Night 5:30-7:30 11 No School Veteran's Day 17 Turkey Costume Contest 19 Dental Sealants for 2nd grade 25 PAW Bucks Store 25 Turkey Trot 26 Lock Down Drill 10:00 am 27-28 No School Thanksgiving Break   Cell Phone 101 To help all students stay focused on learning, Tucson Unified School District strictly limits the use of cell phones and electronic signaling devices during the school day. In line with Governing Board Policy JICJ-R, these devices must remain off and out of sight while on campus. Students are not authorized to take pictures, listen to music, or any other functions available on a cell phone. Unauthorized use will result in disciplinary action, including possible confiscation of the device. On a first offense, students may retrieve the device from the teacher after class. For repeated offenses, parents must pick up the device from the office. Thank you for supporting our efforts to maintain a focused, respectful, and safe learning environment for all students.   Volunteer Volunteering is as easy as one, two, three! Please contact the school of your choice to establish a volunteer opportunity prior to filling out this application. To ensure the safety of our students, all parent and non-parent volunteers must complete their application each school year. HR will review your submitted application and work with your selected school to authorize volunteer work to begin. Click here to apply to volunteer, this includes chaperoning field trips.  

Saturday, Nov 01 2025

October Newsletter

Mountain Lion - October Edition   Literacy Night, Book Fair, Fall Break, Halloween Parade Oh My! We hope you can join us on Tuesday, September 30, from 5:30–7:00 p.m. for our Family Literacy Night and Book Fair! There will be over 15 exciting activities designed to help students and families explore literacy concepts while having fun together. Each family will receive a Literacy Night Passport—complete at least six activities and your child will get to choose a free book to keep! This will also be the final opportunity to shop our Book Fair, which will remain open during the event. Please also note the following important dates: Friday, October 3 – No School (Grading Day) October 6–10 – Fall Break (No School) Monday, October 13 – Students return to school Our annual Halloween Parade will take place on Thursday, October 31st, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Families are welcome to walk with their student, and younger siblings may join in on the fun as well! We need your help to make this event a success: Please donate bags of candy. Donations can be dropped off at the office or given to your child’s teacher. We will be keeping track of donations, and the class that donates the most candy will earn a special treat! To help us prepare, please send in all candy donations by Monday, October 28th. If you do not wish for your child to participate in the parade, please let us know. We will provide an alternative activity for them during the event.   Picture Day School Picture Day will take place on September 30th. Picture packets are going home today. You can also find more information and prepay [here]. Picture retake day will take place on October 14th.   Lock Down Drill - October 2nd We will be conducting a lockdown drill on Thursday, October 3rd at 8:30 a.m. On Monday during community time, I will be talking with students about the drill and reassuring them that this is simply practice. I will emphasize that the purpose of the drill is to make sure we all know what to do in case of an emergency and to keep everyone safe.   Send your favorite Boo a candygram October 20-24 Our Boo candy grams will be on sale October 20-24. Candy grams are $1 and will include a tag and lollipop. Students may purchase them Monday-Friday directly from their teacher that week. Students will write their name on a tag as well as the name of who they are sending it to and the students teacher. We will take care of the rest. Candy grams will be delivered on Friday the 24th.   Professional Learning Day - No School for Students on October 29th As a reminder, while students will not have school on this day, all TUSD employees will be engaged with professional learning to enhance our ability to serve our students.   Parent Teacher Organization PTO Meeting We need you! Please join us in person or by zoom for our Parent Teacher Organization Meeting on Thursday October 2nd at 2:15 pm.   Important Dates September 30 Paw Bucks Store 30 Literacy Night 5:30-7:00 30 Picture Day October 2 Lock Down Drill 8:30 am 3 Grading Day 6-10 Fall Break 13 Hearing Testing 14 Picture retake day 20 Site Council / Family Engagement Meeting 20-24 Candy Grams 21 Fire Drill 12:30 pm 28 Paw Bucks Store 31 Halloween Parade 1:00 pm   Maldonado Family Handbook Wondering where morning drop off is? (All drop offs will be off of the main playground on Tetakusim) Where should my child line up? (Depends on teacher) What day can I bring in a goodie for my childs birthday? (Fridays at the end of the day) Answers to all of these questions and so much more can be found in our Maldonado Family Handbook. You can find the file here Maldonado Family Handbook.   Family Engagement We Want You! We would love to have you as a partner. There are many ways in which you can support Maldonado Elementary. Our PTO and Site Council are looking for parents interested in supporting our children by planning events and advocating for the school. We are always in need of volunteers to assist classes by preparing materials, preparing for and assisting at school events. Please refer to our school Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MaldonadoMountainLions/ for upcoming events.   Volunteer Volunteering is as easy as one, two, three! Please contact the school of your choice to establish a volunteer opportunity prior to filling out this application. To ensure the safety of our students, all parent and non-parent volunteers must complete their application each school year. HR will review your submitted application and work with your selected school to authorize volunteer work to begin. Click here to apply to volunteer, this includes chaperoning field trips.

Friday, Sep 26 2025

September Newsletter

Mountain Lion - September Newsletter   Parent Teacher Conferences Parent Teacher Conferences will take place September 17-19. Students will dismiss at 10:55 am on conference days. If you haven't already scheduled a conference please reach out to your child's teacher to schedule. Parent-teacher conferences are about teamwork. The goal is to support your child’s growth together! Before the Conference • Review your child’s progress: Look over recent homework, tests, or teacher notes. • Write down questions/concerns: Example questions include: How is my child doing academically compared to grade-level expectations? How does my child get along with classmates Are there areas where my child can improve, and how can I help at home? During the Conference • Be open and collaborative: Approach the conversation as a partnership. • Ask for examples: Request specific examples of your child’s work or behaviors. • Share insights: Let the teacher know what motivates your child or strategies that work at home. • Focus on solutions: Ask what steps can be taken both at school and at home. After the Conference • Talk with your child: Share what you learned in a positive and encouraging way. • Follow through on action steps: Support agreed-upon strategies at home. • Stay connected: Keep communication open with the teacher through emails or notes.   Literacy Night We’re excited to invite you to our Literacy Night on Tuesday, September 30th from 5:30–7:00 PM. Bring the whole family for an evening of fun activities that celebrate reading and storytelling! Families will enjoy: Hands-on literacy games 🎲 Take-home resources to support reading at home 🏡 ✨ Let’s build a love of reading together! ✨   Parent Teacher Organization Meeting Join Us for Our First PTO Meeting of the Year! 🗓 Thursday, September 4th 🕝 2:30 PM 📍 Library Come be part of our school community! We’ll discuss upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and ways to support our students. Can’t join in person? No problem! Connect with us on Zoom: https://tusd1.zoom.us/my/mountainlions 👉 Join the Meeting We look forward to seeing you there!   Food Pantry Every month a food pantry is held at Grijalva Elementary School from noon to 2:00 pm while supplies last. Everyone is welcome. Sept. 25 Oct. 23 Nov. 20 Dec. 11 Jan. 22 Feb. 12 Mar. 26 Apr. 23 May 14   Free Tutoring- during school hours! Through an Arizona Department of Education grant we are delighted to offer free tutoring through Sqooasha. This tutoring will take place during the school day and is scheduled to begin on September 8th. You can register online at tinyurl.com/sqooasha-maldonado. It may ask for your child's school ID number, you can put in 00000000 and we can get that information to them.   PTO Peter Piper Pizza Fundraiser Come out and enjoy some good food, games, and friends. 15% of all food, beverage, and token sales benefit Maldonado PTO. Wednesday, September 10, 2025 5:00pm – 8:00pm Peter Piper Pizza 5385 S. Calle Santa Cruz Tucson, AZ 85706 (Irvington & I-19 Spectrum Mall)   Student Safety Comes First - Important Reminders To ensure the safety of everyone I would like to remind families of the following: - Students may be dropped off AFTER 7:20 am. Students are never be left alone at a gate or in a parking lot. -Tardy students must be signed in at the office by a parent or guardian. -We are a closed campus with limited points of entry and exit based on available supervision. Only identified gates may be used to access the playground. Never climb over or try to enter a secure gate. -Parents may walk their students to the exterior door of their teachers classroom and say goodbye at the door in the morning before the bell rings. Only authorized personnel are permitted in the school building. - Late arrivals will be escorted to class by authorized personnel. - The entrance off of the bus bay is only for PRESCHOOL students. All others need to use the identified gates. -Volunteers must be approved through TUSD. As our focus is on instruction, all classroom volunteers must schedule shifts ahead of time and will be limited to one hour increments.   Maldonado Family Handbook Wondering where morning drop off is? (All drop offs will be off of the main playground on Tetakusim) Where should my child line up? (Depends on teacher) What day can I bring in a goodie for my childs birthday? (Fridays at the end of the day) Answers to all of these questions and so much more can be found in our Maldonado Family Handbook. You can find the file here Maldonado Family Handbook.   Cell Phone 101 To help all students stay focused on learning, Tucson Unified School District strictly limits the use of cell phones and electronic signaling devices during the school day. In line with Governing Board Policy JICJ-R, these devices must remain off and out of sight while on campus. Students are not authorized to take pictures, listen to music, or any other functions available on a cell phone. Unauthorized use will result in disciplinary action, including possible confiscation of the device. On a first offense, students may retrieve the device from the teacher after class. For repeated offenses, parents must pick up the device from the office. Thank you for supporting our efforts to maintain a focused, respectful, and safe learning environment for all students.   Family Engagement We Want You! We would love to have you as a partner. There are many ways in which you can support Maldonado Elementary. Our PTO and Site Council are looking for parents interested in supporting our children by planning events and advocating for the school. We are always in need of volunteers to assist classes by preparing materials, preparing for and assisting at school events. Please refer to our school Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MaldonadoMountainLions/ for upcoming events.   Volunteer Volunteering is as easy as one, two, three! Please contact the school of your choice to establish a volunteer opportunity prior to filling out this application. To ensure the safety of our students, all parent and non-parent volunteers must complete their application each school year. HR will review your submitted application and work with your selected school to authorize volunteer work to begin. Click here to apply to volunteer, this includes chaperoning field trips.   Important Dates September 1 Labor Day- No School 8 AAA Student of the Month recognition 10 4th grade GATE testing 11 Fire Drill 10:00 am 16 Spirit Day 17 Parent Teacher Conferences- dismissal at 10:55 am 26 Staff vs Students Basketball game 30 Literacy Night 5:30-7:00 pm [Friday, Aug 29 at 11:26 AM]

Friday, Aug 29 2025

Open House Information

Important Open House Information   Tomorrow is the day! Our Title 1 Meeting / Open House is on Tuesday, August 19th from 5:30–7:00 PM. I am looking forward to seeing everyone. This is a wonderful opportunity to: Learn about our Title I services and academic programs See what your child has been learning in class Discover ways you can support your child’s academic growth at home To maximize time available to visit classrooms I am providing links to a recorded presentation of the Title 1 Meeting Presentation and Code of Conduct Presentation. These presentations will also be available during Open House to view if you prefer. Title 1 documentation: Right to Know Letter Annual Meeting Agenda Title 1 Compact District Parent Involvement Policy During Open House, you’ll also be able to sign up for Parent-Teacher Conferences, which will be held September 17-19. To accommodate family schedules, we’ll be offering extended hours for conferences on the 17th. Please note that students will be dismissed at 10:55 AM on all conference days. We will have several partners with tables in the cafeteria, be sure to check them out! Parent Teacher Organization TUSD Food Services TUSD Mexican American Studies Boys and Girls Club We look forward to partnering with you for another successful school year!

Monday, Aug 18 2025