WESD e-news: April 12, 2024
A Message from WESD Superintendent Dr. Paul Stanton
Greetings WESD Families and Staff,
Thank you for all your support during state testing. We appreciate encouraging your child to do their best. I would like to thank all our staff who are assisting with testing. Thank you to all the classified, certified and administrative staff who put countless hours in to support our WESD children. As the temperatures rise, I do ask that we all become aware of how we interact with each other. Please be patient and kind with each other. We have a few more weeks of learning and we want them to be the best. There are many fourth quarter events and soon we will be having promotions.
In this update, you are invited to attend our regional School Finance Presentations, and read about our Silver Apple Award winner, girls basketball and co-ed soccer champions, school highlights at the April 11th Governing Board meeting, and the April 13th Teacher Interview Fair.
Come Learn about School Finance
In an effort to share more with our community and be transparent, the WESD Business Services Department is hosting regional school finance presentations in April and May. The presentations will take place from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. in the school gymnasium and are open to all elementary, K-8 and middle school families. Each presentation will cover topics related to K-12 funding in Arizona, such as where the funding for school budgets comes from, how budget limits are determined, how the WESD spends these funds, and how factors in the state effect the WESD.
- April 16th, 2024 – Desert Foothills Junior High School, 3333 W. Banff Ln., Phoenix, AZ 85053;
- April 23rd, 2024 – Royal Palm Middle School, 8520 N. 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85021;
- April 30th, 2024 – Palo Verde Middle School, 7502 N. 39th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85051; and
- May 13th, 2024 – Mountain Sky Junior High School, 16225 N. 7th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85023.
If you are unable to attend one of the meetings in person, they will also be livestreamed on each school’s YouTube channel and added to the WESD website. Please click here to find the livestream links. For questions, please email Daniel.Obrien@wesdschools.org.
Palo Verde Teacher Receives Silver Apple Award
Congratulations to Jose Amaro, seventh grade social studies teacher at Palo Verde Middle School, who received the Silver Apple Award! He was surprised last month as reporter Kylee Cruz with Arizona’s Family arrived to his classroom with a cameraman and other guests to recognize him as a winner.
Sponsored by Arizona Bank & Trust, the Silver Apple Award is presented to teachers who demonstrate dedication to students, commitment to education and originality in their approach to teaching. Each honoree is presented with an Apple Award and a check for $1,000.
Mr. Amaro was nominated for the award by his student Maci D. In her nomination letter, Maci wrote, “I think Mr. Amaro deserves the Silver Apple Award because he does so much for us. Like on his birthday, he brought everyone Turbos. When we were learning about the Boston Tea Party, he brought iced tea and cookies for us. He brings history to life by bringing real life to us."
To view the surprise visit that aired on Good Morning Arizona, please click here.
Student Athletes Win Girls Basketball and Co-Ed Soccer Championships
Congratulations to the following championship teams on their excellent play!
- Lakeview Elementary School, Girls Basketball 5-6 Division 1 Champions
- Cactus Wren Elementary School, Girls Basketball 5-6 Division 2 Champions
- Arroyo School, Girls Basketball K-8 Division 5/6 Champions
- Arroyo School, Girls Basketball K-8 Division 7/8 Champions
- Mountain View School, Co-Ed Soccer K-8 Division 7/8 Champions
A special thank you to all of the coaches, referees, volunteers and families for support throughout the seasons. We appreciate those that modeled sportsmanship and teamwork.
Mountain View, Sunset and Washington Share Highlights at April 11th Governing Board Meeting
The WESD Governing Board set a special goal this year to have each school come to a Board meeting and share what makes them special. This time, Mountain View School, Sunset Elementary School and Washington Elementary School highlighted their programs, people and activities. Each school was introduced by Administrative Coach, Shannon Bonnette.
To watch the schools' shared highlights on YouTube, please click here.
Upcoming Teacher Fair
In case you missed it, our next Teacher Interview Fair is tomorrow, April 13th, from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m. at Arroyo School, located at 4535 W. Cholla St. We are currently hiring elementary, middle and special education teachers, as well as speech language pathologists, teachers of visually impaired, occupational therapists and physical therapists.
Our District offers competitive teacher salaries of $53,000-$83,950 (including $3,000 approx. for performance pay), student loan forgiveness, multi-layer teacher support, professional development, school-age child care discounts, a wellness program and EAP, medical, dental and vision benefits, employer-matched contributions to Arizona State Retirement and much more.
Additionally, the WESD offers a salary range of $71,000-$93,000 for speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists.
Please share this opportunity with your friends, family and neighbors. We hope to see you there!
And Finally,
We are always here to listen to feedback from our families, staff and community. If you have a question, concern, comment or even a kudos, please share it with us through our We’re Listening tool. You will hear back from an appropriate staff member in a timely manner. Please click here to submit your feedback.
Are you following us on social media? If not, we highly encourage you to do so to ensure you do not miss out on all the great news we have to share! We are active on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn. For school-specific news, please click here to view a complete list of our schools’ social media pages.
We are truly grateful for you. Thank you for choosing the WESD.