• A special thank you to PTSO for sponsoring the wonderfully catered dinners from Carrabbas for teachers during parent conferences. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.

• The AHMS “Night of Excellence” on February 10th was a huge success. We had a great time partnering together with parents to celebrate the achievements of their children.

• Our first “Mustangs Making a Difference” awards this month went to the following staff: Angelica Holquin, Sean DiLeonardi, Laurie Steenrod, Bonnie Martinez and Ray Hall. Faculty and students now have opportunities to nominate people who they believe go the extra mile to promote trust and teamwork and support student achievement. The Positive Behavior Support team reviews all nominations and then chooses the staff member who will be keeper of the “Mustangs Making a Difference” trophy for that month. If you would like to nominate a staff member for this important award, please send an email to JHEMILSSON@aps.k12.co.us and your nomination will be reviewed by the PBS committee.

• CSAP testing will be during the weeks of March 2- March 13. It is very important for students to be present every day during these weeks, and we would appreciate your support in not scheduling doctor’s appointments, etc. during these weeks.

• CSAP gives students important practice in taking standardized tests which will help to develop test taking skills that they can better apply when they take the ACT as a junior. The ACT test is a high stakes test because many colleges use this test score as a measure of a student’s candidacy for acceptance. The feedback that you receive as a parent from CSAP is also helpful in giving you information on your child’s strengths and weaknesses in reading, writing and math. AHMS and high schools use students’ CSAP scores as part of a body of evidence to make decisions about what classes to place students in for the following year. We appreciate your support of this very important assessment.

We appreciate the privilege of educating your children.

Sincerely,