Classes begin in Northwest Side public schools next week, compelling students to put aside their swimsuits and flip-flops for textbooks and backpacks.
A new school year means changes in many neighborhood schools — ranging from new principals to even a new break in the fall.
Here's some of what's new in your child's school and when school starts this year:
Flowing Wells Unified School District
School starts: Thursday, Aug. 7.
A teacher's perspective: This school year is Angela Sieminski's first time as a teacher, but she's embarking on her new career in a place special in her past.
Sieminski, 26, is a new kindergarten teacher at Homer Davis Elementary School, 4250 N. Romero Road. That's where both she and her father attended kindergarten, and her new classroom was her father's classroom when he was a kindergartner.
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She took a break from setting up the room last week to answer some questions about her new career:
Question: Why did you first become a teacher?
Answer: I adore children. I think their minds are fascinating. I honestly can't see myself doing anything else.
Q: Does working at the school you and your dad attended have any special significance for you?
A. Completely … I grew up in this neighborhood and my family did, so I feel more of a connection with the kids. It's little special things — that you can remember yourself playing on the playground and having your parents drop you off.
Q: What are you looking forward to most this school year?
A: I think just having my own classroom and working with my own kids — really being able to learn all of the things I've learned not only here student teaching (last semester) at Homer Davis, but also in my college career — and putting them into effect.
What else is new:
● Kids who eat school lunch or breakfast will need to bring an extra dime. The district increased school meal prices by 10 cents, but reduced-price and free school meals are not affected. The new prices are on the school district's Web site, www.flowingwellsschools.org.
● Walter Douglas Elementary School, 3302 N. Flowing Wells Road, and Laguna Elementary School, 5001 N. Shannon Road, both have new principals.
Sandra Thiffault is the new head of Walter Douglas; at Laguna, it's Theresa Leal-Holmes.
● Students at Flowing Wells High School, 3725 N. Flowing Wells Road, will have three more advanced-placement classes to choose from. The school is now offering AP classes in biology, U.S. history and Spanish for a total of nine advanced-placement classes, said Nic Clement, district superintendent.
● The district's upgrading its technology including installing Smart Boards, interactive white boards, Clement said.
Marana Unified School District
School starts: Monday.
Some new faces: Marana's new school district superintendent, Doug Wilson, welcomed other newbies — 91 teachers — at the annual new-teacher induction ceremony, held Friday morning.
Fourteen of those new hires are Marana Unified School District graduates — a figure that Wilson said speaks volumes about the district.
But the overall number of new teachers hired is pretty standard for a district of Marana's size, Wilson and district spokeswoman Tamara Crawley said. Marana's projected enrollment for 2008-09 school year is a little more than 13,000.
Another new face in the district is Eric Abrams, the new principal of Ironwood Elementary School, 3300 W. Freer Drive. Abrams previously was principal of the Northwest Side private school Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, 9500 N. Oracle Road, since 2000.
What else is new:
● School's starting earlier this year to accommodate a new, districtwide fall break. Students will get a week off from school from Oct. 13 to 17.
● Starting in September, people will be able to help their children plan for nutritionally smart decisions on the school meal line. They will be able to view menu options in advance and plan meals, looking at their menu choices' nutritional information and how those choices fit into the food pyramid.
They'll be able to access those online tools through the district's Web site, www.az.maranausd.org, by clicking on the MyNutrikids link on the Food Services Department's Web page.
● High school students will have more career and technical education programs to choose from. New programs include biomedical technology and engineering at Mountain View High School, 3901 W. Linda Vista Blvd., and graphic design and public safety/criminal justice at Marana High School, 12000 W. Emigh Road.
Combined, the two schools have 29 existing programs, said Cathie Raymond, the district's career and technical education director.
● Now there's another way people can stay informed of emergencies at their children's Marana schools. There's a color-coded alert system built into the school district's Web site, www.az.maranausd.org.
The district will use the system in the event of school lockdowns, bus accidents and other emergencies, Crawley said.
Amphitheater Public Schools
School starts: Thursday, Aug. 7.
About 20 Amphi teachers were in students' shoes during a new three-day summer program aimed at helping teachers integrate the arts into their classrooms.
The district held its first annual Camp APPLES — which stands for Arts Promotes Positive Learning Experiences for Students — last week at Amphitheater High School, 125 W. Yavapai Road.
The district already has full-time art, music and physical education teachers in its schools, but the summer program takes the arts education a step further, said Cathy Eiting, the district's chief academic officer.
"We want to do something that's useful for teachers — something that will help them connect the dots, so to speak, between the arts and the core curriculum," she said.
Twenty-one teachers from schools throughout the district volunteered to be part of the program, in which they learned from guest speakers such as Benita Silvyn of UA Presents.
The teachers are looking forward to applying what they learned in their classrooms.
During the camp, the teachers did a rap as part of a science exercise — an activity that algebra and geometry teacher Joan Mihalko plans to incorporate in her classes at La Cima Middle School, 5600 N. La Cañada Blvd.
She wants to use rap to help her students learn algebra and geometry definitions, she said.
Sandra Smith teaches English as a second language to third graders at Nash Elementary School, 515 W. Kelso St.
She got involved in Camp APPLES because she wanted to learn more ways she could use the arts to help ESL students express themselves and be more comfortable with English, she said. "It helps them to speak out among other people and not be shy or worried about it," she said.
What else is new:
● Lulu Walker Elementary School, 1750 W. Roller Coaster Road, has a new principal — Jon Lansa, who was most recently assistant principal of Coronado K-8 School, 3401 E. Wilds Road.
● The school district will put out the first issue of its new, full-color quarterly newsletter, "Amphitheater Education Matters" on Aug. 16. The district will mail copies to parents, district employees and civic leaders in the area, said Amphi spokesman Todd Jaeger.
● Don't forget: School starts next week. Amphi is getting the word out that school starts Thursday, Aug. 7, through billboards, flyers and signs posted within the district's area.
The effort is part of a new district program called "Every Day Matters," which promotes school attendance.
● Nearly 1,300 students went through the district's comprehensive summer school program, which was free for the first time. That's almost double the amount of students who attended the previous summer, Jaeger said.
Some other Northwest Side schools
● Oracle Elementary School District
School starts: Tuesday.
● Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, 9500 N. Oracle Road, 797-0107, www.prca-tucson.org.
School starts: Aug. 11.
● Green Fields Country Day School, 6000 N. Camino de la Tierra, 297-2288, www.greenfields.org.
School starts: Aug. 20.
● Sonoran Science Academy, 2325 W. Sunset Road, 665-3430 (elementary) or 665-3400 (middle/high school), www.sonoranacademy.org.
School starts: Aug. 11.
