THANK YOU GATORS!

Thank you Gators! Southgate Academy just donated $287.00 worth of proceeds from T-Shirt and lollipop sales to the American Cancer Society. We sold over 200 shirts and had a wonderful time supporting an important cause!

MAKING STRIDES AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Hello! 

We are so excited about the opportunity for Southgate to participate in the 2012 "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Tucson" fundraising walk. All students, staff, and families are strongly encouraged to join our team. There are several ways to participate and show your support. 

1. Join our team to walk on October 28th. There is a 3 mile route and a 1.4 mile route that take place around the Kino Sports Complex. The routes start at the Kino Stadium and the team will be meeting there in the morning. The walk starts at 8 am with registration beginning at 7. If you would like to walk please sign up with Mrs. McCraley and we will register you online. It is FREE to register and participate in the walk. 

2. Purchase a T-Shirt for $6.00. This T-Shirt was designed by a Southgate family and $1.00 of the cost will go directly to our fundraising. These shirts are approved as Friday uniform shirts and are available in youth and adult sizes. We need an approximate count and sizes by Monday, October 22nd. Money should be turned in by Wednesday, October 24th. Please see attachment to view the shirt design and have a printable order form. 

3. Purchase a pink lollipop for $1.00 beginning Monday. This money will go directly to our fundraising. 

4. Consider a donation of $1.00 or more to receive a pink ribbon to post in the front offices. 

5. Wear pink on Friday, October 26th in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. Another FREE option to show your support. 

THANKS!

HIGH SCHOOL AIMS TESTING

Oct 19, 2012

Dear Parent/Guardians,

The High School AIMS Fall Writing, Reading, and Math Tests will be administered on Oct 23-25.  It is important that your child attend school on this date as there is no make up days for these assessments.  The state requires each student to take the assessment to be considered for augmentation should he/she be unable to meet the graduation requirement in passing AIMS.  

Testing will start at 9:00 am and end approximately at 11:30 am.  Breakfast will be provided beginning at 8:45 am for each student before testing begins.  Please make sure your child arrives on time at 8:15 am.  If you have any questions, please contact me.  

Thank you

Sylvia M Calmelat 

District Test Coordinator

520-490-1376

PARK DAY CELEBRATION

K-2 students enjoyed a great park day celebration as they finish up the first quarter. A huge thank you to all the parents who made this a super event! So many happy smiles!

OPEN HOUSE

Open House Please mark your calendars: Back-to-School Night is Friday the 13th from 5:00-7:00 pm. Come and join us for this important event here to kick the school year off! Expect to see some major improvements to our building arrangements beginning this year.

Note:

K-2 classrooms are being moved permanently into the 910 building (old admin) along with Mrs. McCraley registration will remain in their same area. The admin offices are being moved into the modular buildings along with 3-6 grade. This will allow for our smallest gators to be in a much more secure location.

SOUTHGATE ACADEMY AT THE BALLPARK (ENROLLMENT EVENTS)

Southgate Academy will be at the ballpark all summer long.

Tucson Padres at Kino Stadium with 105.3 La Ponderosa.

June 7th - 10th

June 19th - 22nd

June 27th - 30th

July 1st - 3rd

July 12th - 19th

July 28th - 31st

August 10th - 17th

August 22nd - 26th

EARLY RELEASE

Southgate Academy is pleased to announce that school will be dismissed @ 12:00pm this THURSDAY AND FRIDAY (May 31st and June 1st). There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM on these days. We look forward to an outstanding summer and upcoming school year!

*Lunch will be delivered to classrooms on these days.

LINHART’S SUPER GATORS

Check out this video created by Southgate students!!!

UPCOMING ENROLLMENT EVENTS

Here are some upcoming enrollment events

Saturday May 12th 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Robles Market (Three Points)

15150 West Ajo Way

Tucson, AZ 85735

Tuesday May 22nd 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Peter Piper Pizza

432 West Valencia Road

Tucson, AZ 85706

Thursday May 24th 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Peter Piper Pizza

3717 South 12th Avenue

Tucson, AZ 85713

Saturday May 26th 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Robles Market (Three Points)

15150 West Ajo Way

Tucson, AZ 85735

TACKLE FOOTBALL GEARS UP FOR INAUGURAL SEASON!!!

As we come to the end of the 2011-2012 school year at Southgate Academy, things are gearing up for the beginning of the inaugural season of Gator Tackle Football!  Your 2012 Gator Football coaching staff of Jason McKay, Frank Gilvin, and Dusty Gilvin have been hard at work laying the foundation for what they hope will be a very exciting inaugural season for the Southgate Academy family community.  The Gators will be a proud member of the Phoenix-based Charter Athletic Association (CAA), which is also home to a number of great tackle football programs in and around the greater Phoenix metro area.  All football home games will be played at Anamax Park located at 17501 S. Camino de las Quintas in Sahuarita.  Anamax Park provides a tremendous location for our school due to it's location, transportation to the park from Southgate for students wanting to attend games, as well as the park's Recreation Center.

In preparation for the upcoming season, a few Southgate Academy students attended the school's first tackle football camp last Saturday, April 14th at Sahuarita High School.  Anthony Herr, Daniel Cardenas, and Jeremiah Garcia were part of former University of Arizona's Lance Brigg's Southwest All-Star football camp.  Students were excited to take part in the camp and begin learning the fundamental skills for tackle football that will help our Gators become leaders on the field this fall! The Southgate Academy tackle football coaching staff is actively encouraging students who are interested in making a commitment to be a part of the inaugural season of Gator Tackle Football to stop by Coach McKay's classroom, Room 516 and register for the upcoming season.  In the upcoming weeks be on the lookout for more information concerning game schedules, practice times, and try-outs.

Spread the word, we are very excited to have our families be a part of our historic season this Fall!  Gators on 3!

-Jason McKay

PROM

Here are the details for Southgate’s Prom.

Friday May 11th, 2012 at RiverPark Inn

7:00pm - 11:30pm

This years theme is New York: A Night of Elegance

$40 for singles and $50 for couples (dinner is included)

RiverPark Inn

350 West Freeway Road (near I-10 and Granada)

Tucson, AZ 85745

SPRING FINE ARTS FESTIVAL

March 30th at 5:00pm

Come Celebrate the many talented students of Southgate Academy, as we showcase their work from the Spring Semester

Admission is FREE

The Gator Cafe will have a kiosk available to purchase snacks and beverages.

You don’t want to miss the amazing Art, Music, and Drama that will be on display!

SPORTS

This is an exciting time of the year at Southgate Academy with regards to sports.  As our spring sports season begin it is a great time for students, teachers, and parents to check out our Gators in action around the greater Tucson area!  First, Coach Tukey and the junior high school basketball team began their season this past Thursday with a victory over The Wildcat Academy.  With a few girls having a season of high school basketball under their belt, Coach Tukey is very excited about the girls he has on this year's squad and is looking forward to a very successful season.  Coach Peters along with an assistant coaching staff consisting of Lexie Mankel and Mario Granillo make up this year's junior high boy's  soccer staff and co-ed soccer staff with home games at Mission Manor Park.  Our soccer program has consistently drawn strong crowds from the Gator Community and we look forward to seeing a number of our parents out at Mission Manor to support both teams down at the park.

We are also very excited to announce the development of a tackle football program to our fall sports season for next school year.  Southgate Academy will be partnering to join the Charter Athletic Association in Phoenix to play area schools from the surrounding Phoenix Area.  We are very excited about the development of a development of a tackle football program at Southgate for our students, and we will have further updates in the coming weeks regarding the program.  As you may know, beginning a tackle football program is no small feat, and we are looking at securing weight equipment, and other materials that will assist our students have the best materials possible for continued success. If you are interested in assisting with our tackle football program, or would be interested in making a tax deductible donation, please contact Frank Gilvin (520) 591-6564.  As always we love our parents and everything you do to help out our programs here at Southgate Academy!  Gators on 3!

Jason McKay

Sports Blog, Southgate Academy

BOWLING FIELD TRIPS

Southgate Academy Wednesday Bowling Field Trips

@ Santa Cruz Lanes 3665 South 16th Avenue Tucson, AZ 85713

2:30pm - 4:30pm

$7.00 Per Student Includes Bus Transportation, Pizza, Drink, Shoe Rental, and Bowling!

Beginning Wednesday, March 28th Hang out with friends from our Gator Community!

HELP STOP CYBERBULLYING!

Please join us for an informational meeting on Tuesday, February 28th from 3:30-4:30 in the MACILOS room of the 910 building (across from attendance and registration). Southgate will provide information from our administration, school attorney, and guidance couselor on how to prevent and eliminate cyberbullying. Please stay tuned for more information on our blog as we plan to post and make available the information that was shared at this event. We hope to see you there!

THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY IS LOVE OF READING MONTH

As we look to wrap up this month Southgate Academy would like to share

29 tips to get and keep your entire family excited about reading. This list was created and shared by Melissa Miller. 

1. Enjoy some quiet time to yourself during the day – start a reading/quiet time for the entire family.

2. Be a good role model - let them see you reading books, magazines, newspapers.

3. Put a book in front of your infant during tummy time.

4. Put a book just out of reach to encourage your baby to start crawling.

5. Teach your toddler to look at the pictures in board books on his own.

6. Your pre-reader can be happy (maybe after some practice) looking through picture books on her own and “reading” familiar books to her dolls, stuffed animals.

7. Squirmy, uninterested kids? Don’t give up! Just start small – a few minutes at a time.

8. Older children can and will read to themselves if you eliminate distractions.

9. If you want more time and kids are getting fidgety, let them do some other quiet activity like coloring or playing with clay while you finish the chapter or article.

10. Looking for meaningful dialogue with your pre-teen or teen? Read the same books he is reading for school or pleasure and discuss them together.

11. Bond with your kids by reading aloud together. Every day! (Hint: About 1,000 hours of lap time – reading, chanting, singing – are needed before a child is ready to learn to read.)

12. Not really interested in reading aloud? Think of it as an investment – in your child’s education and future success, in your future quiet time, in your family’s closeness… And choose books you enjoy too! (Or convince your spouse to share/take charge of this activity with the kids.)

13. Consider reading aloud books that you’d normally read to yourself (if content is age-appropriate).

14. Read aloud to your older kids too – even after they’ve mastered reading on their own.

15. Cook from cookbooks together. (Hint: Reading a recipe counts! Bonus: it teaches math, fractions.)

16. Read aloud what interests your kids. Fiction, non-fiction, recipes, magazine articles, art books, current events, op-eds, rock star obituaries – they all count.

17. Read aloud during breakfast.

18. Read aloud while your kids do the dishes and clean the kitchen.

19. Have a regular family read aloud time after dinner – include the ENTIRE family!

20. Reading books together makes a nice bed-time ritual.

21. Place book baskets around the house (don’t forget the bathroom!) and in the car to encourage spontaneous reading.

22. Allow pre-school and older kids to stay up 15 minutes past bedtime if they’d like to read to themselves. Give them a bedside lamp.

23. Play word games in the car – “I spy”, rhyming words, opposites, reading road signs, etc.

24. Start a book club with your child and her friends.

25. Your kids outgrow books at about the same pace as clothing. The next time you have to buy new clothes or shoes, don’t forget to check out and/or invest in some new titles.

26. Give your children plenty of opportunities to write and sketch.

27. Printed materials in the home are decreasing due to the internet. Reverse this trend in your home. 100 books make a big impact; 500 books in the home is equivalent to having university-educated parents.

28. Kids are advertised to all day long – advertise READING at home! Display books with the covers out (on bookshelves, tables, in baskets, etc.).

29. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!

Get reading Gators!

-Delia McCraley

SOUTHGATE ACADEMY HONORED BY THE AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELING ASSOCIATION

Recently, Southgate Academy was honored as a recipient of the prestigious ASCA Model Program RAMP Award.  An award given out annually across the country to schools for their excelling school counseling programs.   The RAMP award designation is awarded to schools whose counseling programs are committed to delivering a comprehensive, data-driven school program and creating an exemplary educational environment for students.  Since it's inception, more than 400 schools across the country have received the RAMP award, with Southgate Academy now joining this elite group of schools.

In order to be eligible to receive the ASCA Model Program RAMP Award schools must meet a number of different eligibility criteria.  Any school across the country may submit a portfolio of their school's counseling programs and activities in order to be selected for the RAMP award.  Each year the award is based on last school year's data and programs.  Southgate Academy's program was selected based on it's outstanding counselor guidance lessons and classroom lessons with our students (Mrs. Candice Alvarez and Mrs. Angela Robinson), it's superior small group counseling sessions including “Gator Way” and “Attendance”, and it's social committees including: “Parent-Teacher Committee”, “Gator Way Committee”, and “Advisory Committee”.

This year's ASCA Model Program RAMP Award will be awarded to Southgate Academy on June 25th, 2012 at a special ceremony in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Locally, Kay Schreiber, State Career Guidance Counselor Supervisor from The Arizona Department of Education will be recognizing Southgate Academy and our RAMP award at a special ceremony to be held in March.  Facilitator Delia McCraley and Counselor Candice Alvarez will be on hand to receive recognition and acceptance of the award from The Arizona Department of Education.  It is an honor to have Southgate Academy chosen as one of only a handful of charter schools in the country to receive the prestigious RAMP award.

-Jason McKay

SPORTS

One strong program that provides Southgate Academy with it's strong sense of community and charm, is it's thriving sports program.  Now in my forth year at Southgate Academy, each year I am impressed with our students' dedication and will to succeed on the playing fields and courts of flag football, boy's and girl's basketball, boy's and girl's soccer, and girl's volleyball, as well as all our other extra-curricular activities we have at our school.  Watching our students and families come together at our sporting events and cheer on our student-atheletes is encouraging for not only our students, but also the entire Gator Community!  This season it was especially encouraging to see our boy's and girl's basketball teams take their talents to the El Pueblo Center on Irvington, a few miles down the road from our Southgate Academy home, and continue to draw a large gator crowd to cheer them on, despite being "on the road".   As a coach of the high school boy's flag football team myself, I can't tell you how much it means to our student athletes to see faces from our community including families, teachers, and fellow students in the crowd cheering our teams on!  It really means a lot to our teams, to show off our Gator Pride!  With both our boy's and girl's high school teams gearing up for their respective playoff tournaments this coming week, I encourage our Gator Community to come out and cheer on our student athletes!  It's important to always remember our community and sense of who we are!  Gators on 3! 

Jason McKay

Sports Blog, Southgate Academy

SOUTHGATE DRAMA AT SAAF 2012

13 Southgate Academy Drama students participated in the Southern Arizona Acting Festival (SAAF), Saturday Jan. 28^th, at the University of Arizona.  This was Southgate’s first organized competition and the students had a great showing.  They competed in Monologues and Duet Scene Acting. 

Some of the top recognized students are:

Katia-who received an ‘Excellent’  in Monologue

Jose and Alex-who received ‘Excellent’  for Duet Acting

A HUGE score for Gabriel-who got top honors with a ‘Superior’ in Monologue.

I am so proud of all our competitors and expect even more from them next year.

-Doug Dunnavant

Fall In Love With LITERACY

Southgate Academy is please to share an invitation to attend the “Fall in Love with Literacy” event taking place on February 11, 2012 from 2:00-4:00 pm in the Peace Garden. Come to the Peace Garden and see what’s available in the Sunnyside Neighborhood! Get information on free health screenings, tax and financial help, free classes for adults and children. Climb aboard the Book Mobile! Books, snacks, and much more!

Join neighbors and meet with organizations that can help you find answers to your questions on how to enhance your life and be a part of the culture of literacy in the Sunnyside and South Park Literacy Zones.

This event is put on by the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association and the group Literacy Connects. The Peace Garden is located at the Manuel Herrera Jr. Park in the far northwest corner of the park at 5901 S. Fiesta.

For more information or to RSVP please contact Beki at 520-404-5805 or gapitgirl@msn.com or Jeff Jordan at jjordan@literacyconnects.org

Southgate is looking forward to providing more opportunities to connect our school community with the surrounding neighborhood.

-Delila McCraley