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During the recent meeting of the governing board, we honored our Bee Recognized Award recipients for the month of November 2023. Join us in extending our congratulations to Dr. Rogelio Longoria, who serves as a School Psychologist, Celina Cortez, a dedicated 2nd Grade Teacher at Amberlea Elementary School, and Angie Martinez, Title I Parent & Family Educator. Their invaluable contributions to our schools, district, and community are truly immeasurable!
We are thrilled to congratulate Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Cruz, who, on Thursday, October 26th, was honored at the K-12 Innovation Alliance Summit 2023. Dr. Cruz was awarded with the Innovation Alliance Education Impact Award by the K-12 Innovation Alliance. This prestigious accolade recognizes her exceptional leadership and relentless dedication to the district. Dr. Cruz, with her passion, dedication, and unwavering commitment to the Pendergast District, serves as a shining example of such impactful and transformative leadership.
During the recent meeting of the governing board, we honored our Bee Recognized Award recipients for the month of October 2023. Join us in extending our congratulations to Diane Ganser, who serves as a School Bus Driver, Rebecca Murillo, a dedicated 5th Grade Teacher at Sunset Ridge Elementary School, and Marlene Ramirez, a School Bus Attendant. Their invaluable contributions to our schools, district, and community are truly immeasurable!
Villa de Paz Elementary to receive facility upgrades.
Our amazing Pendergast staff and students from our STEAM & Chief Science Officers' Program get highlighted in the Arizona Parenting Back to School Guide.
To read the full story or to learn more about the STEAM & CSO Program at Pendergast District, please click on Keeping Science Fun By Claire LaBeaux (pages 23-26).
Villa de Paz Construction Project Set in Motion, Creating New Opportunities for Pendergast District Students
Pendergast Elementary School District (PESD) honored as District of Distinction for Use of Imagine Learning English Language (EL) Education.
Pendergast District has been recognized as a 2022-2023 District of Distinction for its exceptional use of Imagine Learning EL Education. The prestigious award was presented to only 301 schools or districts across the country out of over 21,000. The selection was based on the review of the program usage for the current school year, and Pendergast was chosen for meeting the rigorous usage standards required for a District of Distinction designation.
ParentSquare, the new communication platform, allows parents and guardians in the Pendergast District to receive all of their communications from the district, schools, classrooms and school activity groups in one unified app and service.
Upcoming Events
Garden Lakes at a Glance
Garden Lakes is an A rated school located in Avondale, AZ. At Garden Lakes we offer our STEAM Design and Build Academy offered to all students in 5th-8th grade. In addition, we have a unique K-8 goal setting program, Makerspace, FUSE Lab, Buddy Program - (older grades partner with younger grades), and school-wide PBIS. Students at Garden Lakes have the opportunity to participate in a variety of extracurricular clubs and activities such as:National Junior Honor Society, Student Council, Read Better Be Better, Diversity Club, STEAM Club, Yearbook Club, eSports, Library Club, Drama Club, Newspaper Club, and Dance Club. Our after school sports include: boys and girls volleyball, basketball, soccer, flag football. and cheer. Join the Garden Lakes family, enroll today!
Found on every campus throughout the Pendergast District, art classes are designed to build mastery in technique, composition/design, research, experimentation, and creative problem solving. Critical thinking, objective analysis of artwork, and the ability to communicate in the language of art will be developed. Students will be introduced to basic art techniques, which are the building blocks that will provide a solid foundation for future art lovers and artists.
In the Pendergast District, you will find robotics, jewelry design, coding, architecture, and music production at every school throughout the Pendergast District. In FUSE, students choose what to work on and set the pace. This means they emerge engaged, excited, and eager for more. STEAM Challenges are designed to get harder as students progress. FUSE teaches students how to use real world technologies while exploring topics they already love. Since challenges are designed around student interests, there is something for everyone to get excited about.
As students learn, they naturally share their new discoveries. A new culture of learning emerges as students celebrate each other's successes and overcome any setbacks along the way.
Participating in sports at an early age offers several benefits that extend well beyond the physical aspects of regular exercise. Specifically, the social benefit of sports participation provides an unparalleled environment for hands-on learning and behavioral growth.
Here are the sports we currently offer throughout the Pendergast Elementary School District:
- Volleyball
- Basketball
- Soccer
- Cheer
- Track & Field
- Flag Football
The Design and Build Academy at Garden Lakes Elementary School inspires students to create a better, more sustainable world by providing hands-on education that integrates design as a creative, interactive process. Today’s students have grown up in an age of “green” choices. Students learn how to apply this concept to the fields of architecture and construction by exploring dimensioning, measuring, and architectural sustainability.
Students will:
- Create design and construction drawings for commercial and residential buildings
- Create detailed plans using computer-aided design software and three-dimensional modeling simulations to enforce spatial concepts
- Learn theories of construction, current products, technology and building codes
Competitive gaming has set the world ablaze! The Pendergast Elementary School District is excited to announce the Pendergast eSports League, which aims to captivate students' passion for video games through organized competition in a safe and secure environment at every school throughout the Pendergast District.
eSports is a form of competition using video games. In most cases, eSports are organized multiplayer video game competitions between competitors, which can take place individually or as teams. eSports are more than just video games; it is community, engagement, and relationship building.
As the eSports industry continues to grow, we are beginning to see an increase in eSports teams as an extracurricular activity in schools. Because eSports revolves around some of the video games that students play at home, many families struggle to understand how this extracurricular activity is beneficial to a student’s education.
Recent studies show that eSports can help a student’s well being, improve their reading skills, help develop problem solving skills, improve their social connections, and will even enhance their imagination and creativity. Furthermore, eSports promotes teamwork and cooperation with others and shows students the importance of community. Giving students early exposure to all facets of the eSports world can spark interest and help prepare them for future opportunities in graphic design, coding, leadership, video production, and even art direction.
Message from the Principal
Hello Garden Lakes Community,
Our teachers and staff have worked hard over the summer months to ensure that our students receive a high-quality education in a safe and supportive learning environment. We are also continuing our work toward full implementation of a Garden Lakes Elementary, K-8 grade Engineering Design Process Academy! We are ready to engage in this process as we utilize the steps: “Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve, and Share.” Additionally, our team worked to refine our project-based learning (PBL) experiences, where students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Be on the lookout for Engineering Design activities and PBL showcases throughout the school year where families will be invited to participate!
Our theme this school year is, “It Takes a Village to Meet Our Goals!” Each one of you is an integral part of our Garden Lakes village! One of our primary goals this school year is to ensure that each of our 900 students increases their academic growth and proficiency! We want to prepare every Diamondback to be fully ready for the next grade level and on track for 8th-grade promotion, high school graduation, and beyond! We want our students to be able to accomplish and achieve their personal goals - academically, socially, and emotionally! We can only accomplish this goal with the help of our staff, parents/guardians/families, students, and community partners!
One of the ways we will achieve this goal is by having every student set weekly goals, reflect on their progress, and track their data! As a staff, we will meet weekly to analyze current data in order to determine how to best meet your child’s needs - through reteaching, interventions, enrichment, acceleration, etc. We will also share your child’s data with you quarterly along with suggestions for how you can help your child at home!
Thank you for being part of our village! We look forward to connecting with each of you this school year and working together to ensure every student reaches their full potential!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Jill Helland
Principal