Peoria United Parent Council

We know volunteers make our schools so special! Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers!

❤ This week is National Volunteer Week! We recognize and thank all those who take time to volunteer with Peoria Unified as well as our student volunteers. The work you do truly makes a difference in the lives of others and lifts up the entire Peoria Unified community. Thank you for your volunteerism- we need you!

We would like to thank everyone who attended our last general meeting of the school year. It was great to learn more about the legislative process as well as meet Dr Somers and his listen, learn, lead process. We were very impressed with his transition plan. And if you haven’t heard- he’s going to be having listen, learn, lead sessions starting next week.

Want to be part of our leadership team for the 2024-2025 school year? We are looking for the following positions: Secretary, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Communication, and Vice President of Legislation

Please let us know if you are interested! Tomorrow is our last general meeting of the school year, and we will have Dr. Sommers present.

Good Morning Parents! Dr. Somers is hosting Listen, Learn, and Lead events to learn more about the PUSD community. Please see details below.

To ensure a strong foundation and to foster open dialogue with students, staff, parents and the community, Dr. Somers will host a series of engaging meetings across Peoria Unified, called Listen, Learn & Lead.



Dr. Somers is hosting three identical events as opportunities to get to know our community and garner feedback to be used in a summary report to the Governing Board and community. These conversations serve as a platform for all key stakeholders – staff, parents, students, and community members alike – to share their thoughts, ideas, and aspirations for our schools. All events are identical and will last one hour.



Dates and Locations:

6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23 | Raymond S. Kellis High School
6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 30 | Liberty High School
6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1| Livestreamed to YouTube (Link will be available on the district’s website)

Welcome Dr. Somers! We are so excited to have you in our district and can't wait to meet you at our next general meeting on the 17th!

🙌 We want to extend an official, warm welcome to Peoria Unified's incoming superintendent, Dr. Kenneth Christopher (K.C.) Somers! Today, Dr. Somers has officially joined Peoria Unified, full-time, serving as a support to our current acting superintendent, Mr. Kevin Molino. He will take helm as Peoria Unified's superintendent on July 1, 2024.

We are so thrilled to have Dr. Somers join this great district and we look forward to the journey ahead. Join us for Dr. Somers' welcome reception at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 11 in the District Administration Center Lobby prior to the Governing Board meeting.

Want to learn more about Dr. Somers? Check out his bio here: https://www.peoriaunified.org/domain/1644

We are excited about our next virtual Coffee Chat on 3/12. Check out the events tab for more information!

Another reminder- take a moment to fill out the survey if you haven’t already.

🚨 Attention all Peoria Unified parents! 🚨 Our annual district survey is closing soon and we would love to hear your feedback. Please check ParentSquare for the link to take the annual survey. Your input makes a direct impact on the future of Peoria Unified. Thank you for your participation! 🙌

We would like to thank everyone who came out to our general session last night and learned more about how to prepare our children for transitions in life. Please let us know if you want an audio recording of our meeting last night.

Parents of 7-12th grade students- have you heard of school links? This is a great resource that our children received access to this year to help prepare them for life after school, that we learned more about last night at our general session.

General meeting tonight! We hope to see you there either in person or virtually!

Our general meeting is approaching in two weeks, focusing on Transitions. Join us either in person or online; details can be found on our events page. Also our March coffee chat is focusing on parent engagement. If your school has great parent involvement we would love for you to be part of our panel. If you have questions for our panel to answer please post in the comments.

Come join us on February 28th at Ironwood High School as we discuss "Transitions". We will be learning from Mrs. Coakley the Director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for PUSD about CTE and our children, we will learn more from Danielle Padia on counselors who are available to help launch our children into life. Our President Dr. Stephanie Herrick Kays will be providing insights into how to prepare your child for their first year away from home based on her experiences as a college health nurse practitioner. Check out the event listing for more information and how to also attend virtually.

Happy National School Counseling Week!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr day.

Just a reminder- tomorrow we have our coffee chat! See you then!

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, all schools & office sites will be closed today. To view the school year calendar, visit: https://www.peoriaunified.org/calendar.

FYI Parents! Has anyone signed up for this yet? I know from my profession, I love using canvas and I am excited that my child has this opportunity and I can be connected wtih what they are doing.

📖 Beginning today, Monday, Jan. 8, parents will have access to their own parent (observer) account in Canvas. Parents can log in to Canvas as an observer and view assignments, events and course interactions.

To access Canvas, parents must have a ParentVUE account. If you do not have a ParentVUE account, please talk with your school secretary about having one created.

Additional details, including instructions on how to log in to Canvas, are available on the district’s website at https://www.peoriaunified.org/Page/7430.

If you have any questions about Canvas, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.

Welcome Back to School this week Parents! We hope that the morning went smooth! As you are planning your Janurary, we hope that you plan to attend our virtual Coffee Chat next week Janurary 16 at 10 am! We are "Unpacking Student Services".

Also, if your school is not a member of PUPC yet, we would love to chat more about this! Membership dues help keep our organization alive and our content relevant. Please let me know if there are questions on how to become a member.

Happy New Year! If your resolution is to be more active in your child’s educational experience, please take the time to be active in PUPC. Our first coffee chat of the year is January 16 where we are “Unpacking Student Services”. We hope to see you there.

We hope everyone enjoys their winter break! As you plan for your 2024, save the date for our January 16th Coffee Chat, where we will be "Unpacking Student Services" with Dr. Hernandez and her team. Please see the events on the main page for the details.

❄ Happy Winter Break! Enjoy your break and we'll see you back in class on Monday, Jan. 8! ❄

We want to congratulate Danielle Airey who recently received Arizona's School Communicator of the Year from the Arizona School Public Relations Association. We see the work that you (and your team) do every day for our district, and thank you! Congratulations Danielle!!!

Happy Friday Parents! We are excited to have Dr. Somers as our new Superintendent! I am also impressed at how this contract gives him time to learn PUSD as an assistant to the acting Superintendent prior to officially starting the role in July. What are your thoughts?

ICYMI- our first Coffee Chat for 2024 is scheduled for Jan. 16 at 10 via zoom. Dr. Hernandez and her team will be "Unpacking Academic Services". I know I am excited to learn more about how to ensure my child is having the best educational experience possible. Check out our events tab for more information. And yes- it will be recorded :)

Good luck to both teams today in the Peoria Bowl!

🏈 In the words of : fingers are crossed for both of them, that I'm proud of them, and I hope their dreams come true.

Good luck to Centennial High School and Liberty High School as they face-off in the Peoria Bowl! We are so proud of you! 🤩

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for all the parents who help make PUPC what it is. Hope you have a great day with your families.

🤗 We are are so grateful for our Peoria Unified families that work alongside us to ensure their child receives the best education possible. Peoria Unified is proud to be home to dozens of strong Parent Teacher Organizations that strengthen our schools and communities.

We are proud to be an organization to support parent involvement in our district.

🫂 Happy National Parent Involvement Day! Peoria Unified is proud to host strong Parent Teacher Associations for our parents to get involved in their child's education and learning environment. Thank you to all Peoria Unified parents for your dedication to our schools!

Did you watch the e-forum? Did you fill out the survey? Let us know below! Make sure you take the time to do this before feedback closes on Thursday. The e-forum starts after the 10 minute mark- just a FYI.

🔍 We are excited to invite you to participate in our Superintendent Finalists eForum this evening at 5 p.m. The eForum is the next step in our search for the next leader for our district.

You can join us online at www.peoriaunified.org/superintendentsearch. You can provide your feedback, now through Thursday, Nov. 16, via the link on our district website.

Parents! Tonight at 5 pm is the candidate E-Forum (don’t worry if your busy you have time to watch it during the week- until Thursday) and can leave your feedback on the superintendent candidates.

🔍 We are excited to invite you to participate in our Superintendent Finalists eForum this evening at 5 p.m. The eForum is the next step in our search for the next leader for our district.

You can join us online at www.peoriaunified.org/superintendentsearch. You can provide your feedback, now through Thursday, Nov. 16, via the link on our district website.

https://www.peoriaunified.org/superintendentsearch

ICYMI We are down to the 3 finalists for superintendent! Our PUPC President is sitting in on the interviews- what perspectives would you like her to bring with her? The way the interviews are done typically is the panel cannot ask questions but will listen to the responses to the questions that HR asks.

Administration / Superintendent Search On November 8, 2023, the Peoria Unified Governing Board convened a Special Board meeting to announce the finalists for our district’s Superintendent Search. The following finalists, appearing in alphabetical order, will be invited to interview with the Governing Board and Stakeholder Interview tea...