The Starblazer Chronicle - SCHOOLinSITES

February 2021

                      The Starblazer Chronicle
                                   “Blazing a Path to the Stars!”

Mrs. Kendrick/5th Grade Teacher:

My name is Kelsey Kendrick and I teach fifth grade at Starline
Elementary. This is my first year teaching in my own classroom.
Prior to joining the Starline team, I have spent the last five years
working for the Lake Havasu Unified School District. I worked in
special education as a paraprofessional at Jamaica Elementary. I love working with
students and helping them grow! I have always wanted to be a teacher, but before I went
to college to earn my teaching degree, I joined the United States Army and served in
Germany for three years. I am married and have three daughters ages 8, 6, and 1. When I
am not at work or grading papers, I am most likely driving one of my children to dance or
to the theatre. Our family loves theatre and the performing arts!

Ms. Murphy/Special Education Paraprofessional:

After 20 years in the medical field, I decided to go into education. I
am currently attending college fulltime and have less than 2 years
before I will have my Bachelor’s in Elementary Education. I love
soccer! I have coached youth soccer for the last 3 seasons. I have 2
children. One is a freshman in college and one is a 2nd grader who
attends Starline Elementary.

PTA News

Step It Up!
Step It Up! is an experience-based fundraiser that celebrates friendship, fitness and FUN for our students.
No one is too small or too young to change the world; this program will challenge kids to use their awe-
someness to help others and make a difference at their school. While ideally this event is held in-person,
this year we will be hosting it virtually in individual classrooms so that our students do not miss out on the
opportunity to celebrate, connect, and find their own inner awesome. The Step It Up! Kick Off will be virtu-
ally held in classrooms on February 8th. After this time, students will come home with further information
about how to participate. The Step It Up! student event will be held on February 26th during school hours.

Starline & LHUSD Teacher of the Year
We all know that our Starline educators are world class! Please consider nominating a deserving teacher or
employee for Teacher of the Year, Staff of the Year, or Rookie of the Year by going to https://
lhusd.schoolinsites.com/staffrecognitionprogram. The link has also been sent out via Class Dojo and posted
on the Starline PTA Facebook Page . The deadline to nominate individuals is just around the corner, Febru-
ary 5, 2021.

Family Input: New Marquee
Starline Elementary School is more than just the building. It is the staff, teachers, and students who make it
a place of excellence. However, it has been so heartening to see our new playground equipment and build-
ing improvements bring some new life to the physical campus. We would like families to share their input
as our PTA looks into installing a digital marquee to complete our remodel. This marquee will communicate
important dates and share announcements clearly with families. Each month, Mr. Tony opens the current
marquee and changes the lettering. It is very heavy and awkward. We would like to make his job easier by
being able to purchase a digital marquee. Then Mr. Tony can sit at his office computer and type in the mes-
sages or Billie, in the front office can help. If you have any input or ideas as we fundraise for our new mar-
quee, please share your thoughts on our Starline PTA Facebook Page or email StarlinePTA@gmail.com.

Feedback in the Parent Survey said that parents wanted to know more about ALICE. Below is more
detailed information. Thank you for the feedback!

                                               ALICE
The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. LHUSD is fo-
cused on preventing dangerous situations for our students, as well as responding,
should a dangerous situation occur. We regularly meet with our local police and fire
department to review our safety plans and practices. The goal is to ensure that re-
cent research and data, including how to respond, support the policies we currently employ to keep our students,
staff, and schools safe.
Thanks to our community-approved bond, we are taking great steps to secure our school buildings by moving for-
ward with the following: updating communication and security systems, installing additional cameras throughout
our school buildings, improving fencing, and restructuring entry systems to limit external access to our schools and
classrooms.
As part of the process of updating the district’s safety plan, a new safety protocol called ALICE is being implement-
ed in the implausible event of a dangerous intruder. This training teaches staff and students to respond immedi-
ately in the event of a crisis, rather than rely on centralized instructions/communication.
During drills and practices conducted throughout this school year, our administration and teachers have intro-
duced the ALICE principles and strategies to students while also being cognizant of what is developmentally ap-
propriate. This year our practices are a little modified due to other safety mitigation guidelines we need to be
cautious of maintaining.

  The letters in ALICE stand for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate:
    Alert – Inform people of the threat, giving as much information as possible.
    Lockdown – Students and staff can choose to lockdown and barricade the room that they are in if they deter-
    mine that it is not safe to evacuate.
    Inform – Pass on as much information as possible to others and to First Responders, including calling 911.
    Counter – An effort of last resort, if a dangerous intruder is able to get into the space they are in, individuals
    can counter with distraction or other tactics. Staff are being trained to use every effort to stop the intruder,
    instead of relying on the traditional lockdown and hide response.
    Evacuate – If it is safe to do so, all are encouraged to evacuate the building, and remove themselves from the
      threat.

Most district personnel have been received training provided by IC SAVE on how to implement ALICE in the school
setting. In the future, we will continue to provide training to new staff. Right now that has been challenging due
to the need to social distance.

You may obtain more information regarding ALICE at https://www.alicetraining.com/about-us/ or IC SAVE at https://
icsave.org/courses/alice-training/.

    Our goal is to ensure that, in the event of a physical threat or dangerous intruder incident, students and
    teachers are prepared to respond based on the information they have available at that moment.

February 2021
                                          EARLY RELEASE Days on WEDNESDAYS @ 1:00 PM

 Sun              Mon               Tue              Wed             Thu                Fri                Sat

                  1                 2                3               4                  5 Superbowl        6
                                                                                              Spirit Day

                                                     Progress
                                                     Reports

 7                8                 9                10              11                 12                 13
                  Step It Up Kick                                    Spring Picture     Valentine Colors
                  Off                                                                   Spirit Day
                                                                     Day

 14               15                16               17              18                 19                 20

                                    Governing
                  No School         Board Meeting
                  President’s Day 6:00 PM

 21               22                23               24              25                 26                 27

                                                                     Rainbow
                                                                     Spirit Day

 28

The Governing Board Meeting can be viewed online. This is the link: https://www.havasu.k12.az.us/boardcalendardocsvideos