August 2011

Dear Mansfeld Community,

Welcome to the 2011-2012 school year!  I would like to thank you for selecting Mansfeld as your school of choice for your child.  I appreciate the confidence you have placed in our faculty, staff, and administration.  We will continue to pursue our mission of creating a community of learners where everyone feels welcome and accepted.  In addition, we will do everything we can to ensure that your student leaves Mansfeld prepared for success in high school and college.  

Last year was another year of "down-sizing" for Mansfeld as we faced additional budget cuts and a lower projected enrollment.  Together with the Mansfeld Site Council, we have made strategic budget decisions to maintain a strong and comprehensive middle school program.  We have maintained our seven period day and will continue to offer our students a wide-array of elective programs.  We have been able to maintain a full interschalstics athletic program throughout the year.  In addition, we were able to add a half-time monitor to provide additional campus supervision. 

I am proud of the addition of our GATE Flex program to this year's curriculum.  Last year, 15 teachers committed to attending GATE training in order to expand our GATE offerings.  We will be able to offer students GATE coursework at each grade level in every core content area.  We will continue to offer our Pre-AP Honors strand of courses along with our traditional coursework.

After reviewing last year's AIMS results, I was encouraged to see our school make gains in most of the achievment areas.  However, we are not satisified with our overall academic performance of our students.  The Mansfeld faculty will be using their Professional Learning Community time to study assessment data and develop strategies to improve student achievement.  We will also be exploring ideas to implement a student advisory program in order to build student awareness of their academic progress and provide interventions as needed. 

Another place where I would like to see improvement is in the area of parental involvement with our school community.  We need additional parents to participate in the activities of our Parent Teacher Student Organization.   To encourage greater participation, I am going to try to develop a parent email distribuation list.  My plan is to send reminders before meetings to request your attendance and participation at important school functions.  Please consider attending our PTSO meetings or finding some other way to support our school as a parent.  PTSO meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM in the library.

Lastly, I would like you to consider making a tax credit donation to our general sports account or to one of our after school programs.  Donations to Mansfeld can be made online at http://www.tusd.k12.az.us/contents/distinfo/aztaxcredit/index.asp . Checks can be dropped off at Mansfeld or mailed to 1300 E 6^th St. Tucson, AZ 85719. 

I look forward to another year of service at Mansfeld.  Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Paul DeWeerdt

Principal