McDowell Mountain Elementary School

Falcon Focus - May 13, 2022 May 13, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell Mount

Happy Friday Falcons! Have an amazing weekend!

Take a look at this week's Falcon Focus:
https://conta.cc/3kulp49

Falcon Focus - April 29, 2022 April 29, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell Mou

Falcon Focus - April 22, 2022 April 22, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message Fr

The Governing Board is pleased to announce Dr. Cain Jagodzinski as the new Superintendent for the Fountain Hills Unified School District.

In an email dated April 7th from the FHUSD Governing Board, it was announced that the Board had accepted the resignation of Superintendent Kelly Glass.

On April 6th & April 8th, the Governing Board met in executive session to discuss the hiring process for a new superintendent. After deliberation with legal counsel, consultation of policy, and with time being of the essence, the Board determined it would be in the district’s best interest to look at qualified candidates from our 2020 superintendent search.

At a special meeting on Wednesday, April 20th, the Governing Board unanimously approved a contract hiring Dr. Cain Jagodzinski as the new superintendent for Fountain Hills Unified School District. Dr. Jagodzinski was a finalist in the 2020 superintendent search.

Dr. Jagodzinsk (Dr. J) is well known to Fountain Hills as he previously worked in the district as a social studies teacher, the basketball coach and most recently the high school principal. While at the high school, Dr. Jagodzinski was instrumental at implementing the Capstone Program, AVID, Beyond Textbooks and working with his staff to achieve the A+ rating from the Arizona Education Association! As principal of Fountain Hills High School, Dr. Jagodzinski was well respected by his staff, students and community members. He made it a point to learn each student's name and had an open-door policy where he welcomed new ideas and collaboration with his team. Since 2020, Dr. Jagodzinski has been the principal at Arcadia High School in Scottsdale and we are very pleased to welcome him back to Fountain Hills! Dr. Jagodzinski’s official start date will be July 1, 2022 with interim superintendent Dr. Sweeney completing his contract June 30, 2022.

Please welcome Jane Irwin to FHUSD!

She is one of the Reading Specialists at MMES and re-located to Scottsdale from Central Florida in June 2021. Jane is a graduate of Old Dominion University (K-12 Vocal Music Ed) and has been teaching since 1995 in several states and overseas. Jane has taught at nearly every level of education (except middle school!) in her 27 years of experience. Several years ago, Jane added Elementary Ed and both the Reading/ESOL Endorsements to her teaching toolkit. She is super excited to help the MMES 1st and 2nd grade students achieve reading success! Jane is also an active member of the FHUSD PTO and looks forward to helping organize the fun events supported by them.

Jane has a terrific (and active!) family. She and her husband, Dean, have been married 27 years and are a retired US Navy family (23 years in the Submarine Force). They have three fantastic sons, Phillip, Jack and Rory. Jack and Rory attend FHMS as 7th/8th graders and are avid athletes who keep their mom and dad VERY busy! Last, but not least, they have 2 grandsons from their oldest son, Phillip, who still lives in Florida.

The Irwins LOVE living the AZ life and are excited to be a part of the Falcon Family!

Welcome to the Falcon Family Jane!

The District is currently evaluating a list of supplemental reading materials for McDowell Mountain Elementary School students in 3rd grade. The books will be on display at the district office for 60 days. If you would like to come in and look through the books, you may do so at any time Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Krista Andreae at (480) 664-5011 or [email protected].

The books will be on display through June 13th.

Heads up Falcons! FHUSD has a district recess this Friday, April 15th. Schools and the district office will be closed.

Falcon Focus - April 8, 2022 April 8, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message Fro

Falcon Focus - April 1, 2022 April 1, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell Moun

Falcon Focus - March 25, 2022 March 25, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message Fr

Falcon Focus - March 11, 2022 March 11, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message Fr

Falcon Focus - March 4, 2022 March 4, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell Moun

Falcon Focus - February 25, 2022 February 25, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

If you have a child that is ready to start school, you won't want to miss this amazing event!

Join us March 2nd from 2:30 - 5:00 pm or March 3rd 5:00 - 8:00 pm at McDowell Mountain Elementary School to learn more about our Preschool and Kindergarten programs.

Feel free to share with your friends...All are welcome!

Falcon Focus - February 18, 2022 February 18, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell

Falcon Focus - February 11, 2022 February 11, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

Welcome Jessica Burton to FHUSD!

Jessica Burton is an Arizona native and has lived in Fountain Hills for 10 years. She has two children at McDowell Mountain Elementary and her husband is the manager of a local pest control company. She is a local Girl Scout leader to 12 girls, many who attend MMES. She has two dogs Moo Cow and Diego and one fish named Sharky. In her spare time, she does family photography and loves to craft. Her family enjoys traveling and camping during the summer.

Jessica is a recess monitor at McDowell Mountain and will be helping in the office. She looks forward to helping wherever she is needed.

Welcome to the Falcon Family Jessica!

Falcon Focus - February 4, 2022 February 4, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell M

Take a look at this week's Falcon Focus with a message from our Interim Superintendent, Dr. Patrick Sweeney.
https://conta.cc/3r93zaX

Falcon Focus - January 28, 2022 January 28, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

Happy weekend Families! Please enjoy this week's Falcon Focus.
https://conta.cc/3KryJ57

Falcon Focus - January 21, 2022 January 21, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell M

Wishing you a wonderful three day weekend. All district sites will be closed Monday in honor of MLK day.

https://conta.cc/3GC0Axe

Falcon Focus - January 14, 2022 January 14, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

Falcon Focus - January 7, 2022 January 7, 2022 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell Mo

Please welcome Kevin Wilkinson to FHUSD. He is very excited to be a part of your community as the new Interim Principal at McDowell Mountain Elementary School. Kevin is looking forward to working with you and helping our students achieve success.

Kevin graduated from Indiana University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. In 2017, he earned a Master’s in Education from Indiana Wesleyan University in School Administration. Kevin has been in education for 15 years; ten as a social studies teacher and five as a middle school principal. He also spent one year teaching in Arctic Alaska in a native village 90 miles from Russia.

Kevin has an amazing wife who is also a school administrator. They recently had their first child, Clementine, who keeps them busy around the clock. Kevin also has a nine year old daughter, Sophie, who lives in Indiana. He enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, golfing, and exercising, as well as spending time with his family.

Kevin is extremely excited about working in the Fountain Hills community and helping all stakeholders reach their goals.

Welcome to the Falcon Family Kevin!

Happy Holidays to all our Falcon Families.

Schools will be closed for Winter break December 20th through December 31st, with school resuming on Monday, January 3rd.

The district office will be closed December 24th through December 31st, also reopening on January 3rd.

We wish you all a restful and enjoyable break!

Falcon Focus - December 10, 2021 December 10, 2021 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell

Please welcome Marlee Bigsby to the family!

Marlee is very excited to become an official staff member in the Fountain Hills District. She will be working at McDowell Mountain Elementary School as a first grade teacher and cannot wait to start teaching her first class. She has just graduated from Northern Arizona University and has completed her student teaching at Fountain Hills Middle School.

She has lived in Arizona for a number of years and is coming up on her third year living in Fountain Hills. In her free time, Marlee enjoys reading, drawing, and spending time with family and friends. She comes from a big, happy family with nine other siblings but right now she is living with her two roommates and new kitten.

Marlee has loved her time student teaching in the Fountain Hills District and is ecstatic about starting her first year here!

Falcon Focus - December 3, 2021 December 3, 2021 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

Falcon Focus - November 24, 2021 November 24, 2021 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 Important

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, there will be no school November 24th through 26th. All sites will be closed, including the district office. School will resume Monday, November 29th. The district office will re-open at that time as well.

We wish you many happy memories with family and friends.

Falcon Focus - November 19, 2021 November 19, 2021 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 A Message

Falcon Focus - November 12, 2021 November 12, 2021 Home of the Falcons! "We Achieve and Celebrate Educational Excellence" Falcon Focus Photo courtesy of azcentral.com "The Phoenix Area's 5 Most Beautiful Schools" April 2015 McDowell