Pima Butte celebrates ‘A’ grade

Students, parents and teachers gathered at Pima Butte Elementary School Monday morning to celebrate the school receiving an “A” grade from the Arizona Department of Education for the fourth consecutive year.

Pima Butte was the only school in the Maricopa Unified School District to receive a letter “A” grade. The grades, based on the 2012-2013 school year, were announced in August.

Maricopa Wells and Desert Wind middle schools and Maricopa and Santa Cruz elementary schools received “C” grades, while Saddleback, Santa Rosa and Butterfield elementary schools received “B” grades. The district as a whole received a “B” grade.

(The middle schools were junior highs the 2012-2013 school year).

Pima Butte received a banner for the recognition, now being displayed in the school’s cafeteria.

Tom Beckett, the director of human resources for MUSD, attended the ceremony. He said Pima Butte Principal Randy Lazar challenged the school to keep the “tradition” alive.

“Mr. Lazar challenged the students obviously to another good year, complimented the staff and administration last year on their work and student’s good efforts,” Beckett said.

The entire student population and around 20 parents and school administrators attended the ceremony, Beckett said.

Superintendent Steve Chestnut couldn’t attend the ceremony, but said teachers, parents, the principal, the academic couch and the students worked together to achieve the “A” grade.

“Everybody pulled it together,” he said. “It’s a great team effort up there.”

This year, the district is taking steps to maintain and improve letter grades within the district, Chestnut said. The district is using the Beyond Textbook program, an online service that allows teachers to share ideas and resources across the state.

“The other big initiative this year is our academic focus conversations,” Chestnut said.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Board member AnnaMarie Knorr, who attended Monday’s ceremony, said the state testing requirements focus a lot on math and reading skills, and that focus has helped students excel.

She also said everyone at the ceremony was really thrilled and proud of the students, and that it was a great event.

“It was very positive and fun,” she said. “The kids were chanting ‘Pima Butte! Pima Butte!’”