February 23, 2026
CLASSROOM UPDATES
ART HISTORY FAIR: Students should now be working on their Final Drafts, their presentation tri-fold board, art project and presentation. Students are allowed to bring in boards to work on them in class.
Parents and families are invited to view the Art History Fair on Tuesday, March 3rd from 1:30-2:30 pm in the Davis ODE area.
SHREK JR. MATINEE PERFORMANCE: This year, E2 students have the opportunity to view a matinee performance of the Villa Production of Shrek Jr. Students will travel by cars over to the Phoenix Center for the Arts Theater and leave school at 9:15 AM on Friday, March 6th. They will depart the theater at around 11:15 AM to be back to school by lunchtime.
Please fill out the permission slip here.
PIZZA FRIDAY: There are plenty of spaces available through the end of the school year. Pizza pick up, sides and beverages sign up can be found here.
- We need help with pizza pickup and healthy beverages for our Pizza Friday this Friday (February 27).
ART MASTERPIECE: If anyone would like to teach an Art Masterpiece please let Mr. Paul know. They are great to do on the testing days in the afternoon following the exams.
CLASSROOM WISHLIST: You can view the classroom wishlist here.
VOLUNTEER NEEDS: The list of volunteer needs can be found here.
PARENT CONTACT LIST: You can find the optional parent contact list here. Please feel free to add your info if you'd like to share it with other classroom families.
SCHOOL UPDATES
Spirit Week: Monday, February 23rd – Friday, February 27th
Monday, February 23rd: Crazy Sock Day, wear your craziest socks
Tuesday, February 24th: Twin a Teacher Day, dress like one of your teachers
Wednesday, February 25th: Pink Shirt Day, wear pink in support of anti-bullying
Thursday, February 26th: Fancy Pants Day, wear your fanciest clothing
Friday, February 27th: Super Fan Friday, wear something you are a super fan of think favorite sports team, book character, theater production, etc.
Make sure to follow the school dress code, no visible undergarments or offensive pictures or words.
Digital Safety Presentations
Katey McPherson will be coming after spring break to speak to Elementary II students about digital safety. The February meeting is for parents to learn more themselves regarding topics listed below, as well as inform you about what she will talk to the students about.
The program is called Connected Communities, and it’s kind of like driver’s ed — but for smart devices.
This training will cover:
- Internet safety
- Digital footprint
- Online conflict and group texting etiquette
- Privacy and security and impact of screentime on young brains
If families would like to sign out a Bark device to extend the conversation, Katey McPherson from Bark will have a sign out sheet in the front office. Families can use a trial Bark device to explore online learning modules with their students to extend the conversations that were discussed in class and to explore the safety features of the Bark device. This is an opt in program and is for parents only.
If, for any reason, you don’t want your student to participate in the classroom sessions, you can opt out if you would like.
We are very excited to add the skills development programming to our digital citizenship initiatives, and we hope you are as well!
State Testing this Spring
Testing Window for Required State Assessments:
AzSCI (Science) - Grades 5 AND 8:
March 16-April 10, 2026
AASA (ELA and Math) - Grades 3-8:
March 30 - April 24, 2026
Please make sure to have your child here and on time during the testing window. It is imperative to their success to have them here for testing. We will publish the detailed testing schedule before spring break.
The Village
You may be aware of AI toys that are now being marketed to children, usually a stuffed animal or toy robot that can have conversations with children thanks to integration with a chatbot. Common Sense Media has done a risk assessment review of these toys and found the overall risk level to be "unacceptable". They note that "AI toys vary in features but all share the same problems: design features that create emotional attachment in young children, extensive data collection, and unreliable performance. Because of their engagement-focused design and replacement of time spent engaging in more beneficial relationships and activities, [the reviewers] do not recommend the use of AI toys for children age 5 and under, and urge caution for children age 6-12. Traditional toys, books, and human interaction provide better developmental benefits without the privacy invasions, technical failures, and attachment risks."
We hope this resource will be useful to you and your family. Please set aside some time to look it over and decide what take-aways work for your situation.
Persepshen Dine-Out
Thank you to everyone who joined us last night at Persepshen, owned by Villa parents Katherine and Jason Dwight!
We are so grateful for your support and for spending your evening with our Villa community. We hope you had an awesome time connecting, celebrating, and supporting our school.
We will report back with the total amount raised as soon as we receive the final numbers.
Thank you again for showing up and supporting Villa in such a meaningful way!
Shrek the Musical
Ogres. Donkeys. True love in a swamp. What more could you want? Come see Villa's cast bring Shrek the Musical Jr. to life at Third Street Theater — March 5th & 6th at 6pm.
A few things to know before you go:
- Elementary II students will attend a morning matinee on March 6th at 10am — so your kids may already be Shrek fans by the time the evening show rolls around!
- March 6th is First Friday downtown. Parking and traffic will be heavier than usual — plan to arrive early.
Pink Shirt Day - Next Week!
Pink Shirt Day is Wednesday, February 25th. We celebrate Pink Shirt Day to demonstrate our school’s stand against bullying. We encourage students and staff to wear pink on Wednesday to support anti-bullying. We will hand out stickers so everyone has some pink on. Teachers have some special activities planned around this issue throughout the week, along with Spirit Week and special activities earned through the Fun Run. You can read more about Pink Shirt Day HERE.
And remember, if you see someone being unkind, just say - Hey! Be Nice!
2025 Tax Credit Campaign
If you’re getting a head start on your taxes, don’t forget to include a check to Villa. Every dollar comes back to you as an Arizona state tax credit and funds the things our kids love most — music, art, drama, and gardening. You can submit up to $200 if filing single or $400 if filing jointly. Contribute here.
Annual Villa Gala
Dandelion Dreams are floating through Villa this April! Our 2026 Week of Giving Gala and Online Auction is set, so mark your calendars for April 26, 2026. Tickets are available here: https://app.galabid.com/villa2026auction/items
Margo shared information on Neia Nagum, beloved former Villa student and staff member who was diagnosed with aggressive cancer. There are two ways we can lend support for her and her family during this time: Join in on the Meal Train: https://mealtrain.com/lgn58d or go to her GoFundMe page by clicking here.
