News

The Phoenix Symphony visited Trailside Point as part of the organization’s Mind Over Music program. The program studies how music affects student achievement and provides tools for teachers to integrate music into the core academic areas. Symphony musicians performed for the school’s advanced and junior orchestras, while providing short lessons between each piece.

Trailside Point’s new 2,500 square foot performing arts classroom opened for the spring semester. The facility will be used for theater classes and performances of all kinds including music, dance, and drama.

View additional photos of the school’s new facility on our flickr page.

Trailside Point received a $4,000 grant from bestselling author James Patterson to support its school library. Since 2015, Patterson has donated $3.5 million to save school libraries nationwide. “I’ve made it my mission to underscore the vital role reading plays in children’s lives, and the need to sustain school libraries is at the heart of that mission,” said Patterson.

In addition, Scholastic Reading Club will match each dollar with bonus points that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials.

Applying schools were asked to share the story of their school library, including past efforts to make improvements and ideas to help create a brighter future. Patterson personally read and selected the winning recipients of the grants. Trailside will use the funds to buy more books, obtain library supplies, host an author visit, and create a reading area for students

FOX 10 Phoenix’s Cory McCloskey FOX 10 visited Trailside Point School on September 21. See the video, here.

Representative Rebecca Rios visited Trailside Point social studies students today as part of the Arizona Educational Foundation’s Bring Your Legislator to School Day. Representative Rios discussed how bills become laws, shared some of the legislation that came through the last session, and answered student’s questions about the legislative process. ABC15 covered this visit. You can view the news story here.

Trailside Point received the Gold Award by Positive Behavior Interventions Supports of Arizona for the second year in a row. This award recognizes schools for successful implementation and outcomes with school-wide systems of Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS). Award criteria is based on effective implementation based on research-based fidelity evaluation instruments and measurable student outcomes.

Studies show that students who are involved in the performing arts tend to be better students and achieve better academically. For this reason, Trailside Point has created a number of performing arts classes from which students may choose. More than 50% of our students are involved in a  specific performing art class besides general music. Classes offered include:  ukulele, choir, percussion ensemble, beginning and advanced guitar, beginning and advanced orchestra, beginning and advanced band, drama, set design and production, Readers Theatre, broadcasting, and speech and debate.

Since implementing the performing arts classes, the school has seen students shine. Students who are otherwise quiet or withdrawn have opened up and gained confidence from being on stage.