By Melissa Fittro | Scottsdale Independent
When students start school in August 2018, the Pima Elementary School community is hoping to have a new campus and a new school model.
The Scottsdale Unified School District Governing Board met Thursday, Sept. 7 for a study session to discuss the outlook for the kindergarten through fifth grade school in southeast Scottsdale.
On March 21, Scottsdale Schools’ elected leaders voted 5-0 to move forward with implementing a traditional school philosophy, and to begin the remodel planning.
Scottsdale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Denise Birdwell says Pima’s teachers and faculty are entrenched in training this year to transition their classrooms to the traditional model next year.
According to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Steve Nance, a traditional school offers specific learning programs such as Phonics, has teachers arranging its classroom desks in rows and cuts back on assemblies and other events that would take away from classroom time. The investment to implement the traditional model includes $92,000 in Saxton math curriculum and Spalding phonics programing.