The new gym flooring and basketball/volleyball standards were installed two weeks before school was over, much to the delight of all the students and staff! Needed now is the accoustical material on the walls and staging and we should be "program ready"!
The tuition rates for the 2010-2011 school year are as follows:
Constituent rate $3910
Non-Constituent rate $4270
The registration fee is $270 if paid by June 30. July 1 it goes up to $290. Registration forms and other necessary forms can be filled out online.
Students entering kindergarten must be 5 years old before December 2. First grade students must be six years old before the same date.
Feel free to call the school office (760-779-1799) if you need any other information regarding registration or the school in general.
An excited group of kindergarten children marched down the aisle on Tuesday, June 2, to their first graduation of hopefully several more. The following evening, another group of excited students marched down the aisle to their eighth grade graduation. Congratulations to all the graduates and to their teachers!
Kindergarten
8th Grade
The 7th and 8th grade class, Mrs. Savino, Mr. Rouse, and five parents flew from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. on Monday, May 17, joining with a group of students and adults from Roseburg Junior Academy in Oregon to spend the next four days taking in the sights and history of our national Capitol and Gettysburg. The following pictures share with you a bit of that memorable experience!
The annual Spring Program was held on Thursday, May 13. Every grade level participated by singing or by playing in one of the handchime or handbell choirs.
The elementary choir performed the musical, GPS-God's Plan of Salvation, created by Celeste Clydesdale and arranged by David T. Clydesdale. In this musical, Andrew is joined by his friends as he takes his driver's license test on the Holy Highway! Andrew learns a few lessons the hard way, but he perseveres under trial and learns that with Jesus Christ in his life, the road of obedience leads to the throne of God!
Kindergarten
4th Grade Handchimes
5&6 Handbells
Desert Ringers
Elementary Choir
Every spring, the 5th and 6th grade students experience a fun and educational adventure at Pine Springs Ranch. Following are their experiences in their own words.
“The 5th and 6th grade classes spent three days at Pine Springs Ranch for outdoor School. One of my favorite classes was Astronomy because we learned about our solar system, planets, comets, and even stars. I had so much fun in that class.” Anna Clark
“The class that I liked the best was the Green Machine. We got to make cars out of junk, hold a python, a hissing cockroach, and a tarantula. We also learned how to go green. It was fun!” Jessica Taff
“I loved the pool because it was a nice, sunny day and I got to tan. I liked the bon fire at night, too.” Hannah Davis
“I absolutely loved the worships and songs we sang. They were meaningful and had a really great lesson that we learned.” Sabrina Wakefield
“I slept in cabin Chippewa with my friends Annie, Sarah, Darian, Hanka, and Jessica. I was on the top bunk and I really like sleeping up there.” Joann Garcia
“I loved waking up to such clean, fresh air. I loved the hiking.” Sarah Carino
“The pool was nice and heated, and they had an ultra-cool diving board.” Hanka Eichelberger
“On our trip to PSR, I really like the Astronomy class because we got to look through a telescope and see Saturn with the rings around it. It was so cool!” Darian Huxtable
I loved the cafeteria food. It tasted awesome! I really wish I could have done more than just thank the people who prepared it. I loved the group games. They were so much fun, especially dodge ball and 4 way tug-of-war.” Austen Wilcox
“My favorite class was the Green Machine because we got to learn how different animals help our environment. We also got to pet them! It was so much fun! Amourette Chuzel
*Submitted by Mrs. Blue's class
We were blessed with a beautiful day on Friday, January 29, as the students and staff participated in our annual school picnic at Freedom Park in Palm Desert. The students burned many calories in team relays with thei Big Brothers/Big Sisters as you can see in the pictures below.
A wonderful Christmas experience was shared by family and friends last night as the students of DAA sang, played the handbells and performed The Christmas County Spelling Bee.
Ministering to others at a young age is the most effective way to change a child's perspective toward others. Every year, one of Desert Adventist Academy's parents, Flor Valenzuela, goes to South America to minister to the children in orphanages. Each year, the 5th and 6th graders make blankets for her to deliver.
"We made blankets for orphan babies. We did this because they have no blankets of their own. Worst of all, they don't have their own family, so it was the least we could do." Austen
"I loved this class activity. I had a good feeling when we finished. It felt so good knowing that a child was going to get my blanket." Sabrina
"I made this blanket because I want the little kids to be safe and warm so they won't feel like they are unprotected." Nadchen
"It makes me feel good that the blankets we made for the orphanage in Peru are going to help babies that don't have parents to take care of them." Sarah
*submitted by Mrs. Blue
Fifty-nine shoeboxes were filled with small toys, school supplies, and other gift items to bring joy and hope to the lives of needy children around the world through the Operation Christmas Child program.
The 2009 Walk/Jog-a-Thon was a tremendous success and a fun day for the participants and those who cheered them on. Just over $6000 was raised and when added to the remaining funds from last year's even, we have $9600 to go towards the installation of the new gym floor and sports equipment.
Thank you to all the parents and friends who supported this fundraiser and a special thanks to jennifer Coffin and Laura posselt for their organization of this year's event.
The Palm Desert Oasis Church was required by the City of Palm Desert to put on deposit a sum of money that would be used to provide "Art in Public Places". The church chose to have the students of DAA create that art on campus.
Nancy Eichelberger, a former school board member, contacted Nedra Young of Palm Springs, one of the founders of Social Mosaics, to assist the students in creating their mosaics. We even had the assistance of Nedra's son and Bridgette Eichelberger on their day off from school. The completed mosaics are then attached to one of the bollards in front of the school entrance to the new facility. Every grade, from kindergarten to 8th grade, will create a mosaic. Currently, the 7th and 8th grades have nearly completed their mosaics. The pictures below show some of the process and nearly completed work. The 8th grade mosaic is on the left and the 7th grade's is on the right.
To learn more about Social Mosaics, you can check out their website at www.socialmosaics.org.
The students, staff, and school families of Desert Adventist Academy have suffered a devastating loss with the death of our friend and 7th and 8th grade teacher, Gene Robinson. He died last Friday afternoon from a heart attack.
Gene loved his students and they in turn loved him. His life was dedicated to teaching and sharing his love for Jesus with his students. Gene taught for 41 years and was starting his 8th year at DAA.
A memorial service will be held this coming Sabbath, October 24, at 3 p.m. at the Palm Desert Oasis church. The address is 74-200 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert. Phone: (760) 568-0809.
You may also contact the school at 760-779-1799.
DAA was very fortunate recently to have a special assembly on "Respect for Each Other" presented by the well-known and highly honored Pete McLeod. Pete is one of only a handful of people to ever win the coveted Golden Wand Award for excellence in stage magic. He is also an accomplished musician, winning three Angel awards for Best Song, Best Theme Song, and Best Album of the year.
Pete used sleight-of-hand tricks and hilarious stand-up comedy as he weaved in wonderful thoughts on respecting others. We were very thankful that Pete chose our school and students to share this first time presentation and would welcome him back any time!
The 2009-2010 school year began with a higher than anticipated opening enrollment of 103 students. We gained a few students after that, but have now settled into an enrollment of 105 happy students. Much of that happiness, for teachers and students alike, comes from the fact that we are now in our new facility, loving the new classrooms and gymnasium.
Every student is delighted to be able to play in a spacious gymnasium that is air conditioned! The school will be working hard this year to raise approximately $70,000 to complete the gymnasium with the installation of a Sport Court as well as basketball and volleyball components.
The teachers are finding meaningful ways to utilize the new technology to enhance their teaching and increase student learning. Each teacher is able to access the internet from their personal computers and project onto a 5'x7' screen what they want each student to see and experience.
An additional canopy was installed to provide shade in the enlarged picnic area that the students use each day to eat their lunches.
