FAQs

If your student will be absent from school due to illness or other circumstances, the front office is required to be notified within 24 hours of the absence, preferably the same day.

To reach our attendance line, please call (520) 568-6111. If you reach our voicemail, please leave a detailed message with the following information:

• Parent(s) name & contact number (in case we need to reach you)
• Student's name
• Teacher
• Grade
• Reason for the absence

If your student is absent from school for 3 consecutive days or more due to illness, a doctor's note is required to excuse the absence(s). Notes must be received within 24 hours of the student's return to school.

Please keep in mind, not all reasons for an absence are excused by the state of Arizona (i.e. vacations/travel). Please schedule appointments for after school, on Wednesday early release days, or during school breaks.

The state of Arizona considers 5 or more unexcused absences as "habitually truant". When a student has missed 10% or 18 days of school, they are considered to have "excessive absences", whether they are excused or unexcused. According to the Arizona Revised Statues, Section 15-802, you or your child could be cited for violation of these education laws. 

If there is ever a need to pick-up your student early in the day for appointments, or any unforeseen circumstances, please know that there is a cut off time to do so.

The cut off time for early pick-up is 2:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
On Wednesday the cutoff time is 12:30pm.

You must always provide identification when picking up your students in the front office and they must be signed out.

Parent pick-up and drop off for preschool is located in the front parking lot near the front office. Please park in the parking lot and walk your child to the front of the school. Teachers and paraprofessionals will be on site to offer assistance. Please arrive 5 minutes before the scheduled start time so that we may start class on time. If your student is late, then you will need to check in at the front office. A member of our staff will walk your child to their class.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday  (No Classes on Wednesday)

Session 1  - 8:10am - 11:10am

Session 2 - 12:10am - 3:10pm

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 

8:10am-3:10pm

Student Discipline

In every effort to ensure that each student at Saddleback receives an opportunity to learn, each classroom teacher will establish procedures, routines, and other rules for the classroom.

Positive Behavior Intervention and Support

Saddleback will continue to use and implement the Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program.  Our school-wide expectations are that our students will:

The purpose of PBIS is to educate, encourage, model, and reinforce positive behaviors.  We cannot expect that all students will come to us knowing our behavioral expectations. The Saddleback staff will teach, model, and reinforce our expectations using hallway and classroom displays.  It is important that we teach our students what type of behavior is expected while they are at school. Our students come to us with many different experiences, cultures, and backgrounds.  Our goal is to teach our students how to be responsible, be safe, and be respectful each and every day.

PBIS Behavior Management System

Teacher- Managed Behaviors

All teachers utilize classroom-level plans to promote appropriate behaviors and deter inappropriate behaviors.  Teachers will notify individual students of inappropriate behavior and will take action accordingly. The following progression of consequences is as follows: 

After two reflections, the student is disqualified from participating in the monthly Saddleback Fun Day. However, once a new month begins, students are given a clean slate and can work towards the current month’s Saddleback Fun Day.

Office Managed Behaviors

Students that fail to respond to classroom interventions will be given an office referral.  Students referred to the office for chronic misbehavior and severe offenses will receive the following progression of consequences:

Administrative discretion will be exercised in some cases depending on the number of times the student has been sent to the office and the circumstances of the behavior.

PBIS Reward System

LEVEL 1 - INDIVIDUAL REWARDS

“Character No Matter What” tickets are given to students for following the 3 school-wide expectations; being responsible, being respectful, and being safe. Each week, two students from each classroom will be randomly picked to be recognized on the Saddleback News Network.  In addition to recognition on the Saddleback News Network, students can work towards the following incentives:

10 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Certificate from the Principal and a Pencil
20 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Character Bracelet and Name on Super Hero Wall
30 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Play with the Principal
40 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Caught Being Good backpack tag
50 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Character Matters backpack tag
60 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Character Necklace
70 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Handprint on Cafeteria Wall
80 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Water Bottle
90 “Character No Matter What Tickets”: Character T-Shirt
Above 90 “Character No Matter What Tickets: Character Counts All-Star Bash

LEVEL 2: CLASS REWARDS

Grade levels can earn rewards by accumulating as many “Character No Matter What” tickets as possible. The tickets are to be turned in to the office each week by the end of the day on Friday. The tickets that are turned in each week will be counted by the front office. A grade level total will be calculated. This total will be used for the “Saddleback Has Character” graph that will be displayed on the wall on the cafeteria stage. For every 10 tickets that the grade level receives, a stallion will be added to the graph for your grade level. The grade level that has the most stallions at the end of the quarter will receive an extra recess and a treat. The administration will supervise students during this time, so teachers can have extra prep.

LEVEL 3: SCHOOL-WIDE

Monthly Fun Friday’s will be used for the school-wide incentive. If students have more than two reflections, in-school or out of school suspension for the month, they cannot attend Fun Friday. These students will report to the library.

FUN FRIDAY SCHEDULE

1:40-Dance Party
1:45-2:45-Class activity

It is our hope that our students here at Saddleback exhibit great character on a daily basis and strive to become the best that they can. At Saddleback, it is expected that the discipline of students is done in a respectful manner while giving every child due process and maintaining a system that is fair and equitable.  

• Be Responsible
• Be Respectful
• Be Safe
• 1st Offense:  Reflection Form (warning)
• 2nd Offense: Reflection Form (consequence at the discretion of the teacher)*
• 3rd Offense:  Reflection Form (parent contact by teacher/consequence at the discretion of the teacher)
• 4th Offense: Office Referral
• 1st Offense: Lunch detention (misbehavior letter from administration will be sent home)
• 2nd Offense: In-School Suspension (ISS) (ISS parent letter sent home and phone call from administration)
• 3rd Offense: Out-of-School Suspension (OSS) (OSS parent letter sent home and parent phone call from administration)

The following subdivisions are included within the 2024-25 school year 

• Ak-Chin Farms
• Ak-Chin Greasewood
• Amarillo Creek
• Copa Flats
• Desert Passage
• Glennwilde
• Horizon at the Wells
• Oasis at the Wells
• Papago Buttes
• Santa Rosa Springs
• Senita 3 & 4
• Seven Ranches
• Thunderbird Farms

The following subdivisions will go to Desert Wind; Copa Flats, Desert Passage, Glennwilde, Horizon at the Wells, Oasis at the Wells, Senita 3 & 4, and Seven Ranches.

The following subdivisions will go to Maricopa Wells; Ak-Chin Farms, Ak-Chin Greasewood, Amarillo Creek, Santa Rosa Springs, and Thunderbird Farms.

Please contact the District Office at 520-568-5100 x1057 to schedule an appointment for our Child Find Screening. The screenings are held monthly and all potential students for our Preschool Program must complete the screening before enrolling. Additional information can be found on our Child Find Screenings Page.

In addition to filling out the Online Enrollment forms, you will need the child's state issued certified birth certificate, immunization records, proof of current residence (ex: utility bill) and the enrolling parents photo ID. The Online Enrollment links can be found on our District's Elementary Enrollment Information Page. A parent on the birth certificate must be the one to fill out the enrollment packet and enroll the student.

The cut-off age to start Kindergarten is August 31st, and the child must be five years old by that date in order to enroll. Our school district's Early Kindergarten testing (those turning five between September 1 and December 31) is held at the end of May for our School District. Additional Information can be found on our District's Kindergarten Information Page.

We will only accept early testers that have passed our School District early Kindergarten test. If they did not pass our test, they will need to wait until the following year for Kindergarten, even if they attended Kindergarten elsewhere and moved during the school year.

The school day begins at 8:05 a.m. (warning bell) and then 8:10 a.m. (tardy bell) and ends at 3:10 p.m. Every Wednesday and any other early release days, the school day ends at 1:10 p.m. The office opens at 7:40 a.m. and closes at 3:30 p.m. Our preschool has different hours for each of its sessions. Additional information can be found on our Preschool General Information Page.

We encourage promptness since tardies affect everyone and disrupt classroom time. Late students must report to the office and be signed in late by a parent. We will issue students a "Tardy Slip" before they go to class. Students should be on campus by 8:05 a.m. to make sure they are in class by 8:10 a.m.

Yes, we certainly do provide bus transportation for those living within our boundaries (except for Glennwilde and Copa Flats). Parents, please remind your child(ren) that riding the bus is a privilege and that we require best behavior at all times. Please arrive at your designated bus stop on time. For those students living in the Glennwilde subdivision, and those outside of our boundaries, busing is not provided.

 Yes, but only if they live within one mile of campus. We are concerned for the safety of all students and ask all bike riders to be aware of their surroundings. Saddleback Elementary School is not responsible for lost or damaged bikes.

Yes, we provide both breakfast and lunch. Breakfast is free for everyone. Please see our Child Nutrition webpage for more information.

Students may choose to bring their own lunch to school if they wish.

We welcome students to pay for meals with cash or check, but we prefer that each student has a prepaid lunch account.

You can register for an account and monitor your balance at the LINQ website. To register you will need to know your student's school ID number. If you do not know their school ID number, please come into the front office with your ID to receive that information.

Our district policy does not allow you to bring food from home for classroom parties and events. All food brought onto campus must come from the cafeteria or be store bought. Please contact your students' teacher at least a week before to arrange a time. Students cannot receive deliveries of flowers, stuffed animals or gifts while on campus.

Yes. Visitors must call ahead and make an appointment to visit classrooms. We need to make sure that classes aren't interrupted during important times like tests. When you arrive at school, please check in with the front office with your Photo ID to receive your Visitor Badge. 

No, we do not require uniforms, but we do have a district policy regarding a Dress Code. Additional information can be found in our District's Handbook.

Please label all prescription medications and keep them in the school health office. A parent must bring the medication to school. A student cannot drop off at the health office as there is paperwork that the parent must sign for the medication. Only our school nurse will give the medicine to a student. Prescription medicines must be prescribed by a doctor and have documentation telling how much and how often the student must take the medicine. Please be sure to contact the health office ahead of time if you want your child to take over-the-counter medicines, too. 

We have student-led conferences after the end of the 1st and 3rd quarters, during which report cards will be handed out. We send report cards home at the end of the 2nd quarter and on the last day of school for the 4th quarter.

 The lost and found can be found in our MPR/Cafeteria on the back table. Check there first for any missing items. We encourage students to write their name on their possessions.