Trending Peoria Presented by Peoria Unified School District

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? Back to School! With the start of a new school year ahead of us, it is so exciting to think of the endless possibilities ahead. In this episode, we are joined by Nicole Greene an incoming freshman at Sunrise Mountain High School as she shares what she is looking forward to this year. Each school year begins with so many possibilities and we cannot wait to see wha...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? School Choice! In Arizona, it is not uncommon to hear about school choice, and Peoria Unified is proud to be a public school district of choice. Prioritizing student success, we offer programs that meet the needs of and educate each child. This summer, we are going to be highlighting some of the programs that make Peoria Unified a public school district of choice...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? School Choice! In Arizona, it is not uncommon to hear about school choice, and Peoria Unified is proud to be a public school district of choice. Prioritizing student success, we offer programs that meet the needs of and educate each child. This summer, we are going to be highlighting some of the programs that make Peoria Unified a public school district of choice...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? School Choice! In Arizona, it is not uncommon to hear about school choice, and Peoria Unified is proud to be a public school district of choice. Prioritizing student success, we offer programs that meet the needs of and educate each child. This summer, we are going to be highlighting some of the programs that make Peoria Unified a public school district of choice...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? School Choice! In Arizona, it is not uncommon to hear about school choice, and Peoria Unified is proud to be a public school district of choice. Prioritizing student success, we offer programs that meet the needs of and educate each child. This summer, we are going to be highlighting some of the programs that make Peoria Unified a public school district of choice...

Safety remains our top priority in Peoria Unified. This episode was recorded in response to the incredibly tragic events that have unfolded in our country. We are joined by Dr. Jason Reynolds and Mr. Ryan Reese, our head of safety, as they discuss Peoria Unified’s safety plan. If you, or someone you know, needs to report a school safety issue, you can do so by calling our Safe School Line anonymou...

What’s currently trending in Peoria? Our Pride in our employees. We all know this year has been one for the books with so many things stacked against public education. Despite all of the obstacles, Peoria Unified employees stepped up and continued doing what they do best: prioritizing students. Each year, we recognize the top one-precent of all employees in our Pride of Peoria Campaign. Today, I a...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Volunteerism! Over the last few years, our volunteer program has gone through a handful of changes. However, our volunteers remain committed to our district, our schools and our students. This school year, we were so excited and thankful to bring volunteers back to our campuses. This episode includes two outstanding members of the Cactus High School com...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? Art’s Education! Every spring, we honor the thousands of young artists throughout the Peoria Unified at our Annual Art’s & Cultural Festival in Old Town Peoria. We are thrilled to bring back this event in person this year after a two year hiatus due to covid! Today, I am joined by our Arts Education Content Coach, Stacy Hamilton, and Junior High Band Teacher,...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Creating engaging and rigorous curriculum. Our gifted education program   provides an increasingly comprehensive, challenging K-12 curriculum to meet the needs and enhance the talents of gifted learners. Peoria Unified is home two magnet schools that prioritize gifted education; these include Apache Elementary’s Gifted Academy and the Copperwood Ce...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Giving back. Peoria Unified is grateful that we are in the position to support those who need it most. Through the support of our McKenny-Vento Homeless & Foster Care team and our Family Resource Center we are able to serve those most in need. The Peoria Unified Family Resource Center is designed to provide parents and caregivers the tools they need...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? The Peoria Education Foundation and their dedication to Peoria Unified! The Peoria Education Foundation has supported student achievement since its founding in 1987. Through grants for teachers, scholarships for students and the new, emergency needs fund, the Foundation is able to provide additional support to the students and staff in our district. Tod...

What is currently trending in Peoria Unified? The holidays! This time of year, it is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and lose sight of why this time with family is so important. Today I am joined by our Superintendent, and his cabinet, who are currently preparing for the holiday season to learn about how they celebrate this time of year and what they are mos...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Humble Leadership. Today I am joined by this year’s Raymond S. Kellis Leadership Award Recipients that truly exemplify the legacy of Dr. Kellis, Peoria Unified’s former superintendent who led the district through its largest period of growth and was a tireless advocate for public education. My guests are everyday leaders who do what they can to ensure t...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Ensuring students our students are prepared to shape tomorrow. One of Peoria Unified’s strategic perspectives focuses on student success and creating rigorous curriculum that meets the needs of 21st-Century students. Today I am joined by our Director of our award-winning Career and Technical Education Department, Barb Coakley, and Peoria Unified Alum Sy...

What’s currently Trending in Peoria Unified? Retaining the Best Teachers Possible! This is the time of year our Human Resources Department begins to recruit teachers for the next school year. Today, I am joined by Nina Buckley, our Lead Instructional Coach, who is leading the efforts to modernize our workforce. Nina supports all of our new teachers and we are so glad to have her here to discuss th...

A brief introduction to Progress Report, our new podcast from Peoria Unified. Listen to the first episode of Progress Report.  

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Our Support Staff. Like many school districts around the country, we are experiencing a shortage in support staff in a variety of roles. While these positions are often looked over, so many of them are the reason our schools are able to provide the services they do. In the latest episode of Peoria Unified's podcast, Trending Peoria, we are joined by our...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Football! More importantly, all of the aspects that come together to make each Friday night in the Fall so fun and the memories unparalleled. Whether you were a member of the marching band, participated in sports medicine, cheered the team on in pom, dance or cheer, were playing on the field or enjoyed the games from the stands, everyone has special mem...

What’s trending in Peoria? Rigorous curriculum and engaging learning environments! In education, the word rigor is often used to describe the way we approach teaching and learning. However, there is a lot to learn about what pushes students to reach their fullest potential. Today, I am joined by Executive Director of Elementary Education and Curriculum & Instruction, Marla Hobbs, and Ironwood...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? Creating safe, inclusive and rigorous learning environments for all of our students. One of Dr. Reynolds vision points for Peoria Unified in the coming years is: Ensuring that every student and employee is known, valued, cared for, and challenged. Today we are joined by Dr. Carter Davidson, our Chief Student Support Officer, and Mrs. Lori Garcia, our Di...

What’s currently trending in Peoria Unified? School Finance and the ESSER Grants! Recently the federal government, approved the opportunity for elementary and secondary public schools to receive a one-time infusion of funding to aid in the recovery from COVID-19. Today, I am joined by our Chief Financial Officer, Michelle Myers, as we unpack what ESSER provides and understand more about school fin...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? Back to School! With the start of a new school year ahead of us, it is so exciting to think of the endless possibilities ahead. In this episode, we are joined by two Peoria Unified alumni who AnnMarie Demeter (Raymond S. Kellis) and Mark Harman (Alta Loma) now work in Peoria Unified and are excited for what the new school year will bring. While things are constan...

What’s trending in Peoria Unified? Rest. This week, we are taking a brief pause from our regular programming to prepare for the upcoming school year. We will be back with a brand-new episode on the first day of school, Aug. 4! In the meantime, you can listen to all of our past episodes, including our first episode about Kindergarten and Early Childhood Education: tinyurl.com/5epkda3m Kindergarten...

What’s trending in Peoria? Summer! Well more importantly a summer of success. Each summer, Peoria Unified offers a myriad of opportunities for our students ranging from summer camps to summer school. This year, our Curriculum & Instruction and KidZone teams re-imagined what successful summer programming looks like. On this episode we are joined by our Executive Director of Federal Program, Lau...