The Latest News
There's a lot happening in our vibrant and growing school district! From events taking place at school, to public information notices we may send out to families, we’ve included all the latest events here on one page. Make it your first stop when you visit our website to ensure you are always aware of what is going on.
Queen Creek Unified School District (QCUSD) Superintendent Dr. Perry Berry has been named the 2018-2019 All-Arizona Superintendent of the Year for large districts. The honor was granted by Arizona School Administrators (ASA), whose 1,400 educational leaders work with students, teachers, parents, and communities to provide safe, welcoming, collaborative, and effective learning environments for 1.1 million of Arizona students.
Dr. Berry’s colleagues honored him at the ASBA/ASA winter conference at the Arizona Biltmore on Thursday, December 13 in Phoenix. During the event, ASA played a video highlighting Superintendent Berry’s commitment to student success. The video also acknowledged Dr. Berry’s drive and vision for the future of QCUSD, which is one of the fastest growing school districts in Arizona.
Under Dr. Berry’s four years as superintendent, nearly 480,000 square feet of educational learning space has been added to the district. Additionally, he has been credited with building a vast network of business and community leaders who support the district, establishing a foundation for student scholarships and teacher grants. Dr. Berry has also led the successful passage of bond and override elections.
Dr. Berry is a dedicated administrator with more than 20 years of educational leadership experience and a sound educational background. He holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a master of arts degree from Adams State College (Colorado), and a doctorate of education degree from Grand Canyon University (Arizona).
He played professional baseball for the Houston Astros before working as a teacher, assistant principal, director of curriculum, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Superintendent Berry's success comes from his ability to listen to all members of the community and put this information into a working plan that best fits the needs of the students.
Dr. Perry Berry, superintendent of Queen Creek Unified School District (QCUSD), has announced the hiring of Dr. Matt Strom as QCUSD associate superintendent of business and operations. The QCUSD Governing Board approved Dr. Strom’s hiring at the December 11 board meeting. He assumes the new role effective on February 1, 2019.
Dr. Strom has more than 20 years of experience in education. The last seventeen years he has been in the Chandler Unified School District with his most recent role being the assistant superintendent of k-12 educational services. The primary function of his role for the executive team and governing board included data analytics to ensure the strategic plan was measurable with key performance indicators, demography, and policy analysis for his departments.
Dr. Strom has also led several departments through facilitative leadership. These departments included exceptional student services, entitlement grants, professional development, preschool education, curriculum, educational technology, assessment, research, and business analytics. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Strom analyzed achievement gaps in urban school districts. For his work, he received the "Higher Education Outstanding Dissertation Student Award” from Arizona School Administrators.
“With Queen Creek experiencing such tremendous growth, Dr. Strom’s experience will be extremely beneficial to the district, said Superintendent Berry. “We are excited to add Dr. Strom to the QCUSD team.”
Dr. Strom has been a member of many local, state, and national-level committees. He is currently the Arizona LEA representative for the National Forum on Education Statistics (NCES/USDOE) and serves on the Arizona Technical Advisory Committee for the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Previously he has served on the City of Chandler General Plan Committee, the ADE Accountability Advisory Group, and he was the member of the 2016 Arizona Standards Development Committee for ELA and mathematics.
"It is a distinct privilege and honor to join an exemplary team of educators in Queen Creek Unified School District. The Queen Creek School Board, Dr. Berry, and the executive team have clearly communicated their high expectations for the district, and I am excited to be a part of ensuring that our goals for student outcomes are delivered. My family and I are blessed to join such a wonderful community and eagerly anticipate being humble servants to support the efforts of both the school district and the town of Queen Creek."
Dr. Strom has been married to his wife, Marcia, for 18 years. And, in his most important leadership role, he is the father of three wonderful young men: Zavian (15), Quentin (13), and Elijah (12).
Project Lead the Way as curriculum for biomedical science, computer science, and engineering is up for supplementary materials adoption. This is for the high schools. Per regulation IJJR, we will place textbooks and supplementary books for common schools recommended by textbook selection committees on display in the district office for a period of at least sixty (60) days prior to the meeting at which the board will consider its adoption.
Please contact the Queen Creek Unified School District office at (480) 987-5935 with any questions, comments, or concerns.
Make plans to join us for our Discovery Kids Winter Break Camp! We will have the camp December 27-28, 2018, and January 2-4, 2019. Please see our winter break camp flyer for more information about registration, locations, and daily activities. You may register for our winter break camp online. For information about all of our community education enrichment classes and camps, please visit our Community Education page.
The 2018–2019 school year is underway! We hope that you are aware of these important dates!
- December 20 - Early release - All schools
- December 21-January 4 - Winter break - No school
- January 7 - School resumes
- January 15 - Parent Institute: Early Literacy for Young Readers K-1 at GPA
- January 16 - Early release - All schools
- January 16 - Parent Institute: Early Literacy for Young Readers K-1 at FBPE
- January 17 - District spelling bee
- January 17 - Parent Institute: Early Literacy for Young Readers K-1 at QCE
- January 21 - Civil Rights Day - No school
The Queen Creek Unified School District (QCUSD) is proud to expand our Parent Institute offerings for the 2018-2019 school year. Classes focus on issues that affect families both at school and at home and are for QCUSD parents and guardians. Below are the dates and times for upcoming classes. We will add additional classes throughout the year. All Parent Institute sessions will take pace at the QCUSD district office at 20217 East Chandler Heights Road, Queen Creek, Arizona 85142.
- Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Tuesday, January 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Gateway Polytechnic Academy - Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Wednesday, January 16 at 5:00 p.m. at Frances Brandon-Pickett Elementary - Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Thursday, January 17 at 6:00 p.m. at Queen Creek Elementary - Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Tuesday, January 22 at 6:00 p.m. at Desert Mountain Elementary - Organizational Tools for Your Student
Wednesday, January 23 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. - Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Thursday, January 24 at 6:00 p.m. at Jack Barnes Elementary - Financial Literacy
Tuesday, January 29 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. - Early Literacy/Young Readers (K-1)
Tuesday, February 12 at 6:00 p.m. at Faith Mather Sossaman Elementary - Anti-Bullying for Parents
Thursday, February 21 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.