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Meet the Superintendent –
Dr. Mark Yslas
W
elcome to
the Alhambra
Elementary School
District. I am honored to have
been selected as Alhambra’s
new superintendent, and I look
forward to serving the students,
parents and community
members of this district.
Alhambra has a long history
of providing an outstanding
education for students, and
together we will enhance the
opportunities provided for the
children of our district.
I grew up in the small copper mining town of Hayden, AZ,
and am the son of Peter and Lupe Yslas. I am the youngest
of four, and the only boy, all of whom hold college degrees.
My beautiful wife Tracy is an educator in Mesa Public
Schools, and I am the proud father of two boys – Marcos,
who is 12 years old, and Mateo, who is 25 years old. I was
taught to believe in people, to be kind and to serve. I love
people, especially kids, and I believe in everyone! It is my
personal mission to ensure everyone’s hopes and dreams
become reality.
I began my educational career 25 years ago, and I have
continued to serve the children of Arizona. Throughout
my years in education, I have held many positions, and I
am most proud of holding principalships at every level of
the education spectrum, including schools at the K-8 level,
middle school level, a K-5 school and most recently as the
principal of Tempe High School. In addition, I worked in the
Coolidge School District as an assistant superintendent and
acting superintendent. My extensive experience in both the
elementary and high school levels will serve as a great resource
as I guide our schools to meeting their educational goals.
Throughout the 2015-16 school year, I am excited to meet and
build relationships with the Alhambra team, as well as the
students, parents and community. Great organizations are
built around the premise of servant, collaborative leadership,
and I look forward to welcoming and embracing all of our
stakeholders within the Alhambra family. The success of our
students is dependent on the partnership among students,
teachers, staff, administration, Governing Board, parents and
our community members. We will develop schools where
teamwork guides our practice and students remain at the
forefront of our decisions. We will encourage our neighbors
to support our schools, and in turn, we will support our
neighbors. Together, we make up the Alhambra Family—a
family dedicated to ensuring our students are afforded every
opportunity to achieve success.
I am excited to meet you and become acquainted with this
great community. I invite you to become an active partner
with the Alhambra School District by visiting our schools,
attending School Community Council Meetings and
Governing Board Meetings, volunteering in classrooms,
participating in Bring Your Community Member to School
Day and Bring Your Parents To School Day, and so much
more. Everyone has something to offer, and I encourage you
to be a part of our exciting journey.
In the Alhambra School District, “Everyone Matters.”
We all have special talents, gifts, expertise and wisdom
that contribute to this first-class organization. I look
forward to continuing Alhambra School District’s
tradition of excellence and hope you will join me in
making this the best year ever for our students.
Sincerely,
Mark A. Yslas, Superintendent
Alhambra Elementary School District
History of Alhambra
The Alhambra School
District was organized
on Aug. 6, 1888. Our first
school was a one-room
brick building on Shady
Lane, now known as 33
rd
Avenue, between Grand
Avenue and Indian School
Road. Today, the Alhambra
Elementary School
District is no longer a
small school on the west
side of Phoenix. We now
have 15 elementary
schools and serve more
than 14,200 students in
preschool through eighth
grade. We are proud of
our history and strive to
maintain our excellent
educational traditions.
Mark Yslas
The Alhambra District MESA (Math,
Engineering and Science Achievement) Team
from Montebello School, led by MESA advisor
Kelby Milgrim, earned three awards at the
MESA National Challenge in Ogden, Utah,
in June. The team was awarded an overall
fourth place in the United States! The national
challenge was to design, engineer and operate a
low-cost, environmentally sustainable, easy-
to-operate prosthetic arm that could perform
a variety of real-life tasks, such as picking up
everyday items, placing items in a box and
tossing items into a bucket.
Alhambra’s Montebello MESA Team earned
second place in the country in the “Design
Efficiency” category! Design efficiency is the
ratio of design performance to design mass.
Points are awarded for different performance
tasks (ball toss, object relocation). Then those
numbers are divided by the mass (or weight)
of the arm. Montebello’s prosthetic arm
out-performed and weighed almost nothing,
compared to other teams’ submissions from
across the country.
The team also earned a third place award in the
“Object Relocation” category. The purpose of the
“Object Relocation” task is to demonstrate the
device’s ability to:
• Grab objects of varying size, shape, consistency
and weight
• Lift objects vertically and move them laterally
• Place objects into and remove objects from a
container as fast as possible
Finally, the team earned a third place award
in the Academic Poster Presentation category.
Teams presented academic posters to a panel
of judges and responded to judges’ questions.
The posters included charts, tables, graphs,
photographs, drawings and written explanations
that helped explain their final design’s features
and quality.
In addition to earning these top awards,
Alhambra’s Montebello Team placed fourth
in distance accuracy, fifth place in the
oral presentation and eighth place in the
technical paper.
Alhambra’s 2015 STEM Team Earns National Awards!
8 | CANYON CORRIDOR CONNECTION
Educat ion
Alhambra Elementary School District